GHANA EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL PROTECTION (GESP) PROJECT HOST TRANSFORM TRAINING FOR SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK (SSW)

As part of the certification processes to enable the School of Social Work faculty deliver the TRANSFORM curriculum, an 8-day training of trainers’ workshop was held in Ho, Volta Region.

The Transform program which is being implemented by the Ghana Employment and Social Protection (GESP) project seeks to train ten (10) Ghanaian Candidate Trainers specifically faculty members of the School of Social Work under the Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection (MoGCSP) and the Department of Social welfare (DSW) with a view of preparing them for certification as TRANSFORM Master Trainers. 

The TRANSFORM Programme is an innovative learning package that seeks to provide skills, competences and knowledge to administer national social protection floors in Africa. The prime objective of TRANSFORM was to build critical thinking capacities of policy makers and practitioners at national and decentralized levels to improve the design, effectiveness and efficiency in the implementation of social protection systems. It was developed at the request of the Africa union by the United Nations (UN) Agencies, the European Union (EU)-Social Protection Services (SPS) Programme, bilateral agencies with support from African Social Protection Experts’ Group in 2016.

The aim of the TRANSFORM Training was to equip participants already employed in a training institution, with some level of experience in adult pedagogy and with the competences and motivation to contribute to the further development of the TRANSFORM Social Protection Learning Package. 

The eight-day-long training helped participants to:

1. understand the rationale and objectives of the TRANSFORM programme and curriculum,
2. Be equipped with the skills, knowledge and resources (kit and materials) to run the five-day introduction to social protection curriculum,
3. Have the opportunity to share ideas and contribute to further development of other modules and training opportunities especially in relation to the SSW Social Protection Curriculum.
4. Appreciate the relevance of transformation and leadership to delivering social protection at national and sub-national levels.

Dr. Prince Boamah Abrah, the Principal of the School indicated that, the training will enable the school to run a certificate course in social protection starting from 2022 using the TRANSFORM SP Learning Curriculum in Ghana.

Adult Learning Methodology Expert, Ms. Kate Blaine from South Africa with relevant academic training as well as extensive experience in professional coaching, training, process facilitation and workshop management for adult learners and professionals including developing educational materials for adult learning, delivering training and coaching adults in leadership and presentation skills was one of the trainers.

Others include Ms. Mutale Wakunuma from Zambia with requisite academic training and experience in social protection and expertise and Mr. Mawutor Ablo, Director of Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PPME) at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. (MoGCSP)

Mr. Ablo spoke extensively about mainstreaming which includes how processes have evolved over the period. He spoke about financing as a key role player in scaling up while using the opportunity to thank donor partners such as the European Union, The World Bank, UNICED and FCDO.

The programme has four Key Results Areas (KRAs), the first of which is to strengthen and make the social protection system of Ghana more effective and efficient in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) and the Office of the Head of Local Government Service (OHLGS). A component of the programme also targets and seeks to support selected training institutions and enhance their contributions to building requisite capacity for social protection in Ghana.

Source: MoGCSP