Former Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive and Development Practitioner, Rex Asanga, has called for significant investment in the retraining of public pre-tertiary school teachers, particularly in northern Ghana.
He believes that continuous retraining, alongside other effective measures, would help improve learning outcomes at the BECE and WASSCE levels.
Speaking on the Day Break Upper East Show with Gerard Asagi, Mr. Asanga expressed concern over the steady decline in pass rates for BECE and WASSCE over the past two decades.
The Access to Quality of Basic and Secondary Education in Ghana 2000-2023 report, jointly published by the Ghana Statistical Service and the Ghana Education Service, tracks BECE performance from 2002 to 2021. The report highlights a persistent decline in pass rates across core subjects.
Core English pass rates, which stood at 54.8% in the 2002/03 academic year, peaked at 89.1% in 2004/05 but dropped sharply to 40.1% in 2010/11 and further declined to 48.6% by 2020/21.
Mathematics followed a similar pattern, starting at 58.3% in 2002/03, rising to 75.0% in 2007/08, but dropping to 42.8% in 2008/09 and reaching its lowest point at 37.5% in 2010/11. Between 2015/16 and 2020/21, the average pass rate for Mathematics stood at 53.9%.
Science performance also declined, with a pass rate of 58.2% in 2002/03, peaking at 75.7% in 2007/08, but falling to 50.7% by 2020/21. Social Studies mirrored this trend, with pass rates declining from 59.2% in 2002/03 to 42.9% in 2020/21.
Mr. Asanga argued that a key reason for this decline is the lack of retraining for teachers.
“If you ask the average teacher whether they have undergone retraining, they will tell you no. It is completely unknown to them, but that should not be the case. Teachers must constantly be reminded of what they learned in training college and, more importantly, how to manage their classrooms, engage students effectively, improve teaching and learning, and support students who are lagging behind,” he stated.
“There is virtually nothing happening when it comes to giving teachers refresher courses,” he added.
Another challenge affecting learning outcomes, according to Mr. Asanga, is government policies that have, over the years, alienated schools from parents and the communities in which they are located.
“Government policies in the past have told parents and communities to take their hands off schools because the government will provide everything. Head teachers were even afraid to ask parents to contribute a little to fix minor issues in schools,” he said.
To restore parental involvement in education, he urged the government to reconsider some of these policies.
Beyond that, Mr. Asanga called on the government to improve infrastructure at public pre-tertiary schools to enhance learning conditions.
Weak Supervision in Public Schools Also Affecting Academic Performance – Prof. Millar
Meanwhile, the lack of proper supervision in public pre-tertiary schools in the Upper East Region is also significantly affecting student performance in BECE and WASSCE.
Professor David Millar, Founder and President of Millar Open University, raised this concern in an interview with Gerard Asagi on A1 Radio. He reacted to findings from the national education report, which highlights a troubling decline in pass rates in the region.
Professor Millar identified weak supervision in public schools as a major factor behind the region’s poor academic performance. Comparing public and private schools, he acknowledged that public school teachers are generally more qualified but argued that private schools produce better results because “teachers are supervised to teach.”
“In private schools, there is strict oversight. Teachers are monitored to ensure they teach. That is why, on average, their students perform better. But in public schools, where student numbers are large and supervision is weak, outcomes suffer,” he stated.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com | 101.1MHz | Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith | Bolgatanga
