The 2019 teacher licensure exam recorded a 78.2 percent pass rate representing 27,171 out of 34,724 teachers who sat for the examination.
This means 21.8 percent of the teachers, representing 7,553 teachers failed the exam, according to the National Teaching Council (NTC).
The licensure exam is a prerequisite for all newly trained diploma students from the various colleges of education who want to teach.
The candidates have prior qualifications like Diploma in Basic Education (DBE), Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) or a Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), M.Ed.
Speaking to Citi News, the PRO of the NTC, Dennis Osei Owusu was happy with the improvement from the pass rate in the previous year.
“It tells you that the performance keeps on increasing,” he said.
Teachers who failed will have the opportunity to retake the examination sometime in March 2020.
About Teacher licensing examinations
In 2017, the Ghana Education Service (GES) revealed that all trained teachers nationwide were expected to write professional licensing examinations to be conducted by the Service.
The initiative according to the GES was prescribed by law and part of the education sector’s professional development.
The licensing examination applies to both trainee teachers graduating from public and private teacher training colleges.
The NTC explained that it is mandated by the Education Act 2008 (Act 778), Section 9 to conduct the exams.