GNECC Want Ministry Fix Basic School Problems Before New Curriculum

The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) is asking the Ministry of Education to put in place the necessary structures before introducing a new curriculum for basic schools.

The Executive Council Chairman for GNECC, Kofi Asare, believes that some fundamental issues like congested class sizes and inadequate infrastructure must first be addressed before the rollout of the new curriculum.

The new curriculum which was handed over to the Ghana Education Service on Monday by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) places emphasis on literacy, numeracy and creative thinking in early childhood education in primary schools [Kindergarten to Primary 6].

Even though piloting has been done to test the viability of the curriculum, Kofi Asare fears the desired results may not be achieved if the infrastructural and systemic challenges are not urgently tackled.

“A policy is as good as its implementing framework and arrangement…The curriculum is supposed to be child centered and participatory one. For such a policy to work, you need to have a class size not more than 35, but our current class sizes are large. For this new curriculum to work, we need to decongest our classrooms so that teachers can apply the right teaching methods,” he said.

The new curriculum is expected to come into force from September 2019.

The country is revising the educational policy and curriculum to put it on par with modern standards by making teaching and learning more effective.

President Nana Akufo-Addo in his State of the Nation said the new the curriculum will better prepare pupils in school to meet global challenges.

He said the new curriculum will focus on making Ghanaian children confident innovative, creative thinkers, digitally literate and well-rounded patriotic citizens.

“Mathematics, Science, Reading, Writing and creativity are therefore the heart of this new curriculum,” he said.

–citinewsroom