The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, Professor Akwesi Asabere-Ameyaw has appealed to stakeholders in education, including government to attract the best brains into the teaching professor for the current educational reform to have the expected impact. Professor Asabere-Ameyaw made the appeal at the 13th Congregation of the University of Education, Winneba where a total of 5,558 teachers were awarded with degrees, diplomas and certificates. The VC said the new educational reform posed challenges to UEW, which is responsible of training quality teachers and gave the assurance that the University would do its best to fulfill that obligation. He urged the government to re-examine the approval of study leave with pay applications for further training of teachers in tertiary institutions. According to Professor Asabere-Ameyaw the UEW alone trains close to 5,000 graduate teachers annually. He said, “it should be the responsibility of the government to make the teaching profession very attractive to make teaching a profession of choice”. “We need to support teacher trainees through scholarship and providing conducive teaching and learning environments”. He appealed to the government to provide the necessary incentives to teachers and to empower them economically. Prof. Asabere-Ameyaw urged certificated teachers to enroll for further training in the university distance education centres in the regions at Tamale, Navrongo, Enchi, Bechem, Cape Coast, Atebubu and Accra. The VC said under the new educational reforms the two-year kindergarten education has been absorbed as part of basic education. In order that the government policy on Early Childhood Education was successful, there is the need for all Pre-school teachers to undergo training, he said. Prof. Asabere-Ameyaw said the UEW had introduced Sandwich Programmes in the various fields of study including certificate in Pre-School Education, Educational Administration and Management, Science Education and Mathematics Education. Source: GNA