Teachers benefit from Israeli dev't agency’s early childhood education programme

Forty kindergarten educators selected from the Accra Metropolis public school system have successfully completed a two week intensive training organised for them by Israel’s Agency for Development Cooperation, MASHAV. Prior to this, Israel’s MASHAV took over hundreds of kindergarten teachers from Ghana on an exchange programmes at different times to Israel, to have their knowledge in pre-schooling enhanced through the sharing of ideas and knowledge.

MASHAV was established in 1957 as a division in Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and works with the aim of sharing with the rest of the developing world the know-how and technologies which provided the basis for Israel’s own rapid development.

The two week training, aimed at building the capacity of the educators to upgrade the early childhood education curriculum, took the kindergarten educators through topics such as learning principles, child’s needs, levels of games, etc.

The early childhood education programme, an initiative under MASHAV, is a collaborative effort between the Embassy of Israel, Accra Metropolitan Assembly and the Ghana Education Service; and contributes to the grass-roots level human capacity building through knowledge sharing in areas in which Israel has accumulated expertise.

The selected educators had field trainings in eight schools including John Wesley Methodist kindergarten, Kotobabi kindergarten, Osu kindergarten and Police Depot kindergarten and are expected to implement what they have been taught and share the knowledge gained with their colleagues.

At a ceremony held in Accra yesterday to officially end the two week training, Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Her Excellency Sharon Bar-li reiterated Israel’s commitment to working in partnership with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and the Ghana Education Service to continue training the trainers in transferring knowledge to these educators who will in return, impact great knowledge to children at the basic level since that constitutes the foundation on which these children will build their future on.

On her part, Lydia Sackey, Metro Director of Budget at the Accra Metropolitan Assembly urged the beneficiaries of the training to show leadership and be proactive in implementing the lessons they have been taught. She also expressed the AMA’s gratitude to the Israeli Ambassador and the MASHAV for the resources spent on the educators.

The early childhood development education programme began four years ago in Kumasi and is in its second year in Accra. The Tamale Municipality will soon benefit from the programme as the programme will be launched with a training course beginning on Monday 22nd of April.

As part of the training programme, 30 teachers from Accra, Kumasi and the Northern region also participated in an advanced course on early childhood education in Israel in February.