We must tackle failure in schools

We have a very serious crisis with the educational system of Ghana; especially at the basic level. Our basic schools in many parts of our country are by all account not giving our children, nephews and cousins the right tutoring. It is more than amazing how for eight years running, no pupil in one of the country’s Junior High Schools has passed their examination.

I felt like I had been hit with a ton of brick when I read news of the failures at Anyinam Kotoku Local Authority Junior High School in the Eastern Region where no pupil according to reports has passed the basic examination that would see them through the next stage; and this comes just days after an announcement to reverse the number of years in Senior High Schools from four to three.

I would leave the debate on the merit or otherwise of how long pupils should stay in Junior or Senior High schools to the experts, but schools such as Anyinam Kotoku L.A. J.H. S. put our economy at risk. A London School of Economics study in 2008 showed that workers’ output may be up to 25 per cent and that is because they have “failed to develop literacy and numeracy skills by the time they leave school.” What can we expect from the former pupils of this unfortunate school?

We cannot allow parts of our nation to become the epicentre of retrogression by condemning people living at these wrong addresses - the parts of the country other than the major cities and towns to failure and expect the nation to grow. We are seriously turning many parts of our country into underclass communities and this must be a major source of worry to everyone.

What is more shocking to me is the neglect and indifference by the previous government to the suffering of communities such as Botianor, Kunbungu, Adukrom and Anyinam Kotoku. Our leaders, especially policy makers should be ashamed of their failures. Their activities clearly underscores a statement made by the late Pan African writer, historian and professor – John Henry Clarke – to the effect that “powerful people will never educate powerless people in what it means to take away the power from them.’’

Why and how could a nation so blessed with leaders with superior education from Europe and America fail its children? Why should pupils in areas such as Satani and Anyinam Kotoku be mark for failure? Why must children suffer for their parent’s inability to afford hotels, shopping malls and homes in areas like Airport residential, Kasoa and Ajiringanor?

Residents of deprived communities must be given as much opportunity to as possible. Majority of our elected officials (beneficiaries of poor people sweat) have displayed undisguised glee about their wealth and which universities they attended abroad and yet have been so hopeless in finding lasting solutions to the basic needs the masses. Majority of the politicians including members of my own party busy themselves with hotels, gadgets and fancy cars all at the expense of the struggling masses leaving us heavily laden with debt.

The situation in the Brim South district where the school is located is a national emergency and we must get schools like that back in line to give pupils a chance to change their lives? The Ghana Education Service and parliament’s select committee on education must quickly commission a research into failed schools and tell Ghanaians what the extent of poor performances in our schools is. This news is undoubtedly an indictment on the Kufour led administration, Ghana’s ministry of Education, the GES and most especially the parliament’s select committee on education. The University of Education, University of Ghana and indeed all the nation’s higher institutions of learning have neglected and missed opportunities to help in shaping policy. It is these institutions of higher learning which should be at the forefront of conducting studies. The historical bleating about not having adequate funds to conduct research is not a good excuse. Since our ‘property owning or rather grabbing’ compatriots in opposition failed the people of Anyinam Kotoku, the ruling NDC Government must quickly get to the bottom of this and announce to the nation what assistance it is offering pupils in all districts where there may be equally appalling news of performances by our children. We need a “national challenge” list where the ministry would be given the responsibility to identified “challenged” institutions and mark them for increased government support. And the brightest pupils from such schools need to be given government scholarship and support to propel them through their education.

Without periodic monitoring and evaluation, we would be nurturing people who would grow up without any confidence about themselves and no prospects of a better future. With the kind of results from Brim South in the Eastern Region, we are deepening the gap of class inequality in our country and creating an educational tsunami.

Ras Mubarak

Broadcaster & NDC Publicist

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