Teacher Education Reforms in Ghana: A Policy and Empirical Synthesis

Abstract

In the last ten years, Ghana has enacted extensive reforms in teacher education to professionalise the teaching profession, improve teacher quality, and synchronise pre-service training with national development objectives and global commitments, particularly Sustainable Development Goal 4. The reforms, designed as a policy response to persistent fragmentation, inadequate practice integration, and variable standards, implemented structural, curricular, and regulatory changes across the teacher education system. Essential policy measures encompass elevating Colleges of Education (CoEs) to tertiary status, replacing the Diploma in Education with a four-year Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) program including specified specialisations, and the formal establishment of mentorship frameworks between universities and CoEs. The implementation is fundamentally anchored on the enhanced Supported Teaching in School (STS), which integrates student teachers into basic schools for continuous, mentored, and progressively structured practice. Synchronised national frameworks strengthen policy coherence—the National Teachers' Standards (NTS), National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework (NTECF), and National Teacher Education Assessment Policy (NTEAP)—that regulate curriculum, assessment, and professional expectations. This paper examines the design logic, implementation processes, and initial outcomes of Ghana's teacher education reforms, utilising policy documents and empirical literature, while emphasising improvements in coherence and practical orientation, as well as ongoing challenges concerning capacity, sustainability, and equity. The analysis provides pertinent insights for improving teacher education in Sub-Saharan Africa.