Kpandai records 22 per cent pass in BECE

The Kpandai District Director of Education, Mr Sixtus Adikwo, has decried the abysmal performance of the districts's candidates in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

He said in 2013, only 22 per cent of candidates registered in the district passed the BECE, a situation he said needed concerted efforts of stakeholders to address.

Mr Adikwo made this known at Kpandai on Wednesday during a stakeholders forum organised by the Kpandai Circuit and School Management Committee (KCSMC), and supported by IBIS, a non-governmental organisation that focuses on education.

The forum, which was attended by stakeholders including parents, was to discuss the poor performance of pupils in the BECE and come out with strategies to address the problem.

Students' performance previously 
He said previously, students' performance was encouraging, stating that in 2009, 50 per cent of BECE candidates passed while 63 per cent passed in 2010, but the standards started falling in 2011.

Mr Adikwo attributed the situation to high teacher absenteeism, lack of qualified teachers, inadequate classroom facilities, or schools under trees, non-preparation of lesson notes by teachers and poor preparation of candidates towards external examinations.

“This is a major issue because you always see most of the children loitering in town after school, especially in the night,” he said.

Proper supervision
He called for proper supervision and monitoring by head teachers at all levels to ensure effective utilisation of contact hours.

He stressed the need for teachers in the district to undergo continued training and apply new teaching skills to improve teaching and learning.

He mentioned that the district would, from February, organise a programme that would ensure that all teachers set performance targets that would be appraised in August.

The Kpandai District Chief Executive, Mr Jatoh Moayi Jasper, challenged stakeholders to set achievable targets to enable the district to raise its standards and achieve better results in the BECE.

The Chairman of the KCSMC, Reverend Father Anselmus Mawusi, called on stakeholders and management of schools to collaborate with the government to provide quality education in the district.