Foundation Matters More In Functioning Educational Systems

The Chinese Bamboo tree presents an insightful lesson in life. It has been documented that its seed stays in the ground for five years when planted with little signs of germination. However, in the fifth year it amazingly grows 90 feet in six weeks!It takes five years to grow the root system that supports the trunk. That is how life has been designed: how far a man can jump depends on how low he will bow. We all admire the skyscrapers and towering structures, but few of us think about how the foundations have been systematically and carefully developed.

In Ghana, many of the rich rush to send their children to study abroad without reflecting, as a people, on what has made the educational system of those country desirable. The principle of foundation is what is lacking in our deteriorating education system. If one takes a cursory look at the countries with enviable system of education, the emphasis they place on basic education will be most noticeable.

Such countries understand that the success of education is not only about the proliferation of private universities, or experimenting with the duration of senior high tutelage, or fighting over book and research allowances of tertiary lecturers. Rather it is about properly orientating and nurturing the creative potentials of the kindergarten and primary pupils. Only then will the secondary and tertiary levels matter. Such countries understand that xyz is of little significance if abc is not mastered.

Take for instance the qualification required to enter the Colleges of Education (CoE) and other tertiary institutions in Ghana. Whereas hard-to-meet cut off points are required to pursue courses in medicine, pharmacy, engineering and the like, it is public knowledge that CoE look like the last resort for those who missed out on their preferred studies at the Universities. I find it difficult to reconcile the flexible criteria required to be a teacher and the public outcry for quality and impactful teaching and learning.

I am in no way denigrating our tutors at the basic levels; if anything at all they deserve high commendation for the appreciable service they have exhibited in the face of difficulties such as demotivating salaries, lack of teaching and learning materials, accommodation problems, inadequate refresher trainings on modern ways of teaching and the like. However, I think it is only prudent and farsighted to equally place the best of our workforce at the basic levels of education. I believe there are many Professors and PhD holders in education, but I don't know if any of them teaches at the kindergarten or primary level. It is only a failing people who consider teaching at the basic level belittling for higher degree holders!

As a country, we need to entice the best of our workforce to teach at the basic levels. And I respectfully think the strategy is not to abolish college allowances for student-teachers as a start. It is rather to present an enhanced package to attract many first-class students to teach at basic schools. It is rather to send top-level graduates to basic schools in their communities to look in the eyes and teach the many children who also deserve similar opportunities to learn. Ultimately, the desired change should be a shift in our culture that views teaching at the basic school as demeaningto one of profound respect and reward for the profession. How spectacular the day will be when the basic school teacher receives keen approval from society like the medical doctor or lawyer!

Then again, there is the issue of over-concentration of teachers at urban and peri-urban basic schools while the rural schools suffer lack of same. Who will clap for you on noticing there are surplus teachers in one school, whereas other schools lack teachers? It presents a picture of little thought-out deployment plan. I think this issue should be an easy job for any competent manager to do, and does not require a public discussion to rectify the anomaly.

What perhaps requires more voice and political will is the inadequate infrastructure and materials to effectively teach and learn at the basic schools. Most schools have no libraries and those that exist are not properly stocked; shortage of writing chalk or markers have been highlighted; furniture are not available and thus pupils sit on the floor during classes; lessons are held under trees subject to the temperament of the weather in some schools, and so on. Many of these I have witnessed with my bare eyes by virtue of the job I do, and it is saddening!

The solution is not rocket science. It is about getting priorities right, like many development-minded countries have done. I would prefer to build and resource more basic schools and libraries than to construct under-utilized stadiums! I would choose to build teacher apartments at rural and deprived communities than to refurbish Parliament house with imported furniture and gadgets at 22 million Ghana Cedis! I would seek to invest heavily in teacher training and teaching materials than to throw 47 million Ghana Cedis at planting trees and rearing guinea fowls!

There are other issues such as instructional language for pupils and creative methods of teaching to consider. The point is basic education is the fulcrum of social and economic development and we need to pay utmost attention to it. Governments and administrators of our education system cannot continue to fail the young and unborn generations. We need to learn for our mistakes and those of other countries, as well as the abundant successes internally and externally.And if you ask me, the time to act is long overdue but we can begin now with urgency. The principle expressed in the Holy Bible is spot-on: if the foundations are destroyed, even the righteous can do nothing!

Prince Osei-Agyekum.
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