[lg policy] Ghana: Education policy, 100 balloons and broken dreams [Article]

Sat Jun 4 14:44:52 UTC 2016

Education policy, 100 balloons and broken dreams [Article] Friday 3rd June
, 2016 4:10 pm
[image: Education Minister Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang inspecting
B.E.C.E candidates.]
Education Minister Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang inspecting B.E.C.E
candidates.

 48  6  0

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Funny title huh? Well, it won’t be so funny after I connect the dots and
unveil a stark picture of a country whose impaired educational system is
producing citizens that are not ready for the demands of a knowledge
economy.

Across the civilized world, all economic development models are structured
around skilled workforce that are capable of innovating and using
technological tools to solve social problems.

The core foundation – science, technology, engineering and mathematics –
are therefore a strategic imperative to ensure global competitiveness.

The Ghanaian narrative is however different. Not only are our Universities
overly skewed towards the humanities at the expense of the sciences, but
performance at the basic level (Basic Education Certificate Examination)
raises critical questions whether certain aspects of public policy on
education is anachronistic or whether bureaucracy within Ghana Education
Service (GES) may be a contributory factor to the problem.

*So what is The Problem?*

In the next 10 minutes or so, I hope to engage your interest by focusing on
Gomoa West district as a microcosm of a national problem on education. It
does appear, that the issue of poor B.E.C.E results, year after year only
becomes topical for a short fashionable while, useful only for political
point scoring. I would argue however that it is the most essential
conversation to have if strong foundations for growth are going to be laid.

According to data from the District League Table (DLT), an annual report by
UNICEF and Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Gomoa West has
experienced some of the worst performance among 216 districts nationwide.

In 2014, the district ranked 208th (with a weighted index of 41) while it
ranked last in 2016.

The report aggregates data from various sectors (health, sanitation,
education, etc.) and creates a weighted index to rank performance. Again,
data from Ghana Education Service show BECE average pass of 31.74%
(2011-2014) for the district.

Albeit this compares favourably to districts within upper East for
instance, the question of “why” still remain relevant as a way of
unearthing the subtle drivers of underperformance.

On 20.05.2016, Rural Heights Foundation embarked on yet another Gomoa
Education Project that saw the donation of goodies to the Kindergarten
class of Darumpong Catholic Primary, including 100 balloons and also held
coaching sessions for Junior Students majority of whom, almost invariably,
suffer shattered dreams after experiencing the fate of those who fail to
advance to Senior High School each year.

As part of the project, the Foundation also engaged the teaching staff in a
dialogue on possible causes of poor B.E.C.E performance. Incidentally, this
very Basic School, with a population of about 700 pupils, is the alma mater
of the incumbent Member of Parliament and also the two aspirants contesting
for the seat on NPP and NDC ticket.

In an interactive forum dubbed “The Future leaders Dialogue Series” the
teaching staff of Gomoa Darumpong, raised critical issues of policy and
administrative importance that may be contributing to the poor B.E.C.E
performance in districts such as Gomoa West. Issues identified and
discussed include language, teacher-pupil ratio, lack of adequate
instructional materials and the unintended consequences of school feeding
program, inter alia.

In terms of language, the consensus was that the current pseudo-exoglossic
policy of 70:30 with 30% being Ghanaian indigenous language as instruction
medium may be having counterproductive impact on comprehension. A greater
emphasis on local language as medium of instruction may be more effective
in laying a foundation for comprehending abstract concepts.

Secondly, the school feeding program, though successful in attaining high
enrolment, it has negatively impacted teacher-pupil ratio, with
implications for quality. This view is shared by some researchers. For
instance, Yelkpieri and Bilikpe (2013) in a study of capitation grant draws
similar conclusion about enrolment data and tuition quality.

In order to improve performance outcomes at the basic education level,
considerable attention is required in the area of administrative
inefficiency, coordinated policy execution and a remodelling of language
policy from exoglossic to endoglossic over time.

*About Rural Heights Foundation*

Rural Heights Foundation is a non-profit organisation that engages in
policy advocacy and social interventions in the area of well-being,
education and micro enterprise within rural Ghana.

The Future Leaders Dialogue Series is part of the Foundation’s Gomoa
Education Project (GEP) where staff and volunteers troop to Gomoa West to
fete KG pupils in a fun atmosphere with drinks, balloons and video of
Barney & Friends while designated resource persons facilitate a workshop
for teachers on issues related to pedagogy and performance improvement.
–
By: Nkunimdini Asante-Antwi
n.asante-antwi at ruralheights.org
- See more at:
http://citifmonline.com/2016/06/03/education-policy-100-balloons-and-broken-dreams-article/#sthash.CwGuOZhb.dpuf

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