‘Slack parenting responsible for poor school performance’

Slack parenting is a major factor for poor standards in basic schools and the persistently bad BECE results, Dr. John Gatsi, a Senior Lecturer, University of Cape Coast School of Business, has said.

Dr Gatsi, the founder of John Gatsi Educational Foundation, was speaking to the GNA on the sidelines of the fifth annual competitive examination in Mathematics, Science and English Language for basic school pupils in the Ketu North District.

Going with the examination was a refresher course for teachers handling those subjects.

Dr Gatsi urged parents therefore to show interest in the education of their children.

The examination and course are organized by the Foundation every year to trigger competition and enhance teaching to improve standards.

A total of 421 pupils selected from 65 schools, both private and public, and 110 teachers benefited.

Dr Gatsi said the Foundation had “found that most pupils in private schools in the Ketu North District, other than public schools for example, are coming from homes where parental interest in education, child control and monitoring is keen.”

He said all six best BECE performing schools in the area this year were from private schools with a private school pupil topping last year’s competitive examinations. The pupil also emerged the best in the BECE with aggregate seven.

He said though there was a marginal 2.34% improvement in the district’s BECE performance from 34% in 2013 to 36.34% this year, much more needed to be done.

Dr. Gatsi said teacher commitment and monitoring were better in private schools than public schools, where ironically, salaries were about 60% better and infrastructure in public schools was better and teachers formally trained.

He said teachers and the Directorate of Education had both not yet devised strategies to woo well-meaning people from the catchment area, through deliberate approach and discussions to contribute their quota for standard enhancement.

Mr. Daniel Nanewortor, District Examinations Officer, lauding the John Gatsi Foundation, said the statistics of zero scoring schools in the BECE had been going down, reducing from 16 in 2012 to 12 in 2013 and further to eight this year.

He said for the first time in three years, the district registered single digit results from aggregate seven, whereas aggregate 10 or more had been the best in the past.

“Truly there is an improvement and we urge other entities to emulate the John Gatsi Foundation to help push education further the ladder”, Mr. Nanewortor said.

Mr. Samuel Agbematu, an Examiner and Mathematics Resource Person, said the refresher course should be sustained because it exposed teachers to what was required of their pupils in international examinations.

He appealed to teachers to involve students in more problem solving activities and avoid assuming they would know just by being shown.

Mr. Jones Wengah, Science Resource Person, asked teachers to do more in pictorial teaching such as drawings and labeling of diagrams and testing pupils in them.

Best emerging students in the competition were to be awarded by the foundation later.