Evelyn Agyepong, an Education Consultation and Chief Enquiry Officer at STEAMBoxGH, has highlighted the importance of equipping teachers with adequate knowledge to aid tech-based solutions in education.
Mrs. Agyapong is of the view that teachers are detached from the chain as far as solutions to lack of access to education are concerned.
“What scared me the most was that change agents, our teachers, were not knowledgeable enough about any of what was happening,” she said on EdTech Monday on the Citi Breakfast Show.
Whilst she acknowledged that Ghana had well-intentioned policies, she stressed that it is “the middle bit, teachers, who are actually going to make things happen [but] they don’t know what is going on. They don’t understand what is going on.”
As an example of the gaps from the teacher side of things, Mrs. Agyapong noted that “many teachers don’t read about education research.”
“Many teachers don’t even know where to find the information about education research,” she added.
She was speaking on the April edition of EdTech Monday, an initiative of the Mastercard Foundation Regional Centre for Teaching and Learning in ICT.
EdTech Monday brings together experts in education, the EdTech community and policymakers to showcase how to leverage technology to advance teaching and learning.
This edition of EdTech Monday was on improving access to quality education and what technology can do to bridge the gaps.
The show also featured Abel Acquaye, Executive Director of Africa Schools Online and Genevieve Simiyu, the Country Manager at Chalkboard Education.
About the Mastercard Foundation
The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organizations to enable young people in Africa and in Indigenous communities in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. It is one of the largest, private foundations in the world with a mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world. The Foundation was created by Mastercard in 2006 as an independent organization with its own Board of Directors and management.
In Ghana, after more than a decade working with the private sector and government to promote financial inclusion and education through it’s Scholars Program, the Mastercard Foundation launched Young Africa Works, a 10-year strategy to enable 3 million young Ghanaians, particularly young women, to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.
Young Africa Works in Ghana aims to:
- Enable the growth of women-owned enterprises through business development services, access to finance, and access to markets.
- Enable young people to acquire skills that are needed by businesses in growing sectors of the economy and strengthen the quality of education to prepare students for the world of work.
- Scale digital training and strengthen technology-focused employment opportunities.
EdTech Monday is one of the initiatives of the Foundation’s Regional Centre for Teaching and Learning in ICT aimed at leveraging Technology to advance teaching and Learning.