New Juaben Municipal basic schools record lowering BECE results

Koforidua, Nov. 6, GNA - Stakeholders in education in the New Juaben Municpality have expressed concern about the systematic lowering standard of education in the area as indicated by results of the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) over the past five years, especially among public schools.

Records of BECE results compiled by the Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES) indicated that since 1998 when the 54 Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in the municipality scored 92.52 per cent, subsequent years results were 76.22 per cent for 1999, 76.50% for 2000, 77.07% for 2001, 77.88% for 2002 and 74.57% for 2003.

The Municipal Director of the GES, Miss Felicia Duku, disclosed this at a School Performance Appraisal Meeting (SPAM) at Koforidua on Thursday, attended by the Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Agyei Boateng, Regional Managers of Education Units, Directors of GES, Social Services Sub-Committee of the Assembly, Circuit Supervisors and head teachers from both public and private basic schools.

The result analysis chart indicated, however, that while nine JSS, (five public) out of the 54 recorded 100 per cent passes in 2002, 12 of them attained the feat in 2003 with five of them in the public system. Miss Duku expressed concern about the regressive results being recorded over the years despite various interventions by the Municipal Assembly, the government and donor agencies through the provision of infrastructure, including teachers' bungalows, text books, libraries and uniforms.

Nana Adjei Boateng, who described the lowering results as "terrible", attributed much of the factors for the situation as "self-induced" by some parents who neglected their responsibilities towards the education of their wards, saying, while some failed to pay school fees, other engaged their wards in trading resulting in absenteeism and lateness to school.

He expressed concern that unlike the private schools, all public basic schools in the municipality were staffed virtually with trained teachers, except technical subject teachers, yet "we are not getting our money's worth."

The MCE also urged teachers to change their attitude to work to help improve the situation.

During an open forum, some of the stakeholders noted that while heads of private schools had the free hand in selecting pupils for admission and therefore, take on manageable classes, those of the public have no such choice.

Some of the factors identified by the stakeholders included poor leadership in schools, lack of parental control and interest in their children's education,

The wholesale promotion system and the craze by most teachers to pursue academic advancement at the expense of their work, especially leaving school to attend sandwich and distance education programmes in the tertiary institutions. The Presiding Member of the New Juaben Municipal Assembly, Miss Beatrice Boateng, called for the setting up of model schools in the municipality and the holding of periodic similar durbars of stakeholders at the community levels to identify problems for solutions. Nov. 6, 03