DEPUTY EDUCATION MINISTER INTERACTS WITH STAKEHOLDERS
DEPUTY EDUCATION MINISTER INTERACTS WITH STAKEHOLDERS 12th December, 2011
BY P. ATOGEWE WEDAM
ISD-BOLGATANGA MUNICIPAL
The Deputy Minister for Education, Mr. Mahama Ayariga has proposed an additional two hours of tuition to the regular duration of contact hours for Junior High Schools [JHS] and six hours extra tuition on Saturdays as one sure way of improving performance of especially JHS form three students in the Basic Education Certificate Exams [BECE]. He also proposed that the chief examiner’s report and marking scheme be made available to all schools for the sensitisation of teachers who handle candidates for the BECE.
Mr. Ayariga made these proposals at separate meetings with JHS form three students, their head teachers and district education oversight committees at the Bolgatanga Municipality, Talensi-Nabdam and Bongo Districts in the Upper East Region. He will hold similar meetings with stakeholders in the Builsa, Kassena-Nankana East and West, Garu-Tempane and Bawku West Districts.
Hon. Mahama Ayariga disclosed that the World Bank is scheduled to release 55 Million Dollars to the Ministry of Education to help improve teaching and learning at the basic education level. He stressed that government will continue to invest in education because the fastest growing economies in the world today are those that paid attention to their education sectors.
He said to further enhance the performance of schools, government has reached an agreement with Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration [GIMPA] to run a schools management and leadership course for head teachers. Having gone through this course, head teachers will be evaluated every five years to determine whether or not they will hold on to their positions. Meanwhile JHS candidates who fail to attend the necessary prescribed lessons will not be permitted to take the BECE so as to minimise the number of students failing in the exams.
At the Bolgatanga meeting, the Deputy Education Minister blamed students and school authorities for the poor performance of the Municipality in the BECE rankings. The Municipality placed 134th out of 163 districts nationwide. Mr. Ayariga therefore proposed that school buses of Senior High Schools be used to carry teachers to distant schools daily to teach while he directed all District Assemblies to provide electricity to clusters of schools where students will study at night with the police giving them security.
According to Mr. Ayariga, the education minister, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu has directed that all teaching and learning materials including textbooks be transported free of charge to the three northern regions for distribution to schools. In addition, the education ministry has lobbied the Local Government Ministry which has agreed to pay for the full cost of printing Mock Exam questions for basic school candidates noting that, parents will no longer bear this cost.
While in the Talensi-Nabdam district which ranked 122nd in the BECE league table, the Deputy Education Minister disclosed that only 38% of candidates from the district passed last year’s BECE Exams. As a result, he directed all head teachers to exempt all JHS candidates from extra curriculum activities such as sports so as to give them ample time to study for their exams.
The Talensi-Nabdam DCE, Madam Vivian Anafo pledged that her Assembly will give the needed assistance to the Ghana Education Service in order to improve educational standards in the area. She said for example, the assembly is almost completing an ICT facility at Pwalugu which will offer free tuition to JHS students from 08:00 to 02:00 pm daily and urged students to avail themselves.
The Upper East Regional Director of Education, Mr. Paul Apanga, the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs. Lucy Awuni and other stakeholders accompanied Mr. Ayariga on the tour.
BY P. ATOGEWE WEDAM
ISD-BOLGATANGA MUNICIPAL
The Deputy Minister for Education, Mr. Mahama Ayariga has proposed an additional two hours of tuition to the regular duration of contact hours for Junior High Schools [JHS] and six hours extra tuition on Saturdays as one sure way of improving performance of especially JHS form three students in the Basic Education Certificate Exams [BECE]. He also proposed that the chief examiner’s report and marking scheme be made available to all schools for the sensitisation of teachers who handle candidates for the BECE.
Mr. Ayariga made these proposals at separate meetings with JHS form three students, their head teachers and district education oversight committees at the Bolgatanga Municipality, Talensi-Nabdam and Bongo Districts in the Upper East Region. He will hold similar meetings with stakeholders in the Builsa, Kassena-Nankana East and West, Garu-Tempane and Bawku West Districts.
Hon. Mahama Ayariga disclosed that the World Bank is scheduled to release 55 Million Dollars to the Ministry of Education to help improve teaching and learning at the basic education level. He stressed that government will continue to invest in education because the fastest growing economies in the world today are those that paid attention to their education sectors.
He said to further enhance the performance of schools, government has reached an agreement with Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration [GIMPA] to run a schools management and leadership course for head teachers. Having gone through this course, head teachers will be evaluated every five years to determine whether or not they will hold on to their positions. Meanwhile JHS candidates who fail to attend the necessary prescribed lessons will not be permitted to take the BECE so as to minimise the number of students failing in the exams.
At the Bolgatanga meeting, the Deputy Education Minister blamed students and school authorities for the poor performance of the Municipality in the BECE rankings. The Municipality placed 134th out of 163 districts nationwide. Mr. Ayariga therefore proposed that school buses of Senior High Schools be used to carry teachers to distant schools daily to teach while he directed all District Assemblies to provide electricity to clusters of schools where students will study at night with the police giving them security.
According to Mr. Ayariga, the education minister, Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu has directed that all teaching and learning materials including textbooks be transported free of charge to the three northern regions for distribution to schools. In addition, the education ministry has lobbied the Local Government Ministry which has agreed to pay for the full cost of printing Mock Exam questions for basic school candidates noting that, parents will no longer bear this cost.
While in the Talensi-Nabdam district which ranked 122nd in the BECE league table, the Deputy Education Minister disclosed that only 38% of candidates from the district passed last year’s BECE Exams. As a result, he directed all head teachers to exempt all JHS candidates from extra curriculum activities such as sports so as to give them ample time to study for their exams.
The Talensi-Nabdam DCE, Madam Vivian Anafo pledged that her Assembly will give the needed assistance to the Ghana Education Service in order to improve educational standards in the area. She said for example, the assembly is almost completing an ICT facility at Pwalugu which will offer free tuition to JHS students from 08:00 to 02:00 pm daily and urged students to avail themselves.
The Upper East Regional Director of Education, Mr. Paul Apanga, the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs. Lucy Awuni and other stakeholders accompanied Mr. Ayariga on the tour.
Comments