Duration should not determine SHS Programme-Rector

Sunyani (B/A), April 25, GNA - Professor Kwasi Nsiah-Gyabaah, Rector of Sunyani Polytechnic on Friday said the duration of the Senior High School(SHS) programme should not necessarily be the determinant factor in measuring its progress and success. The four-year duration of the system now could either be maintained or reduced to three years but what should engage the attention of the nation is the inputs of the programme to obtain quality output to achieve excellence in the society, he said. "We should not be content in increasing numbers without adequate corresponding infrastructure like well-equipped science laboratories, workshops fitted with state-of-the-art equipment for the technical and vocational courses and the information, communication and technology (ICT) centres as the world is quickly going digital", the Professor said.

Professor Nsiah-Gyabaah, who was speaking with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani pointed out that the quality of students being trained made it critical as a nation to focus attention on the materials to enable the educational institutions to produce quality products. This he explained was because the substance and output of students being trained left much to be desired, for, "the educational institutions were churning out mediocre students and so we are compromising quality for quantity".

Professor Nsiah-Gyabaah said the decision to adopt the Junior High School (JHS)/SHS) concept was informed by the need to make available lower and middle level manpower personnel to feed the industries but it was realized that the industrial set up was not expanding enough to absorb them, he added. Another issue, said the Professor, that had compounded the problem was under-funding notwithstanding the fact that a large proportion of national budget went to the educational sector. In addition was the declining donor support that had been worsened by the global credit crunch and what probably mattered most was qualitative but not quantitative output of the system. He said the duration of the system should not be the priority concern, provided the right framework in terms of material and human resources were in place to ensure the desired impact on the society. The Professor said the system was producing drop- outs because of poor performance at the SHS level, saying that was disenabling a lot to either enter the tertiary institutions or fit into industries. Consequently such people ended up in the streets as dog-chain sellers, Professor Nsiah-Gyabaah said. He noted the increasing numbers of SHS graduates was also due to the encouraging easy accessibility of basic education which was being boosted by some facilities like the capitation grant.

Professor Nsiah-Gyabaah therefore argued that, if the four-year SHS system was maintained, it would be able to cover the syllabus which was heavily-loaded; ssaying that would also equip the students better. He however, said if the nation wanted to revert to three years, then it should be considered if it was now feasible in terms of the available facilities.

This, he said included, "the staff capacities we have built if they are adequate and if logistics support are also enough to equip the SHS graduates to come out as people who can start their own businesses without becoming a drain on the government or can enter the universities and other tertiary institutions". He said that would curb the rate of drop-outs, emphasizing that, "we either prepare them for self-employment or to enable them to gain entry into the tertiary set-up, thus there might be no misfits in the system".

The Professor emphasised that before the inception of the three-year duration to four, there were broader and extensive nationwide fora and consultation.

He therefore expressed belief that, "the four-year duration is better, saying, "that is not even anything but what is put in is the important thing".

"We should then look at the relevance of the courses and the training being offered at that level if they meet the societal needs". 25 April 09