By Prince J Musa in Kenema
Three-day intensive training of school leaders and stakeholders in the Eastern region ends today in Kenema.
According to the District Officer, Western Area Alphious Moinina Kamara, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MBSSE) and its partners have discovered that there are many violations taking place in the school system.
He said every teacher is expected to know the code of conduct and its penalty for violators.
He added that a safe and conducive environment for both the learners and the teachers is required with an inclusiveness that will ensure effective and quality learning.
“We are moving from the old system of education to a modernized system of education with inclusiveness in learning,’’ he said.
Kamara stated that the module will help address the well-being of the children and get them to perform positively in the classroom. He spoke about having a free environment that will enable the teacher to execute their function well so that the kids will gain quality education.
He said the issue of Corporal Punishment has changed over the years, noting that it has led to a lot of children being dropped out of the education line early. He hoped UNICEF’s positive discipline will serve as an alternative option that will create an impact on the life of the children in schools.
He, therefore, urged school authorities to work with stakeholders in communities to ensure that the learning environment of the children is improved.
He emphasized the need for teachers to always engage the children by giving them advice that will change their mindset from lawlessness to positive thinking. He said a lot of monitoring mechanisms will be put in place to ensure the utilization of the knowledge gained by the participants and that they pass it on to other teachers.
Abibatu Kamara, one of the trainees referred to the session as important and timely and said it will help the children attain quality education especially when government takes education as a priority project for human capital development.
“We are grateful for this training as this will improve the understanding of a lot of teachers in this 21st Century educational system,’’ she said.
She encouraged other participants to help spread the skills acquired from the training and commended UNICEF for supporting the ministry in decentralizing the training process.
Kamara stated that the pre-test conducted shows that a lot of teachers are not familiar with teachers’ code of conduct and they have been doing things in their own way with the pretext of being correct.
The training drew teachers from Kono, Kailahun, and Kenema districts.
The event took place through the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of the MBSSE, the Teaching Service Commission (TSC), and UNICEF.
Copyright © Politico Online (19/08/22)
