Ministry Provides Licensure to Teachers, Leaders of Educational Institutions

Addis Ababa May 30/2018 Ministry of Education says that teachers, school directors and supervisors are being licensed to improve the quality of education across the country. Teachers and Educational Institutions Leaders Licensing Director at the Ministry, Kassanesh Alemu told ENA that the system of licensure of teachers and leaders of educational institutions has being implemented and is in a good progress. "Two ways of evaluating teachers and supervisors put in place to license them, first by assessing new teachers through a written exam and senior teachers by evaluating professional portfolio and written exam." According to her, the professional portfolio is a document that consists of the annual plan, set of personal works, achievements and background information of teachers. She pointed out that professional license for teachers and leaders of educational institutions are under the Teaching and Management Development Program focusing on assessing the qualifications of teachers and supervisors in exam and personal portfolio measurements. The Ministry so far licensed 8698 new teachers who graduated from universities and colleges on the basis of their results from the written exam, she said. “On the National Education Forum, which took place last October, we have given 8698 licenses for new teachers who graduated from universities and colleges on the basis of their results from the written exam.” Kassanesh pointed out that the aim of the appraisal is to identify professional gaps and support teachers in upgrading their skill through trainings, which will undertake in the future. "Our target is to develop the profession and to bring the skill required by training in institutions in addition to individual’s initiatives for better professionalism," she added. “The purpose of the assessment is not to say you have passed or you have failed rather it is to show the gap and Subsequently, there would be a second and third chance to support those who failed to meet the expected level to perform by various techniques." She said that the Ministry has implemented the licensing system nationwide in a similar way to other countries that have succeeded in bringing concrete change in the quality of education. The assessment includes all teachers both in government and private schools and it is mandatory for teachers to have a license to teach in the country, she emphasized. Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, has nearly one million teachers, according to the Ministry.