Teach lessons not questions and answers

Dr John Gatsi, a lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, School of Business, has condemned the practice among basic school teachers to concentrate on teaching pupils from prepared question and answer books instead of recommended text books.

He said the lessons as presented in the recommended text books must be thoroughly taught with teachers going over the notes before using the question and answer pamphlets.

Dr Gatsi was speaking at the 25th anniversary celebration of Mawuli School Complex, a private basic school at Dzodze, in the Ketu North District

He said this lazy method of teaching is more pronounced in Mathematics, Science and the English Language subjects, which were rather the foundation stones for many academic and career endeavours.

Dr.Gatsi said questions and answer books were supplementary books and not the main tools.

It therefore limits the scope of the knowledge and skills of students as a result of which they go and fail the Basic Education Certificate Examination, because some of the questions they meet were unfamiliar, with the expectation that they applied their knowledge of the subject, he stated.

The Lecturer, who is also the Founder-Director of John Gatsi Educational Foundation, which spearheads academic progress through competitive and excellence awards examinations for pupils in the Ketu North District, urged school heads to curb the practice.

He said schools which were doing well in the Foundation’s examinations, did poorly in the 2015 examinations when questions were lifted from the main text books.

Speaking on the anniversary theme, “The role of stakeholders in quality education in contemporary time”, Dr Gatsi said education was the bedrock of progress and development.

He said while educationists consider varied long term factors in measuring its quality, parents based it largely on the child’s grades.

He said these expectations demanded that Basic schools found more innovative means of delivering.

Dr. Gatsi said the pass rate of between 33-35 per cent, with some schools gaining zero at the BECE in the District, does not indicate quality education, wondering why private schools were at the top of the performance list, when they are not properly resourced as public schools.

He noted that quality education was not the responsibility of schools alone, and that parents, teachers and communities have crucial roles to play also.

Dr. Gatsi lamented the poor resourcing of rural schools compared to city schools. He commended the founders, teachers and pupils of Mawuli School Complex for the successes so far, noting that 25 years in the life of a private school, with its varied challenges, were not easy.

He said the school has been ranked above many in the District, with its students winning awards in the John Gatsi Foundation contests the past five years, including the over-all best student for last year.

Mr. Solace Senaya, the School’s Administrator, said the School started as a Day Care Center in 1991 and later upgraded to a Primary and Junior High level, and it now has 800 students

It also has a computer laboratory and boarding facilities.

He said the school chalked 100% 10 times in the BECE, adding that discipline was its hall mark.

Deserving pupils and staff were awarded for hard work.