Let’s collectively tackle falling standards of education – Deputy Minister

Mr Amidu Issahaku Chinnia, the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister has called on stakeholders in the education sector to collectively tackle the falling standards of education in the region.

He said most schools performed poorly, especially in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) over the years, which called for all stakeholders to have introspection of what the problem could be and how best to resolve it.

The Deputy Minister was speaking at a youth accountability forum on education in Wa, aimed at creating a platform for stakeholders to dialogue and proffer solutions to curb the falling standards of education in the region.

The forum was organized by the Ghana Youth Federation on the theme: “Accountability; the bedrock of our educational development”.

Mr Chinnia charged stakeholders in the education sector to be accountable in whatever they do and perform their duties and responsibilities accordingly, in order to ensure quality education for the younger generations.

“Educational accountability involves a diverse array of means by which education providers are required to give an account of their work and held responsible for their performance”, he noted.

He said in providing the necessary funding for infrastructure, teaching and learning materials to improve quality education; stakeholders especially Head Teachers, Internal Auditors and Educational Accountants have a key role to play by ensuring that control measures were in place to promote judicious use of resources.

He therefore appealed to teachers and managers of education in various Municipalities and District Assemblies of the region to regularly upgrade their knowledge and skills to ensure efficiency in order to address the challenge.

Mr Abu K. Salifu, the Upper West Regional Examination Officer, said poor results produced over the years by pupils who sat for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the region had been a source of worry to stakeholders.

He revealed that, out of a total number of 12,225 pupils who sat for the 2017/2018 academic year, only 41,174 representing 34.14 per cent passed.

Mr Haruna Zinentah, the Vice President of the Ghana Youth Federation said low performance of students had been a headache to the youth in the region and so there was the need for stakeholders to propose recommendations to change the trend.

Mr Archibald Donkoh, the Acting Upper West Regional Director of National Youth Authority said accountability, transparency, high level of commitment and sacrifice were needed to ensure comprehensive and quality education for the youth.

Some participants at the forum attributed the abysmal performance of students to teacher absenteeism and laziness on the part of the students.