With regards to the introduction of new curriculum in basic schools and it related issues, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) of the Ministry of Education has organized a three zonal consultation workshops in Ghana for stakeholders On the formative assessment and reporting templates for the new basic education curriculum.
The workshop was held in the Northern zone , Middle zone and southern zone in Tamale ,Kumasi and Accra respectively.
The Northern zone comprised of the Upper East Region and Upper West Region and Savannah region.
The workshop was held on the 5th of November, 2019 in the Northern zone and took place in the Ashanti Regional Capital, Kumasi(Middle zone) with other stakeholders coming from the Ahafo region on the 7th of November ,2019.
That of the Southern zone took place on 12th of November,2019 which comprised of the Greater Accra region,Eastern and Volta Regions with Accra as the host region.
It was purported develop templates and manuals to build the capacity of teachers on the implementation of the new basic schools curriculum across the country.
The templates and manuals are part of the process of developing a National Pre-Tertiary Education Assessment Framework for the new curriculum for basic schools 2019/2020 academic year.
A total of 50 participants representing various institutions including the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, West African Examination Council, National Teaching Council, Universities, COTVET and Teacher Unions are currently working with facilitators from Cambridge Assessment International (UK) were engaged.
Various stakeholders who were present at the workshop in the three zones respectively includes Teachers, Curriculum leaders, Colleges of Education, University lecturers, COHBS, CHASS, Private schools, Community members, Students, Classroom teachers, District Directors of Education, Unit Managers of Education, Circuit Supervisors, Subject Association Reps.,Teacher Unions, Training Officers, DTST,NGOs ,Religious Bodies and among others.
The Executive Secretary of NaCCA, Dr Prince Hamid Armah, who opened the workshop underscored the importance of a robust national assessment strategy in achieving the aspirations of the new curriculum.
This workshop is a follow-up to a 5-day workshop which was held in July 2019 and that also aimed to draft a comprehensive Learning Assessment Framework by analysing the existing assessment policies in use across schools in Ghana.
The new Learning Assessment Framework, templates and manuals upon completion will enhance how learners are assessed to ensure that the objectives of the standards-based curricular is achieved and learning outcomes improved.
Draft templates and manuals needed to guide how to assess learners has been developed at the end of the workshop.
Dr Prince Armah in an interview with media disclosed that, teachers in the Education Sectors, National Association of Teachers (NAT) Teacher Unions, West African, and other agencies of the Ministry of Education Sectors like the NGOs had an initial thoughts on how they can assess the children in the new curriculum in Education before initiating the process.
He added that, they have also engage their partners from UK over 100 years who are having the qualities of experience in assessing when it comes to educational aspects
He further explained that since all the zonal engagement has come to an end, that has given out series of opinions from the stakeholders and other bodies for further understanding, they will make the NACCA council aware, make it known to the Ministry, and then Cabinet will also have a perception of the situation before it can be considered as a Policy, he added.
Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Deputy minister for education, who were present at the event open up, on the new National Pre-Tertiary Assessment Framework that seeks to provide a guide to assessment practices in Ghanaian schools to ensure a strong linkage between the curriculum, mode of learning, teaching and assessment at the pre-tertiary level.
Speaking on the theme “Redefining Assessment to Improve Learning Outcomes,” the Honorable Minister stated that currently, there is no standard policy document to guide assessment practices at the pre-tertiary level of education.
“The new assessment framework would therefore provide general guidelines for measuring the progress and achievement of all learners at various grade-levels against national standards”.
The Hon. Minister then noted that, this will ensure fairness, accountability and public confidence in the assessment system across the country. 
He said, assessment at pre-tertiary level will be used to take decisions on Remediation, Placement, Promotion, Certification and Learner Progress.
In addition, it would be used for Selection, Resource allocation, System Monitoring and Interventions in Education.
Source:Broadcastergh.com/Kwabena Antwi
