Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education Professor Kwesi Yankah has commended missionaries for the many schools in Ghana.

He said the majority of educational institutions that make up the top bracket on many academic leagues are mission schools with most situated in the Central Region. But he said that does not tell in the Region’s performance when it comes to literacy.

He said when it comes to literacy, Central Region is the fourth most illiterate region in Ghana after Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions.

“Even when you enter the terrain of civic responsibilities and count the percentage of spoilt ballots during national elections since 1992, Central [Region] is still the fourth most wasteful of ballot papers during election.” Prof Yankah made this known on Saturday, May 13 when he delivered a speech at the Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) College of Education’s 10th annual congregation at Cape Coast.

Speaking on the theme ‘Promoting Quality Teacher Education for Transformation In Basic Schools’, the Minister of State said the government’s vision is to ensure the training of highly educated work force that would ride on the wave of quality education, fight poverty and not themselves, kill illiteracy and ethnic rivalry and put the nation on a sound footing for wealth creation.

The former University of Ghana pro-Vice Chancellor noted that contrary to rumours, government will not introduce a quota system at that level. “I wish to state that colleges are allowed to admit as many qualified applicants as available facilities will allow and without sacrificing quality and standard.

“The desire to upgrade the competence of teachers and uplift the image of this noble profession has propelled the Minister of Education to step up the entry requirement for admission of prospective teachers into college of education.”

Prof Yankah assured the students the government has taken a very bold step to restore teacher trainees’ monthly allowances. The allowance is meant to support teacher trainees to procure textbooks and learning materials that will be in need for their professional training.

The Minister noted, therefore, that it is important for teachers to engage in continuous professional development and make it an integral part of teaching.

“And the good news is that teacher progression will no longer be automatic but it will now be based on performance and measured against the Teacher Standard Development by the National Teaching Council.”