What Trainee Science Teachers in Ghana Know About Climate Change

Science education is critical at a time when many countries need to respond to the potential impacts of climate change and ozone depletion. 

Ghana recognizes the need for a skilled workforce of climate scientists and well-informed citizens. But there are significant gaps in what teachers in Ghana know about ozone depletion and climate change, even though these subjects are in the science curriculum. 

Samuel Cornelius Nyarko writes for The Conversation on research conducted on pre-service teachers in Ghana, examining their knowledge and where it came. Survey and interview responses revealed that the pre-service teachers could explain that stratospheric ozone is a layer of gas in the atmosphere that prevents ultraviolet radiation from reaching Earth. Yet, they could not describe how ozone forms and the mechanism of ozone destruction.