Investigation into the organization of inset for basic school teachers in the Offinso South Municipality of the Ashanti Region

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the organization of in-service education and training (INSET) in basic schools in the Offinso South Municipality of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to: ascertain the prevailing in-service education and training in the Municipality; find out the impact of in-service education and training on teachers’ performance; determine the assessment processes after the organization of INSET; and to establish the factors that militate against effective organization of INSET for teachers in basic schools in the Municipality. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The target population for the study consisted of the 1,024 teachers in all the basic schools in the Offinso South Municipality. The accessible population for the study was all the 202 teachers in 10 selected basic schools in the Offinso South Municipality. Simple random sampling was used to select 134 teachers for the study. Closed-ended questionnaire was the data collection instrument. The study found that in service training in Mathematics, French among others were organized for teachers; INSET helped to improve teacher retention and performance and also improved teachers’ teaching methodology to improve performance; INSET programmes were evaluated after their organization and that INSET was not geared towards teachers’ specific needs as needs assessment were not conducted. Based on the findings and conclusions it was recommended that school heads should strengthen the organization of INSET by organizing it at regular intervals. The Ghana Education Service should liaise with the government to allocate enough funds to school heads to organize effective INSET for teachers.