Upper East basic schools score below 50 Per cent in BECE

Basic schools in the Upper East Region, on the average, failed to make a 50 per cent mark in the 2012 Basic School Certificate Examination (BECE).

The poor performance led education authorities in the region on Thursday to recommit themselves to the task and re-strategize to ensure that school performance improved by 10 per cent in 2013.

They also agreed to empower basic school heads to be functional in the oversight responsibilities on teachers posted to their schools to ensure that they performed as expected. Those teachers who would be found not to be serious would be punished accordingly.

The authorities tasked Community Participation Coordinators (CPCs) to ensure that by 2013 all schools had functional Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and School Management Committees (SMCs).

These strategies were mapped-out at a day’s education forum held in Bolgatanga aimed at improving competencies of Circuit Supervisors, heads and school management committees on the theme: “Promoting Sustainable Quality Education Delivery in the Upper East Region: The Role of Key Stakeholders”.

Mr. Sule Seidu, Regional Planning and Statistics Officer of the Ghana Education Service (GES), who presented the 2012 results, said a total of 15,743 candidates constituting 8,425 boys and 7,318 girls were presented for the examination and a total of 5,229 pupils passed with grades ranging between six and 30.

He indicated that out of the number that passed only two boys had aggregate six, while 185 girls and 412 boys made aggregates between 7 and 18.

Talensi and Nabdam districts, according to him, ranked first with 48.6 per cent this year as against 38.9 obtained in 2011, while Garu Tempane came last among the districts with 15.2 per cent as against 16.5 per cent in 2011.

Mr. Augustus Azirizan, Bawku West District Director of Education, who chaired the occasion, said human resource was vital to the achievement of best results and called for equity in allocation of teachers to schools.

He indicated that public schools had more trained teachers than private schools yet pupils from such schools performed better.

He urged the circuit supervisors and other GES authorities to be committed and monitor the district offices and schools for effective implementation of the strategies.