Assessment of Impact of the University of Cape Coast’ College of Distance Education Programme on Professional Teacher Development in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana
Author: Dr. Felix Senyametor, Kwame Nkrumah, Dr. Joyce Kwakyewaa Dankyi. & Michael Asare
Abstract: The focus of this study was to assess the impact of the University of Cape Coast Distance Learning Programme on the professional development of basic school teachers in the Kumasi Metropolis in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The descriptive design was adopted for the study, and a sample of 315 basic school teachers from the ten sub-metros of the Kumasi Metropolis was used. A self-designed questionnaire which contained 44 items and an observation guide were used as instruments to collect data for the study. The data collected were analysed using statistical tools such as means and standard deviations, frequencies and percentages as well multiple regression analysis. The study revealed that the University of Cape Coast distance learning programme has raised the professional ranks of basic school teachers. None of the teachers who pursued the programme was below the rank of Senior Superintendent II and 4.8 percent of them were Assistant Directors of Education I, which before the programme was not among the ranks which the basic teachers had attained. The study, therefore, recommended that the Ghana Education Service should introduce a policy making it mandatory for all basis school teachers who still hold Post-Secondary Teacher Certificate ‘A’ and other certificates below diploma level to enrol on the University of Cape Coast Distance Education Programme in order to update and upgrade their teaching competences and skills.