Good Governance Africa-West Africa in collaboration with the Shai Osodoku District Education Office has put together a 4-day training program for selected Kindergarten teachers within the district.
The training program was under the theme, ‘Promoting Sustainable Quality Kindergarten Education’.
This would be made possible through the creation of child-friendly model practised KG classroom and well-resourced KG teachers who are able to combine the classroom experience with the day-to-day activities outside the classroom which form part of the development of the KG kid.
The Executive Director of GGA-WA, Tina Asante-Apeatu in an interview reinforced the need to build formidable basics for the KG kid for an instant and easy take-off at the higher level.
“I am of the strongest opinion that if the foundation of any building is weak, it is a dangerous threat to its inhabitants and surrounding buildings; so as to the survival of every student on the formal educational ladder is greatly dependent on the type of KG foundation he/she has built over the years”, she emphasised.
“When a child attends kindergarten he/she learns the basics; the basics in math, science, reading, writing, social studies, and more. For a child to be prepared for class 1 and beyond, he/she must have a well-structured KG education system to broaden the thinking capabilities if the said child. If a child skips kindergarten then he/she may be prepared for class 1 anyway, but he/she may still be behind. This new form of kindergarten classroom model exposes the child to all the things he/she should know so that by the time he/she gets to class 1” she added.
This KG model is targeted at developing all the senses of the kid whiles learning in a classroom environment which is also incorporated with learning centres such as the shopping centres, library, hospital, kitchen, living room and all other places that the KG kid comes into contact with on a daily basis.
Godwin Agbavor, the lead trainer and an early year educationist, opined that the classroom setup is to encourage activity based learning; children learn from known to the unknown, they learn team work, build their confidence, and explore their level of curiosity.
“This is an integrated learning approach for the KG kids-they learn whiles playing”, he stressed.
The training, which took place at the Dodowa D /A KG School, brought together fifty (50) KG teachers, Circuit Supervisors and Head teachers from seven (7) circuits within the district.
The selected schools include, Asutuare Estate D/A 2, Volivo Presby D/A, Kongo D/A, Agomeda D/A, Dodowa Presby B, Dodowa Methodist A, Newtown D/A Basic A, and New Faith Baptist.
All the participants expressed gratitude to GGA-WA for putting together such an insightful training program which will go a long way to enhance the teaching and learning at the KG level.
They also pledged to inculcate the model into the teaching practices to build a firm and critical learning ability of the KG kid.
GGA-West Africa is an independent and non-partisan research and advocacy organization that works to improve government performance on the continent by strengthening institutions and building consensus through research, capacity building, sensitization programmes and orientations.