“Every child that we educate is a man that we gain…School is as holy as the chapel. Let us illuminate the spirits, this is our first law.”|Victor Hugo.
Education, they say, is the bedrock of development. It is, therefore, the foundation on which a nation's socio-economic development hinges. If the above is true, then education, I will say, is a business which needs to be approached with all the seriousness and alacrity due it. No one goes into business to make loss but rather to make profit. Education in this country, more especially at the basic level, has witnessed a downward trend in academic output. This has led to a decline in BECE performance over the years. For about a decade now, almost 50% of all the pupils who write the BECE do not get admission into the senior high, technical and vocational schools. According to some records, the last decade alone saw over 3,669,138 BECE candidates sitting for that exam. Out of that figure 1,562,270 of them failed to make the required grades for progression to any of the secondary, technical and vocational schools. This is a worrying trend. If we fail to arrest this situation early enough, the entire business of education will nosedive ultimately. We must all wake up to this 'monster' of poor academic performance at the BECE level. Only this, when well done, will prevent the country from reaching an academic catastrophe, a big crisis in education in Ghana. The earlier we start doing this, the better for us. All hands must be on deck.
BECE Performance in Volta Region.
The Volta Region was noted for being a region of great academicians in years gone by. But this can no longer be said about the same region today. The region has experienced a decline in its academic performance for some years now especially at the BECE level. This, therefore, calls for attention and action.
According to the Volta Regional Director of Education, more than 50% of all the candidates who sat for the 2011 BECE in the region may not gain admission to second cycle schools. He went on to say that the region has also recorded consistent decline in the BECE performance over the years, adding that in 2009 the region had 48.8% and 43.9% in 2010 with 2011 recording 38%.
Let us consider the performance of a few selected districts for a thorough analysis.
A GNA report of 29th October 2010 said 15 schools in the Hohoe Municipality scored zero percent pass in the 2010 BECE. Only 10 schools scored 100 percent pass, being mostly private schools. Out of 2,775 candidates presented from 102 JHS's in the municipality, only 7 candidates had aggregate five and 156 obtained between aggregates six-ten. In all, the entire municipality score 49 percent pass. This means the about 51 percent of them could not get admission into second cycle institutions.
In 2011, Akatsi District scored 33.34%. Out of the 52 JHS's, four schools had 100% while three schools obtained zero percent. This means that about 66% of the candidates were not placed in any of the over 500 senior high, technical and vocational schools nationwide.
In the newly created Ketu North District in 2010, out of the 54 Schools which took part in that year's BECE, only three schools scored 100% and seven of them scored zero percent with a total percentage pass of 39.86%. This means over 60 % were not placed for admission. Still in 2011, out of the 59 schools which represented the district, none scored 100%, while 15 of them scored zero percent pass. The total percentage score for the entire district stood at 27.95%. This also means that that year again a little over 72% of the pupils who sat for that year's BECE could not be officially placed in any second cycle institutions countrywide.
In the Keta Municipality in 2010, out of the 78 schools presented for that year's BECE, eight schools scored 100% pass while five of them scored zero percent pass. Average performance for that year stood at about 50.86%. In 2011, the municipal presented 79 schools out of which 7 scored 100% pass and three of them scoring zero percent with total percentage score standing at 50.50%. This also means that almost 50% of the candidates failed to secure a place in the second cycle institutions across the country.
These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg but point to a true reflection of what pertains in every district assembly in the region.
Causes of the Poor BECE Performance in Volta Region.
Many causes can be attributed to the poor performance of students in the BECE. These causes are multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. Every stakeholder in education has contributed in one way or the other to the decline in BECE performance.
First of all, poverty is a major cause in the poor performance of students. Most parents are not able to provide basic necessities for their children and wards both at home and at school. Most students do not have serene atmosphere at home to enable them study effectively. Some even lack daily food, sleeping place, electricity for evening study. Some of these children are not leaving with their real parents, but rather with relatives some of whom maltreat these innocent children. Some of these relatives overburden them with household chores to the extent that they have little or no time to study at home.
Secondly, there is a great lack of interest by the community members in education matters. This is evidenced in the lack of effective community participation in the running of the schools. Most communities are alienated from the schools where their wards go. Most parents do not attend PTA meetings or SPAM's. Some parents do not visit the school of their wards to find out how their wards are doing academically. It will surprise you that for a whole year, some parents will not meet their wards' teachers. That's bad. They have, thus, left everything to the government alone to run. Everyone in the community feels that the government has to do everything, especially when it is a public school. Most communities do not feel empowered enough to demand accountability and results from the teachers not even with regards to the capitation grant and the school feeding programme which are provided in the communities' interest in order to alleviate their plight.
Thirdly, some teachers also feel that they are employed by the government and therefore not accountable to the communities but only to the government. These teachers, thus, behave as if they owe no explanations to the communities about when and how they offer their teaching services. This is because they see the communities as not having any pivotal role to play in the running and, of course, the success of the schools as well as the children they teach. This gives these teachers laxity and some sort of freedom not to work as expected of them, more especially if they find themselves in schools where there is no strong headmaster and lack of supervision and monitoring. Some of the teachers have become chronic absentees. Sometimes, some these teachers leave the school foe their personal and parochial businesses in town, thereby reducing the contact hours they need to have with the students. It is very bad.
The fourth cause of poor performance is the lack of proper and adequate educational infrastructure in the form of classrooms, school libraries, teaching and learning materials (TLM's), etc. This does not create a very conducive and congenial atmosphere for the children to study. I feel ashamed, sometimes, when I visit some schools, especially in the countryside. It is a pity that that's the environment our children have to study in. You will notice a world of difference when you visit schools in big cities, more especially the private ones whose environment gives the children a perfect setting and the right environment for teaching and learning. But these students from two different educational environments sit the same BECE. What a pity!
The fifth cause is inadequate teacher motivation in the form of salaries, general and special allowances, and other conditions of services – bungalow, government-sponsored housing and auto schemes for teachers. Oh yes, teachers need to be motivated in order to deliver. The notion that 'teacher's reward is in heaven' can no more be countenanced if we really want to reverse the falling standard of education in Ghana today. There is a saying in Ghana which says that, 'Government pretends to be paying workers and workers also pretend to be working.' This is true about the teaching profession as well. Also, a lot of schools in the region do not have adequate and qualified teachers. Most schools do not have the required number of teachers to handle the various subjects. In some schools, some classes have to be combined for one teacher to handle them. In other instances, some teachers have to handle subjects they are not well conversant with. This has also contributed to the poor performance in the final exam. Moreover, many teachers are moving out of the region to other regions. This has therefore created a lot teacher vacancies in many schools across the region.
The sixth cause of poor academic performance is the students themselves. Most the students today do not study hard enough on their own. They waste their time on unnecessary things which, in any way, do not contribute to their academic performance. Most students today do not stay with their books for long but rather engage in watching videos and films, browsing the internet (facebooking), going to 'jams' and wake-keeping, using mobile phone for unnecessary calls, etc. These students know almost all the latest songs and films but cannot define the word 'atom'.
The seventh and final cause I would like to talk about is the lack of proper supervision and monitoring by the education authorities, namely the Ghana Education Service (GES) through its Circuit Supervisors. Because of this happening, many teachers have become absentee teachers for most part of the week, with some coming to school only once or twice a week or on just a specific days of the week. Research has shown that Ghana has one of the highest rates of teacher absenteeism. This development affects contact hours and quality of teaching and, therefore, contributes to poor performance of students in the final exam.
Given the above stated conditions or reasons in education in Volta Region, there is no way most children can be educated and develop their full potential and therefore the falling standards we now experience in education in the Volta Region.
The Way Forward.
We must start taking small incremental actions and initiatives expecting to get exponential results later. Education cannot be wholly financed or supported by the central government alone. Everyone's contribution is needed in order to achieve desired results in education. No stakeholder can stand aloof. Everyone has a role to play. How then do we do this together as a people?
We need individual, parental, community and governmental resolve to reverse the downward trend in education in Volta Region. Everyone is involved and must be found vigorously doing something to help better the standard of education in Volta Region. All hands must be on deck: Government, parents, teachers, community, GES, Ministry of Education (Government). It is a collective decision and resolve that we need to take in order to reverse the downward trend in education in Volta Region. This is how I think we can do it.
The student:
Students in Volta Region and for that matter the entire country, need to be motivated. They need to be told that their future depends solely on quality education they have today. For that matter they need to approach studying and learning with the seriousness they deserve.
Most students think these days that their parents and guardians are forcing them to go to school. So they go to school to just satisfy their parents and guardians. But as for the seriousness with which to approach schooling, the least said about it the better. No wonder the current performances at BECE are nothing to write home about.
Student should be serious and learn hard knowing very well that their future hinges on education. They should be guided by all stakeholders along the way. They should be inspired and motivated by the individuals in the community especially the old students who are now well established in various professions in the cities. They should organize homecoming and come and talk to their younger brothers and sisters. This will serve as a motivation.
Teachers
Government is doing everything to satisfy teachers. At least, teachers should reciprocate that gesture by teaching very well and according to conscience. They are forming and shaping future generations. It is a business they should do it to get profit and result. That is the goal as well as the gold in education. They have to inculcate and impart knowledge in such a way that tomorrow when they see these children, they will be proud they have contributed to their success.
Ghana Education Service (GES)
Effective monitoring and supervision by GES is paramount in this wise. The GES should start biting hard by empowering the Circuit Supervisors (CS's) to do what they are supposed to do – monitoring and inspection. These CS's should not sit in their offices and expect proper things to be done in their classrooms in the schools out there. They should be provided with all the logistics, especially the means of transport to be able to move around their circuits and supervise the teachers. They should go out four (4) days in a week and stay in the office one day to write their report. They should go out and check teacher absenteeism, teacher preparedness, teacher delivery and performance. Teachers found to be absent should be sanctioned accordingly. In short, all culpable teachers should be brought to book. This will instill some amount of fear in the teachers unlike the lackadaisical attitude we around today.
Government
Government should remove all schools under trees, build modern infrastructural facilities for children, train and upgrade teachers with relevant skills for a 21st century education, pay teacher realistic and living wage (salaries), build schools with libraries and resource centres in the communities, ICT (one laptop per pupil), internet connection in all schools, capitation grant should be increased and extend school feeding programme to all basic schools.
Parents
Parents should also know that the education of children is a collective responsibility and should not totally delegate such responsibility to teachers, school authorities and government. They have a role to play in monitoring their children performance at home and to visit schools and discuss with their wards' teachers. This will help them know how their wards are doing academically and help establish a good rapport with the teachers and school authorities.
The Community
The community through the powers of the Parent Teacher Associations (PTA's), School Management Committees (SMC's), Civil Society Organisations (CSO's), Community Based Organisations (CBO's), Non Governmental Organisations (NGO's), Old Students Associations (OSA's), etc can all play a very significant role in improving academic performance in their areas of operations. Also, opinion leaders – assembly men/women should also take education of children in their electoral areas very seriously. They should form task force to go round during wake keeping and night 'jams' to arrest all these children below a certain age and invite their parents and talk to them. They can also check the operations of video centres and internet cafés in the communities. In addition, Chiefs and queen mothers should wake up and go out of their palaces and visit all the schools under their jurisdiction and talk to students and teachers by holding them accountable for their work. There is also the need for the establishment of education fund and trust in every community in the region in order to inspire the children to do more. These foundations and trusts should offer scholarship and bursary to deserving needy but brilliant students. A recent case is the Vakpo Traditional Council Education Endowment Fund (VATRACEEF) established in 2010 and which has started yielding wonderful results already (See the case study below).
Citizens and Citizens' Associations
Citizens and citizens' associations both home and abroad have a great responsibility to play in their communities to help improve the falling education standard in their various communities. Individual citizens can establish scholarship and other award schemes in their respective communities for children who distinguish themselves academically to enjoy. Citizens' associations both local and foreign such the Council of Ewe Associations in North America (CEANA),and those in Germany, Netherlands, UK, etc can all help, in no mean measure, improve academic performance in Volta Region. The challenge is unto us. Let us face it squarely.
Vakpo Traditional Council Education Endowment Fund (VATRACEEF): An Example Worth Emulating by All.
In 2010, when some schools score zero percent pass in the BECE, Togbega Gbogbolulu V, paramount chief of the Vakpo Traditional Area took the bold step to reverse the downward trend in educational performance in his area. He therefore instituted the VATRACEEF as a way of raising academic performance in his traditional area. That is leadership. The very first day I heard that, I told of my friend that what the chief did will bring a real revolution in his area.
No wonder, just after one year of the establishment of the fund started yielding great results and a miracle happened in the 2011 BECE. The traditional area scored hundred percent in the 2011 BECE with six students receiving the first package of scholarship. More importantly, the area produced the only two 'aggregate six' in the entire Kpando District. As if that is not enough, a school in the area emerged first out of fifty-four schools in order of merit based on aggregates. How much did it take to cause such a stir in education in Vakpo Traditional Area? Just a seed money of GHC 10,000.00 which grew to GHC 40,000.00 only a year after. The fund managers hope to raise about GHC 100,000.00 by 2015. The fund is managed by a very dedicated Board of Directors. What a challenge to all other traditional areas in the region!
There is going to be a real and great revolution in Volta Region when we come to terms with the issues raised above and start putting in place small incremental and progressive initiatives. I still believe that something can be done about the falling standard of education in the Volta Region if we do all that is suggested above. Let us not way long till we hit the rock. A stitch in time saves nine. Tomorrow, for me, is too distant already. Now is the time. Arise Volta Region, for your children's future depends on you. The Bible says, 'Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.' Hebrews 3:15.
Joel Degue
Life Coach
024 2501638 / 020 9770306
http:www.joeldegue.blogspot.com
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