The District Chief Executive for Bawku West District, James Ayamwego, has expressed deep concern over the state of education in the district, describing the current academic outcomes as a significant setback to the area’s socio-economic development.
Speaking on A1 Radio in Bolgatanga, he highlighted a range of educational challenges undermining the quality of basic education delivery, despite the dedicated efforts of teaching staff in the Upper East Region district. Mr. Ayamwego lamented that Bawku West District continues to rank poorly in educational performance indicators, a situation he finds deeply troubling for rural development.
Drawing on his past experience as a professional teacher, the DCE stressed the importance of academic excellence, noting that student outcomes are the true measure of educational progress and quality assurance in Ghana’s education system.
While he acknowledged that many current teachers are working diligently, he believes the poor results reflect broader systemic issues that extend beyond classroom instruction and pedagogical approaches.
“The times I was in the classroom teaching, it was my priority to ensure that my children passed and passed very well. If you got 4 in any of my subjects I was teaching, it was considered a fail. It was a priority and I had objectives to achieve. Today, many of the teachers of course are equally doing the same and even more than what I was doing but the result is not helping us,” he explained.
Infrastructure vs Performance Gap in Bawku West Schools
One of the major concerns he raised is the disparity between educational infrastructure and academic performance—the district operates approximately 82 primary schools without corresponding improvement in student achievement levels. More critically, he pointed to changing attitudes of pupils and parents towards formal education, which he believes has shifted in a worrying direction across rural Northern Ghana.
According to the Bawku West DCE, education is increasingly being treated as a secondary priority, with many parents in farming communities failing to emphasize its importance to their children’s future prospects.
“I think that the fundamental issue has to also do with the attitude of our own kids, the pupils. Education has become like a secondary priority. Some parents don’t even no longer prioritize education,” he stated.
Galamsey Impact on School Enrollment in Upper East Region
Mr. Ayamwego also observed a sharp decline in student enrollment numbers between early primary education levels and junior high school, attributing this educational dropout crisis partly to illegal mining activities, commonly known as galamsey, which are drawing young people away from classrooms in mining communities.
The lure of quick financial gains from small-scale mining, he noted, has convinced many students that formal education is no longer necessary or economically beneficial for rural youth development.
“It is the quest for money. They no longer see education as an alternative,” the district chief executive observed.
Call for Education Stakeholder Intervention
He stressed that reversing this educational decline requires coordinated effort from all education stakeholders, including parents, traditional authorities, and educators, calling for intensified community sensitization campaigns to re-emphasize the long-term value of quality education for sustainable development.
He believes young people in Bawku West need to understand that mining activities and educational pursuits are not mutually exclusive, and that academic qualifications can enhance opportunities even in sectors like mining and agriculture.
“I think we need to do more re-sensitization. We need to let them know that these natural resources are limited in supply. A time will come and you cannot find them,” he warned.
“I think that as parents, we need to do a lot of education, and as stakeholders, we need to educate our children. We need to do sensitization, let them understand the importance of education, let them understand that they can even do mining after your education.”
Ghana’s Human Resource Development Crisis
The Bawku West DCE warned that if the current neglect of education continues, Ghana risks a future shortage of skilled professionals such as medical doctors, professional teachers, engineers, and other critical human resources for national development.
For him, the situation presents a national crisis that must be urgently addressed to secure the future of Ghana’s youth and the overall socio-economic development of the Upper East Region and the country at large.
“As a country, we have a serious problem if we don’t tackle this matter because time would come that human resource, in terms of having to man various areas, we won’t be able to get because the children who would have been doctors and what not, many of them end up in this galamsey which would eventually not take them anywhere,” he concluded.
Source: A1 Radio | 101.1 MHz | Gifty Eyram Bolgatanga
