Prof. Jophus Anamuah-Mensah

Executive Chair of TEACHER EDUCATION IN SUB SAHARAN AFRICA (TESSA)


Ghana

Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, Ed.D., is Executive Chair of Teacher Education in Sub Saharan Africa, and the Director of School and Community Science and Technology Studies (SACOST) at the University of Education, Winneba, (UEW) Ghana. He was for nine years the Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, the first university in Africa dedicated to teacher education. He has taught and researched in science education from kindergarten to the university level. He has contributed greatly to the development of open distance learning in Ghana and was the chair of the committee that produced a blueprint for an open university for Ghana. He established the Centre for School and Community Science and Technology Studies in 2000 and the Department of Early Childhood Care and Development in 2005 at UEW. He also set up the National Centre for Research into Basic Education to provide evidence-based information that addresses issues covering the 11 years of basic education, i.e., from kindergarten to junior high school. In 1996, he started a PhD program at the University of Cape Coast, which became the yardstick for similar programs in other areas. He is the chief architect of Ghana’s current educational reform, which introduced ECD into the formal curriculum and placed emphasis on science, technology, innovation and skill development. In 2006, Prof. Anamuah-Mensah was given the country’s second highest award, the Order of the Volta by the President of Ghana. In 2010, he received an award from the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs of Ghana for his dedication to the cause of Ghanaian children.  In 2009, a book, Teaching and Education for Teaching in the Era of Globalisation in Developing Countries: Essays in Honour of Prof. Jophus Anamuah-Mensah was written by colleagues in recognition of his work in education.