Gov’t takeover of mission schools to blame for poor performance - Cudjoe

Government’s decision to take over the running of schools owned by religious bodies has contributed to the reduction in the quality of pupils and students being churned out by such institutions, compared to the time it was under the full management of the churches, founding president of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education Franklin Cudjoe has said.

“I was taught by the best and these were mission schools. Mission schools seem to have been doing far better than the state schools. From Nkrumah’s time when the state decided to take over the schools, that was our undoing,” he noted.

Mr Cudjoe, who was contributing to a discussion on the poor performance of students in the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) on Citi FM’s The Big Issue on Saturday August 13, pointed out: “The state just needs to set the framework in terms of the curriculum.”

For a holistic education that developed every aspect of the child, he felt the mission school system was the best, as kids received better training.

He criticised authorities for failing to implement reforms proposed to develop the educational sector after the takeover of schools by government.

“Since 1950, most of the reforms have never been implemented. The only [reform] that seems to have been implemented is the one at the behest of the politician. Every facet of our development has been like that; the politicians have been our problem,” he added.

Results of the 2016 WASSCE were announced by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) on Tuesday August 9.

According to WAEC, only 53.19 per cent of students who sat for the WASSCE passed in English, with only 32.83 per cent passing in Core Mathematics. Additionally, only 48.48 per cent of students secured passes in Integrated Science. It has emerged that less than half of the 247,262 students who sat for the examination obtained the minimum grades for admission into tertiary institutions.