The Institute of Educational Studies (IES) says more needs to be done to improve the quality of education in Ghana.
The Director of the Institute, Dr. Barnabas Addai Amanful, speaking with Mark Smith on the Day Break Upper East Show, explained that policymakers within the education sector have long known the variables that would improve the overall quality of education.
The implementation of these, Dr. Amanful said, has been the challenge.
His comments come on the back of Ghana’s poor ranking in the recent Legatum Prosperity Index.
Ranked 137th out of 167 countries, Ghana has significantly improved its secondary school enrollment from 42.5% in 2013 to 57.2% in recent years, according to UNESCO.
This surge marks a noteworthy advancement from its 2013 ranking of 144. However, amid this progress, a stark reality looms: the quality of secondary education in Ghana remains a concern, placing a dismal 166th out of 167 countries in the Legatum Prosperity Index.
Dr. Amanful said, “The handlers of our education system, they know. They know the variables they use in ranking and gaining the scores. These variables are very important. For example, they look at curriculum relevance. What are we teaching our children? Are we still teaching them ‘A for apple’? In our senior high schools, even if it is history, how relevant is the history to the international community?”
Dr. Amanful commended the Ministry of Education for the upcoming introduction of “the new Secondary Education Curriculum,” adding that “even before these rankings, I am sure that they were aware that what we have been doing in our secondary school education is not something very relevant, and therefore they have seen the need [to change it].”
Beyond the review of the curriculum, Dr. Amanful charged the government and all stakeholders in education to target the improvement of infrastructure and the quality of teachers as part of the measures to improve the quality of Ghana’s education.
This, he said, can be done through non-political national dialogues.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
