Basic Education

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Of investment in education: is Nigeria still Africa’s giant?

Adekunle Adebajo

By Adekunle Adebajo

For as far as most Nigerians can remember, this country has been proudlyreferred to astheGiant of Africa. This title was earned by virtue of her intimidating economy, her huge population and her big brother role during the years immediately following her independence from British rule. However, the country is fast losing the respect accorded to her in the past, not only in Africa but across the globe. The factors responsible for this are not far-fetched: poor supply of electricity, poor state of infrastructure, notoriousness for internet fraud, corruption, an inferior quality of education among others.

Homing in on the last, it has been discovered that the state of the country’s schools can be easily explained financially. Comparing the budgetary behaviour of Nigeria and some other countries across Africa reveals that Nigeria’s giant status is not found where it matters the most, particularly in the level of attention paid to the education sector. While other African countries seem to have recognised the potency of education as a midwife to development, a better economy, a safer society and a more prosperous population, Nigeria’s priorities are still found in sustaining an excessively expensive system of governance and in national security, the funds for which often reflect better in foreign bank accounts rather than local battlefields. Rather than set the pace in implementing global standards, Nigeria evidently has a lot to learn from smaller and younger countries across the continent.

Kenya
Kenya’s education sector has traditionally received the lion’s share of the country’s national budget to take care of teachers’ salaries, and primary and secondary school subsidies; and this tradition was upheld in the 2015 budget.In April 2016, the Kenyan government tabled its 2016/17 national budget estimates before the National Assembly. The Budget Policy Statement (BPS) ceilings in all the sectors summed up to 1,498 Kenyan shillings; but the Gross Expenditure Estimates, after the increase by the Treasury, amounted to 1.667 trillion Kenyan shillings. Based on the BPS, education received a total of 346.6 Ksh, which in other words is 23.1% of the entire budget. This figure is topped only by the allocation to Energy, Infrastructure and ICT, some of the projects under which are also academic in nature, for instance the laptop project gulping Ksh 17.58 billion.

South Africa
In the 2016/17 budgetary year in South Africa, the country spent R213.7 billion on basic education, which is about 15% of the total budget; and, according to the National Treasury, the allocation is projected to rise an average of 7.4% annually over the following three fiscal years. In terms of percentage, this allocation, according to data from the United Nations, trumps those of the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. As projected, more recent figures are even more education-friendly. According to aUnited Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) document titled, “Education Budget, South Africa, 2017/2018”, the budget for school children is presently 17% of total government expenditure.

Ghana
Ghana has also established herself as one of Africa’s big spenders on education. In 2013, she committed a whopping 31% of her budget to education as against Nigeria’s 8% in the same year. The following year, the figure dropped to 20.5%; and it declined even more in 2015 to 17.8% and in 2016 to 13.5%. In 2017, however, the Ministry of Education’s budget experienced a 20.7% increase from the previous year’s figure; that is from 7.55 billion Ghanaian cedes to 9.12 billion Ghanaian cedes. And in 2018, the allocation has increased by another 11.6% as the government proposed last year to spend GHS 10.18 billion on the Ministry. This amounts to 16.42% of the total budget of GHS 62 billion.

Egypt
As for Egypt, one country whose universities alwaysstand out on the continental ranking, the government proposed to spend EGP 104 billion on education in the 2016/2017 fiscal year, which amounted to 11.1% of government spending in that year. This is an improvement on the allocation of EGP 99.3 billion the previous year. The increment in the allocation is partly attributable to the Egyptian Constitution. According to the document, the government is required to spend at least 3 per cent of the Gross National Product (GNP) on healthcare and at least 4 per cent on education every year. It is noteworthy that the global average education budget in relation to GDP stands at 5%.

Lesotho
This country is renowned to spend most part of its GDP on education. According to the budget speech to the parliament for the 2017/2018 fiscal year presented by Dr.MoeketsiMajoro, the Minister of Finance, the government proposed to spend a total of M2.423 billion on education and training in 2018. This, to put it differently, is 19.2% of the entire budget. The previous year, the government had spent 20.7% on

the same sector.

Now to Nigeria
In the acclaimed giant of Africa and home to the largest black population on earth, regard for education appears to be an anathema to all forms of government, whether led by a military dictator or a democratically elected individual, a Northerner or a Southerner, a Major General or a Ph.D. holder. An assessment of the trend from 1999 shows that the lowest allocation, 4.46%, to education was in 1999, and the highest, 11.44%, was in 2015. The average allocation in all 16 years of democratic rule is 9.14%. In the pre-1999 years of military rule, the sector did not fare any better as a study has shown that the average allocation to education between the years of 1981 and 1998 was a meagre 4.18%.

The situation has in fact worsened under the present administration. The first budget presented by President MuhammaduBuhari in December 2015 for the 2016 fiscal year was in stark contrast to the double digits legacy left by his predecessor. Education received ₦369.6 billion, which was 6.07% of the entire budget. In the 2017 budget proposals, N448.01billion was allocated to education, representing about 6% of the ₦7.30 trillion budget. And in the 2018 Appropriation Bill, the government proposed an allocation of ₦435.01 billion to education, which is just 7.04% of the total budgeted amount of ₦8.612 trillion.

Nigeria against the world
Across Africa, most countries are spending more and more on education by the year. As a matter of fact, government expenditure on education in Sub-Saharan Africa increased from US$12 billion in 2000 to US$67 billion in 2013 representing over 450% growth. This trend has resulted in higher literacy rates, lesser numbers of out-of-school children, improved quality of learning, and more foreign investments as well as greater industrialisation owing to greater availability of skilled labour. It has also led to a gradual increase in GDP for many of these countries as educated citizens naturally earn more than those who do benefit from formal learning.

Nigeria, on the other hand, especially under the presidency of MuhammaduBuhari, has yet to board the train of progress, despite cries from various corners. For this country, it has become an unending cycle of budgetary disregard for education, and complaints from stakeholders, accompaniedby silence from the government. The same pattern is repeated year in year out. This habit has affected us greatly, because not only are our schools not reckoned with on the international stage, the culture of academic tourism has seen our economy shed weight to the benefit of such countries as the United States, the United Kingdom and even Ghana.

In 2012, the Chairman of Exam Ethics International, Ike Onyechere, said Nigerians spend over ₦1.5 trillion annually on students studying abroad. ₦160 billion out of this goes to Ghana, while ₦80 billion goes to the United Kingdom. Likewise, in 2016, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institution and Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Senator BintaMasi, said Nigeria spends over $2 billion annually as capital flight on education abroad. With this figure alone, Nigeria can build one or two world-class universities every year, considering the fact that Pakistan planned to spend $750 million for each of its new universities of engineering, science and technology and Qatar’s Cornell University spent the same amount establishing its School of Medicine in 2002.

The country’s lacklustre attitude towards education equally reflects in the ranking of universities across the globe and in Africa. According to the 2016 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, there is only one Nigerian university in the top 15 ranking in Africa, and that university, the University of Ibadan, is number 14 on the list. On the same list, we have six universities from South Africa, three from Egypt, two from Morocco, one from Uganda (ranked fourth), one from the Ghana (ranked seventh), and one from Kenya (ranked eighth). A similar pattern recurred in the 2018 ranking.

Finally
It is high time the Nigerian government recognised that recognising the good in education is for the good of the country. We do not have to go as far as the extreme West or the far East to get examples of countries reaping bountifully from great investments in education. Right here in Africa, there are more than sufficient instances. The Nigerian National Assembly should adopt the Egyptian legislative model by incorporating, into the constitution, a benchmark for budgetary allocations to the education sector. This preferably must not fall below 5% of the nation’s GDP or 20% of government’s annual spending.

Our schools are ailing; and it is not by scrapping Post UTME or quelling industrial actions that they will get better. We must make conscious, radical efforts by investing all we can to turn things around for good. Before we complain that our graduates are unemployable, we must ask first if our schools are habitable and if our facilities are universally acceptable. But beyond just dumping huge sums of money into the sector in theory, the government has to also ensure a balance in recurrent and capital expenditures as well as an effective implementation of whatever plans are laid out on paper. If we can do this, then the return of the giant to her rightful place is not only inevitable but will happen before long, before our very eyes.

Source:

https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/263557/of-investment-in-education-is-nigeria-still-africas-giant.html

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South Africa: Why Budget 2018 gets a C for addressing education crisis

Noticias

South Africa / 26.02.2018 /By:  www.fin24.com/.

Educación de jóvenes de Sudáfrica se ha destacado como una de las tres principales prioridades nacionales en discurso sobre el presupuesto 2018.

Cape Town – The education of South Africa’s youth has been highlighted as one of the top three national priorities in Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s 2018 budget speech.

Soria Hay, head of corporate finance at Bravura, says that, while Budget 2018 gets an A for the commitment to fee-free higher education and training for South Africa’s disadvantaged youth, it deserves a meagre C for inefficiently responding to the burning issues at the heart of South Africa»s education crisis.

Fee-free higher education

The 2018 Budget Speech has made good on the commitment towards fee-free education by proposing an implementation plan that will guarantee access to higher education and training for all South Africans who qualify, based on merit rather than class position. Government is committed to spending over R1trn on education in the next three years.

Post school education and training will be the fastest-growing spending category in the 2018 budget, with an anticipated annual average growth rate of 13.7%.

A budget allocation of R57bn in the medium term for fee-free higher education and training will be dispersed as R12.4bn in 2018/19, R20.3bn in 2019/20 and R24.3bn in 2020/21. There is also the inclusion of a R10bn provisional allocation made in Budget 2017.

Fee-free higher education and training (including university and TVET colleges) will be implemented in a phased approach aimed at first-year students from poor and working-class families, with a total family income below R350 000 per annum. The roll out will continue into subsequent years until all years of study are covered.

Allocation to basic education

In terms of basic education, a total of R792bn in aggregate will be spent on basic education over the medium term. Within this, the education infrastructure grant will allocate R31.7bn over the medium term and will include a R3.8bn allocation to the school infrastructure backlogs grant in order to replace 82 inappropriate and unsafe schools, and to provide water to 325 schools and sanitation to 286 schools.

A further R21.7bn over the medium term will be set aside to provide daily meals to 19 800 schools (9 million learners) through the national school nutrition programme grant. And 39 000 Funza Lushaka bursaries will be disbursed over the next three years via the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, at a cost of R3.7bn earmarked for prospective teachers in priority subject areas such as mathematics, science and technology.Furthermore, to support effective curriculum delivery over the medium term, R15.3bn is allocated to provide printed and digital content to teachers and learners. This includes the provision of 183 million workbooks and textbooks, teacher support, and increased access to information and communication technology.

But Hay questions the merit of these allocations.

«Alarming statistics and reports on the state of basic education point to the need for far more aggressive management of teacher training and classroom efficiency. Allocations do not significantly account for this,» cautioned Hay.

Basic education system broken

Budget 2018 states that fee-free education will contribute towards breaking the cycle of poverty and confronting unemployment, as labour statistics point to the lowest rate of unemployment for tertiary graduates.

Hay says that, while the budget quite rightly considers tertiary education in the light of the development of the youth as being critical to SA’s economic recovery and long-term health, it falls short in acknowledging the fact that the primary and secondary education systems continue to let down SA’s children.

«While a substantial 70% of the R1trn budget has been earmarked for basic education, it is arguable whether the specific allocations will hit the right marks to meaningfully change the prospects for the majority of school-going children,» says Hay.

«It is widely acknowledged that the basic education system in SA is completely broken.»

Hay cites an article that appeared in The Economist last year, which highlighted the fact that SA has the most unequal school system in the world with the widest gap in the world between the test scores of the top 20% of schools and the rest of schools.

The article went on to quote a study undertaken in 2007 where maths teachers of 11- and 12-year-olds sat tests similar to those taken by their class. As many as 79% of teachers scored below the level expected of the pupils. The average 14-year-old in Singapore and South Korea performs much better.

According to a ranking table of education systems drawn up by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2015, South Africa ranked 75th out of 76 based on its overall education system.

In 2014, only 36.4% of those who began grade 1 in 2002, matriculated in 2014. And in 2015, Basic Education Department statistics in 2015 reflected 1.2 million learners registered for Grade 1, but only 790 000 learners in Grade 12.

The Department of Higher Education report in 2015 indicates that a vast 47.9% of university students did not complete their degrees, with black students holding the highest drop-out rate. As many as 32.1% enrolled students leave within their first year. This points to an alarming drop-off rate, which Hay says costs the taxpayer billions of rand with no outcome.

«South Africa’s historic spend on education (6% of GDP) is an appropriate percentage of our budget compared to other developing countries, if not slightly higher. Brazil spends 5.8% of GDP on education, India 3.3% and China around 4%. Yet, it seems that few countries spend as much to so little effect. The issue of quality remains highly problematic,» says Hay.

Accommodating all the additional students

«But let’s take a step back for one moment. As a result of the fee-free education programme, the anticipated number of tertiary students able to benefit in 2018 will include 340 000 university students and over 420 000 full-time equivalent students at TVET colleges. This means that by the end of 2018 around 760 000 students will have benefited from higher education and training.»

University student numbers are already near capacity. Plans have been in place to grow the current number of universities (26) that accommodate about 1 million students in order to ensure the inclusion of a further 500 000 students by 2030.

These plans, developed prior to the fee-free education commitment, could be severely impacted by fee-free education, leading to a fresh exclusion discourse based on access rather than cost.

Hay says that an important aspect of university education is to fuel research and innovation capability, which drives economic growth and competitiveness. She suggests that it is time for government to prioritise the areas and industries where they want students to focus on given that the country needs specific skills in order to grow our economy and ensure inclusive growth.

Hay cautions that, despite government’s commitment to inclusivity in education based on merit and not class position, there are numerous risks that have not been accounted for.

«Principles, theory and strategy are important aspects and Budget 2018 can be applauded for a strategic pointing in the right direction. But details of how to ensure access to higher education and training for the fee-free education recipients, coupled with how best to allocate funds in basic education to guarantee sustained improvement in education, are glaringly absent,» says Hay.

From: https://www.fin24.com/Budget/why-budget-2018-gets-a-c-for-addressing-education-crisis-20180225

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South Africa: Basic Education results show that the failing educational system is stuck in a rut

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South Africa/ January 9, 2018/By: Freedom Front Plus/Source: https://southafricatoday.net

South Africa’s Basic Education system, with its lowered standards, is too inadequate to properly prepare learners for training after school and that puts a damper on the 2017 matric results that have just been announced, says adv Anton Alberts, FF Plus chairperson, and Dr Wynand Boshoff, FF Plus spokesperson on Basic Education.

Adv Alberts and Dr Boshoff would like to congratulate the successful learners on their results on behalf of the FF Plus and they urge those learners that did not succeed not to give up hope, but to do everything in their power to pass the matric exam.

According to adv Alberts and Dr Boshoff, there are three gaps in the system that are particularly disadvantageous to learners at present. They are:

The majority of learners enter the labour force with matric being their highest qualification, but career skills are not a priority.
Education is also increasingly being centralised to serve the ANC’s ideologies and that marginalises everyone that strive for better.
As opposed to the Gauteng Education Minister’s suggestion to centralise matric exams even more, the FF Plus proposes greater freedom of choice. It is recommended that schools receive a monetary grant from the state that they can use to either register with the Department of Basic Education or with one of the independent examinations boards (IEB of SACAI).

The Higher Education system is also failing Afrikaans-speaking matriculants, particularly from the Northern and Western Cape provinces, all the more. Instead of expanding Higher Education to include instruction in other indigenous languages, misdirected attempts at redress have seen Afrikaans being replaced by English.

• In 2011, Boshoff obtained a PhD in Curriculum Studies and Instructional Design.

Read the original article by Adv. Anton Alberts on Freedom Front Plus

Source:

Basic Education results show that the failing educational system is stuck in a rut

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Kenia: Ministry told to respond in suit against curriculum changes

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Kenia / 04 de octubre de 2017 / Por: PHILIP MUYANGA / Fuente: http://www.nation.co.ke

The Ministry of Education and Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development have been given 10 days to respond to an application seeking to have them restrained from implementing planned changes in basic education and introducing a 2-6-3-3 curriculum.

High Court Judge Eric Ogola issued the order directing the two institutions, through the Attorney-General, to file their response to the application filed by university lecturer Eric Mugambi.

Mr Mugambi, who teaches mathematics at Technical University of Mombasa, is also seeking an order preventing the ministry and KICD or their employees from implementing the scheduled review in basic education.

ORDERS
He is seeking the orders pending hearing and determination of an application and a petition he has filed at the High Court in Mombasa.

Justice Ogola declined to grant the interim orders being sought by Mr Mugambi until all the parties are heard.

Counsel for AG, Mr Richard Ngari, said he needed more time to respond to the application by Mr Mugambi.

“The prayers being sought are weighty, we need to get sufficient time to prepare ourselves,” Mr Ngari, who also pleaded with the court not to issue the interim orders, said.

CURRICULUM
He urged the court to take judicial notice that the repeat presidential election had altered the school calendar.

Mr Mugambi is further seeking an order to compel the respondents to hold a national conference within the next 60 days arguing that in three months’ time, the ministry and KICD intend to start implementing the curriculum countrywide in all primary schools.

The lecturer’s application is based on grounds that the implementation period, proposed to review basic education over a six year period starting next year, is not the best since implementation can be achieved in four years for all classes from grade one to 12.

“A six-year implantation strategy will cause a crisis in our schools by admitting two different cohorts of classes the same time into junior secondary schools in 2020 and 2021 when grade six and standard eight students will need admission in secondary education,” Mr Mugambi argued.

EXAMS
He further argued that the subject syllabi documents for all the classes should be provided by KICD from grade one to 12 before implementation of the new basic education curriculum.

“Issuing the complete syllabus will allow fair distribution of learning content across the 12 years of schooling without running into a situation where secondary education is overloaded with content as happened with the 8.4.4 during its introduction,” the lecturer added.

The petitioner contended that the decision to eliminate individual student assessment using a national examination at the end of upper primary by Knec should be withdrawn.

LANGUAGES
He argued that the proposed number of learning areas or subjects to be taught in the new curriculum had not been properly considered since the course content taught in primary schools would increase with the number of subjects rising hence reducing learning time.

Mr Mugambi said all senior secondary schools in the new curriculum need to have a national admission of students with both boarding and day scholars to ensure fair and equal opportunity to all children for sense of citizenship.

The petitioner also argues that indigenous and foreign languages should be introduced at the same level and that introduction of mother tongue in lower primary will affect negatively the learners’ ability to master Kiswahili and English phonetic.

The case will be heard on October 16.

Fuente noticia: http://www.nation.co.ke/news/education/Ministry-told-to-respond-in-suit-against-curriculum-changes/2643604-4123362-s3b0nqz/index.html

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Innovations in systems of education

Pluma Invitada

By Fe Hidalgo

THE Department of Education (DepEd) aims to provide caliber education to vulnerable groups and those not reached by formal education. This will help realize greater equality in known educational outcomes through the Alternative Learning System (ALS).
This is popularized by the DepEd Secretary Briones. The special groups targeted by this project are 11,343 drug surrenderers, children in conflict with the law although they are exempted from apprehension by the law on minors, something which I had spoken of for repeal; 26 rebel returnees, and 180 laborers. The planners will see to it that the ALS learners are aligned with the K to 12 plan for Basic Education to make it relevant and up-to- date. It explains the extent of the competency of ALS relates to the results of a formal school system requirement. Part of the program is the capacity building activities of the teachers and the ALS implementors.
This is extended to countries where children of Filipino migrants will have access to formal education. 100 volunteer teachers are found in Sabah. The DepEd plans to give ALS to the Marawi residents to insure education regardless of critical circumstances. Bakwits children are given Psycho Social activities to help children cope with the trauma of wars. They are provided with drawing sheets and crayons and requested to sketch what they want to draw. The psychologists will then program their debriefing methods based on what are drawn by the children.
UP Mindanao held Inaugural Lectures 2017. The lectures were on various topics on Knowledge X Change. This was held at the Audio Visual Room. The talks were given by faculty members. This caught my attention. The talk is unique in giving personal connections of speaker to an otherwise serious topic. There were talks on Contractualization: a Love Story, Minding the Energy Gap, The Secret Life of Fruits and Vegetables, The Curious Case of Matina Flooding, Wealth From The Poor Man’s Cow. Do You Want to Build A Shelter? Now you know what I mean. All those attending the lectures will not fall asleep.
The Lingap Para Sa Mahirap Program of the city government in partnership with other government agencies provides a one- stop shop medical assistance. Now it caters to 300 clients per day. This started in 2001. It has provided medicine assistance, laboratory, hospital assistance and donors for blood. Lingap coordinates with Southern Philippines Medical Center( SPMC ). DSWD also helps needy residents with the 100 million worth medical assistance from Lingap Para Sa Masa approved by the President. A 4-story building is being planned to be built in the SPMC compound.
City Mayor Sara Duterte promised to fund the hiring of more Madrasah teachers within the city. The comprehensive Madrasah Development Program will verify the need for more teachers. At present they have 130 Ulama and Ustads covering 50 Madrasah schools in the city.
UP Mindanao launches Urban, Regional Planning course and Master of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning. UP Department of Architecture was the reason we relocated from UP Diliman because my son, Architect Francis was assigned to head this department; now headed by Dean Juanga he is participating in the planned program of development.
DOST to reacquaint nation on Science and Technology Innovations. Science is for the service for the people. The 7 desired goals are: innovation stimulated; technology adoption accelerated; critical mass of globally competitive human resources developed; productivity and efficiency of communities and the production sector; resiliency to disaster risks and climate change insured; inequality in capacities and opportunities reduced; and effective governance achieved.
It is a welcome relief to give you all these promising innovations through Education. At least it fulfilled the President’s ardent dream of change or «Pagbabago.»
Source:
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/opinion/2017/09/05/hidalgo-innovations-systems-education-562284
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Gambia: The Gambia Basic Education Certificate Examination (Gabece) Results

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Gambia/ August 29, 2017/ Source: http://allafrica.com

The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education is pleased to release the results of the 2017 Gambia Basic Education Certificate Examinations.

The total number of candidates who entered for the examination was 22,136 students of whom 10,075 males and 12,061 females.

Philip M Goba, Ancha Sarr and Rejoice Favour Uyamadu all of St Therese’s Upper Basic are the top candidates with a 1 (one) in all their nine subjects.

A total of 21 candidates scored aggregate 6, an increase of 5, in 2017

8 are from St Therese’s Upper Basic.

2 from Presentation of St Mary’s

2 from Ndow’s Comprehensive Upper Basic

1 from Charles Jow Academy (22nd July)

1 from SOS Hermann Gmeiner New Covenant Upper Basic

1 from ABC Upper Basic Talinding Upper Basic

1 from St Peter’s Upper Basic

1 from Sibanor Upper Basic

1 from Old Yundum Upper Basic

1 from Kunkujang Keitaya Upper Basic

1 from Anne Marie Rivier

1 from Tahir Ahmadiyaa Muslim Upper Basic

Candidates are to receive their individual results from their respective schools.

Admission to grade 10 should be based on passes in the core subjects to be decided by boards of governors and not exceeding aggregate 42.

Source:

http://allafrica.com/stories/201708280888.html

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Reduce JHS subjects to 6 — Education directors

Noticias

23 de agosto de 2017 / Fuente: https://citifmonline.com

The Conference of Directors of Education (CODE) has advocated the reduction of the number of subjects studied at the various levels of basic education.

It suggested that while pupils in the kindergarten and lower primary should study only numeracy, literature and physical education, those in upper primary and students in junior high school (JHS) should be made to study six subjects, instead of nine.

In a communique issued at the end of the 24th annual conference of CODE at Abesim, near Sunyani, last Saturday, the conference expressed the view that the use of chalk had outlived its usefulness in schools and, therefore, suggested that blackboards should be replaced with whiteboards and markers provided for use by teachers.

The communique, signed by the National President and the National Secretary of CODE, Mrs Margaret Frempong-Kore, and Mr Isaac Nsiah Edwards, respectively, did not assign any reasons for the proposal to the educational authorities to reduce the number of subjects being studied at the basic level.

However, in an interview, Mrs Frempong-Kore explained that at the Kindergarten and lower primary levels, the major problem now was literacy and numeracy.

“By the time that the child leaves the lower primary, if he cannot read, he cannot grasp other subjects taught at Upper Primary and the JHS levels,” she said.

She further explained that the conference also wanted the subjects taught at the upper primary and the JHS levels to be reduced from nine to six because there was a challenge about reading currently.

Justifying the contention of CODE for the subject to be reduced, Mrs Frempong-Kore said  the subjects had to be reduced to enable the pupils to concentrate on the basics of the subjects they would pursue at the senior high school (SHS) level. “With the low level of reading, studying nine subjects gets the students rather confused,” she added.

Free SHS policy

The CODE, in its communique issued at the end of  its meeting, said as much as CODE supported the free SHS policy, “we recommend an increase in advocacy through the distribution of hard copies of guidelines on the policy”.

It also called for the timely payment of all subsidies in relation to the programme to prevent delayed payments during its implementation, a feature that was associated with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), the progressively free SHS and the Capitation Grant.

It also expressed concern over the lack of textbooks and, in some cases, inadequacies in the provision of teaching and play materials and called for an immediate solution to the problem.

Pre-school education

“There is a big deficit in the supply of furniture at the basic level,” the communique stated, and suggested that the award of contract for the production and distribution of furniture should be done at the district level to ensure quality,  appropriateness and timely delivery.

“We are suggesting that the construction of new primary schools should have kindergartens attached, while the training of early childhood education teachers should be encouraged by increasing the quota for study leave,” it said.

TVET courses

The communique recommended that facilities at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions should be redesigned and improved to attract females and persons with disability.

“Effective inputs such as government of Ghana grants, vehicles, residential and office accommodation, as well as office equipment, should be made available to the education directorates for effective delivery of directors’ mandate,” it said.

It said CODE supported the licensing of teachers by the National Teaching Council to improve on teachers’ professional competence, but recommended that there should be more education on the issue.

Fuente noticia: https://citifmonline.com/2017/08/22/reduce-jhs-subjects-to-6-education-directors/

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