COL’s contribution of an online learning platform to train over 5000 teachers was highlighted by the National Teaching Council (NTC), Ghana, in its report presented at the Ninth Teaching and Learning for Africa Conference held in Accra, Ghana, earlier in June 2022. This forum, co-hosted by the Ghana Ministry of Education is an annual high-level Pan-African consultative forum convened by the Africa Federation of Teaching and Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA).

The Conference included a roundtable where seven ministers of education and senior officials from various countries of Africa participated. There were over 200 delegates that included experts as well as leaders of institutions. The focus of the forum was to re-engage with stakeholders on professionalisation of teaching practice after the disruption caused by the pandemic.

The Minister for Education, Ghana, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum highlighted the critical importance of teacher professionalisation for Africa at the event and emphasised the role of the teacher in achieving learning outcomes.

Dr Christian Addai-Poku, Registrar of NTC, expressed appreciation for COL support, and said, “As a result of the virtual learning platform and courses provided by COL, we were able to meet many of our key performance indicators. We now have a pool of well-trained master trainers to support future activities in continuous professional development (CPD).”  Besides offering a highly scalable learning management system, COL’s partnership also provided training materials on digital and inclusive education.

COL Education Specialist for Teacher Education, Dr Betty Ogange who manages the partnership with NTC and attended the Conference, said: “COL aims to work closely with government-level agencies to develop policies for effective implementation of ODL and technology-enabled learning while helping strengthen and scale up CPD among teachers in marginalised communities.”