Lack Of Clarity On Supply Of New Textbooks, Contracts For New Uniforms Unacceptable — GNECC Demands

The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) is demanding from the Ghana Education Service (GES) an immediate road map for the supply of textbooks of the new curriculum to schools in the country.

The coalition said in a statement that it would not accept the lack of clarity from the GES and other stakeholders.

It also called for clear timelines for the distribution.

“To date, there is no official statement on when textbooks will be available to Basic schools. This silence on the part of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the GES and Ministry of Education is unacceptable. The Coalition, therefore, demands a roadmap indicating timelines on processes leading to the supply of textbooks to every school in Ghana.”

The coalition also weighed in on the controversy over the supply of the new Junior High School uniforms.

It was alleged by the Coalition of Textile Workers that no contracts were given to the four local textile companies for printing “but rather outsourced to suppliers who eventually imported the fabric from China.”

“We demand an explanation for this since it is a much larger quantity and would have helped create many more jobs,” the coalition said.

Teacher supervision and standards

The GNECC statement also touched on the competencies of teaching circuit Supervisors who “must be trained in how to monitor and report on the quality of teaching in the new curriculum.”

The coalition also questioned the lack of preparedness from the National Inspectorate Board (NIB), which is mandated by law to set standards to be observed at the Basic and Second cycle levels.

“We note that to date, the NIB is yet to train its Inspection panels in the evaluation of teaching under the new curriculum though this should have been done before starting the roll-out of the curriculum. We call for a more strategic inter-agency collaboration to ensure the right sequential processes for quality assurance in policy implementation.”

---citinewsroom