Improve quality in schools to create equitable opportunities - CSO entreats government

The government has been entreated to improve all grade ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ senior high schools (SHSs) across the country to create equitable chances of excellence for all learners.

It has also called for the establishment of a dedicated, transparent and sustainable funding framework for SHSs to improve teaching and learning.

The Chief Technical Adviser of T-TEL, a CSO, Akwasi Addae-Boehene, said “this could be achieved through a continuous national stakeholder consultative process to ensure a transparent financing model that thoroughly addresses the policy’s delivery costs and secure the full support of stakeholders”.

Event

Mr Addae-Boahene said this when he presented a paper on the topic: “The Free SHS concept: What reforms are required” at the Achimota Speaks Lecture in Accra on Wednesday.

He said that the funding framework should be able to address the specific needs of every learner, utilise resources from the private sector and enable parents’ contributions through Parent-Teacher-Associations and alumni to fill government funding gaps.

Mr Addae-Boahene also said that the free SHS programme should move beyond the mere expansion of access to providing relevant quality education to all learners.

“With the new curriculum in place, what needs to happen quickly is providing the required teaching and learning resources, infrastructure and teachers needed in every school to ensure the successful implementation of this groundbreaking curriculum,” he added.

Mr Addae-Boahene further said that the government should thoroughly review the foundational assumptions made in designing the policy to make it cost-efficient, equitable and effective in using secondary education as a tool for transformation.

The chief technical adviser said the essence of the policy was to provide access to all young people so that they could use the path of secondary education to achieve their maximum potential, but said “we need to design a model built around equity and equality focused on acquiring skills, competencies and character values which are the essentials of the 21st Century education”.

He said the Ministry of Education needed to establish a long-term vision to enhance school management and also focus on fulfilling the mandates of schools.

To achieve that, Mr Addae-Boahene suggested that the Ghana Education Service (GES) must delegate decision-making concerning school operations, including admissions, teaching and learning resources and students feeding and welfare to school managers and hold them accountable.

He said this would entail school management taking responsibility for academic excellence and progression of learners, recruitment of teachers and staff, procurement of school supplies, management and operations of schools, as well as community and stakeholder engagement and partnerships, with oversight from the GES.

Mr Addae-Boahene said “we must create a school-level ecosystem based on training a generation of young people fit for the 21st Century”.

Teacher distribution

The chief technical adviser further urged GES to hire more school managers and teachers and deploy them equitably across all schools to alleviate the workload of some teachers, particularly those in the double-track schools.

He said the government should also promote school and local industry partnerships to promote portfolio building and develop learners’ skills in technical, vocational education and training (TVET) in line with 21st Century classroom practices.

“The Ministry of Education should refrain from centralising food procurement and supplies as they may result in erratic availability and shortages of essential commodities.

“Providing unreliable and low-quality food at the school level can adversely affect students’ health and nutrition,” Mr Addae-Boahene added.