Lateness and absenteeism identified as barriers to quality education delivery in Upper East

13-05-2011

Narration: Loss of contract hours through lateness and absenteeism had been identified as some of the challenges affecting quality education delivery in the Upper East Region, particularly the Talensi-Nabdam District. Moreover, factors including poor supervision on the part of circuit supervisors and poor lesson planning and delivery as well as poor teaching methodologies are also being blamed for the poor academic performance among pupils in the region. This unfortunate development came to light at the 2010 Education Conference held at Tongo for stakeholders in the educational sector of the region. The Talensi-Nabdam District Director of Education, Francis Ayaba, who made the disclosure in a presentation of school performance review data, made relevant recommendations aimed at addressing the challenges. This year’s conference centered on the theme: Improving participation in Education Delivery and Accountability: tasks of stakeholders. Isaac Asare has more for Radio Ghana.
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Report

The 2010 Education Conference which is being held under a Programme dubbed:”Tackling Education Needs inclusively” (TENI), has Link Community Development, Ghana (LCD), an International NGO and the Talensi-Nabdam District Directorate of Education as the main collaborators with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and Comic Relief representing as the key sponsors supporting the conference. The occasion which brought together relevant stakeholders in the education sector including chiefs and opinion leaders was geared at providing a platform for the sharing and learning of best practices among stakeholders to improve upon the quality of education in the region. It was also organized to create a platform for the district, schools, communities and stakeholders to brainstorm openly on matters affecting the performance of schools and to discuss on the way forward in addressing the problems. The Talensi-Nabdam District Director of Education, Mr Ayaba, bemoaned the increasing low level of academic performance in the area and blamed teachers, parents and supervisors for contributing to the challenge. Available statistics he revealed indicates that schools in the district since 2006 have performed poorly in the BECE particularly in the area of English and Mathematics. He said in the 2010 BECE exams, only 4 students out of the total number of candidates in the district, obtained aggregate 6-12 as against 11 recorded in 2006. According to him performance of student has declined tremendously thereby putting intense pressure on the directorate to address the menace. Mr. Ayaba however called on stakeholders to assist his outfit in that regard. The Deputy Regional Minister, Mrs. Lucy Awuni who represented as the special guest of honour for the occasion commended the implementers of the programme for their effort in complementing government’s vision of ensuring quality for all. Government, she indicated is on course in addressing most of the county’s educational challenges, hence the provision of school infrastructure and the distribution of free school uniforms and textbooks to most deprived schools across the country. The extension of government’s school feeding programme coupled with the increased capitation grant, she added are all necessary interventions aimed at ensuring quality education and high school enrolment, particularly the girl child. Government, she further stated is seriously embarking on transforming all “schools under trees” into bricks and mortar classroom blocks to provide congenial learning environment for effective teaching and learning. Mrs. Awuni said government recognizes the invaluable role played private sector in education and would therefore continue to encourage public private partnership in education delivery as it would undoubtedly ensure that all stakeholders are brought on board to guaranteeing the future of the children in the country. The country Director of LCD, Dr. Kennedy Quagrain and the Deputy Director of the GES, Mr. Charles Tsegah, during their presentations, charged parents and relevant stakeholders in the educational sector to contribute their quota in raising the standard of education in the district since it is the panacea for development.