CEMIS Programme for Colleges of Education Launched.
The National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) in collaboration with Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) with support from UKaid, Mastercard Foundation and the Government of Ghana have formally launched the Colleges of Education Management Information System (CEMIS) and improvement of Wi-Fi Connectivity at an in-person and virtual launch ceremony at the Conference Room of NCTE, Accra on Wednesday, October 21, 2020.
The event saw the presence of Prof. Mohammed Salifu, Executive Secretary, NCTE who gave the welcome address and background of the projects and how far T-TEL have come with transforming Teacher Education in Ghana through the 46 Colleges of Education(CoEs) in the country. In his remarks, he made it known that with support from MasterCard foundation and UKAid, devices have been procured and loaded with materials and resources that will aid the various CoEs to be effective and remain relevant. Prof. Kwesi Yankah, Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, who gave the Keynote Address, expressed government’s involvement and support for transforming teacher education in Ghana via the T-TEL project and officially launched the CEMIS project.
The event which sought to share benefits of CEMIS and the Wi-Fi Connectivity Project was attended by the Principals and some Staff of the various Colleges of Education, representatives from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the MasterCard Foundation, representatives of the five (5) Mentoring Public Universities and some Technical Advisors to the T-TEL project. The event was also streamed live via YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook and this allowed more people to be part of the event from various parts of the world
Mr. Jacob Akunor, Head of IT at NTCE outlined the following as some benefits of CEMIS;
· Improved data accuracy
· Comprehensive reporting on college information
· Elimination of routine manual data processes and input
· Better analysis of data planning and policy formulation
· Enhanced monitoring and supervision
Mr. Akunor, in his presentation, described the framework for CEMIS and explained how CEMIS operates. He spoke about how all the 46 CoEs had a local version of CEMIS (i.e. a system to help the CoEs perform their day-to-day activities of Budgeting and Finance, Academics (Teaching and Learning), providing Library resources and allowing for Quality Assurance, and Monitoring and Evaluation) on their various campuses and how it was integrated into a Central CEMIS system at NCTE. The central system at NCTE which receives data from the local system allows the NCTE, Ministry of Education and other stakeholders like the National Teachers Council (NTC) and the National Accreditation Board (NAB) to use outputs from the system for educational planning and management of the Colleges of Education.
He further stated that in the near future CEMIS will be integrated with the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and the QuickBooks Accounting Software, which has been deployed to all 46 CoEs.
Team Leader at T-TEL, Robin Todd, during his presentation on Wi-Fi Connectivity and the Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL) support that was provided to the CoEs when teaching and learning in the Colleges was disrupted by the Corona Virus pandemic, shared with participants some of the lessons learnt and the way forward i.e.
· Act quickly with vision
· Build on what exists
· Maximise inclusivity and
· Think about data from start
He then touched on what participants can take with them on Thinking beyond the crises; “The switch to virtual and blended learning does have some merits, particularly considering rapid expansion of access, which we should consider how to incorporate within teacher education once the Covid-19 curve has flattened. We must also recognise that, within context, face-to-face instruction is more results-oriented than then ERTL so we should make it a point to prioritise,” he added.
Visit www.ncte.edu.gh
The switch to virtual and blended learning does have some advantages, particularly considering rapid expansion of access, which we should consider how to incorporate within teacher education once the COVID-19 situation has normalized. We must also recognise that, within our context, face-to-face instruction is more effective than Emergency Remote Teaching & Learning so we should aim to prioritise it wherever possible.
