MTN Foundation, in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES), has launched the MTN Teachers’ Improvement Award Programme (TIAP) to improve the skills of Science, Mathematics, and English teachers in the country.
According to senior officials of the MTN Ghana CSR arm, the foundation was committing GH¢125,000 as awards to twenty teachers annually under the programme.
Launching the maiden programme in Accra, the Acting Corporate Services Executive of MTN Ghana, Samuel Koranteng, said: “The TIAP is aimed at helping improve the capacity of the teachers in the chosen disciplines at selected tertiary institutions in the country, that is (the University of Cape Coast and the University of Education, Winneba),”
“This will improve and upgrade the skills of the teachers. Such an improvement in skills, we believe, would greatly impact the human resource base of this country positively.”
The programme, Mr. Koranteng explained, would financially assist teachers who teach in first and second cycle public institutions to upgrade their education at the First Degree or Masters levels.
The programme would support 100 teachers over a ten-year period. The awards programme is open to teachers in first and second cycle institutions across the country.
Qualification criteria
Teachers desirous of participating in the awards programme must be of Ghanaian citizenship; have a a minimum of five years teaching experience; must be teaching in a public institution at the time of the application; must not be older than 50 years at the time of application; and complete a set of application forms.
The programme is open to teachers who wish to pursue courses in English, Science (Integrated Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and Mathematics education only.
Mr. Koranteng stressed: “It is the firm belief of the MTN Ghana Foundation that beneficiaries of the Teachers’ Improvement Award Programme would come back equipped with higher educational skills to transform the realities of the classroom, as we know it today, into a better and more conducive place of study.”
The MTN Ghana Foundation, since its establishment, has committed over GH¢19.4 million into education, health and economic empowerment projects that led to the brightening of more than 3 million lives across the country, according to him.
Endorsements
The Acting Director General of the GES, Stephen Adu, lauded MTN Ghana for coming to assist the government in the provision of education infrastructure, and the latest awards programme. These, he believes, will help improve the quality of teaching and learning in various schools of the country.
The Acting General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), M.V.V.K. Demanye, also pledged the association’s support for the programme, but urged the foundation and its partners in the programme to expand the subject scope of the awards programme in future.
African Eye News.com
