Chaos In Ghana’s Educational System Under American Educationist And Founder Of Charter Schools As Minister Of Education

Chaos In Ghana’s Educational System Under American Educationist And Founder Of Charter Schools As Minister Of Education

Teaser: Unless there is a second/third directives, do you know private schools who so wish may run three term system (trimester) while the public schools run two term system (semester)? Let’s say its double track vol. 2.

There is a popular adage that ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail’. Press releases by Ghana Education Service on any directives seems to come in multiples. There is all signs that there are not proper planning and consultations within GES before their first releases.

One week after the reopening of basic schools in Ghana, GES is now meeting key stakeholders to settle the type of term system to run for the academic year. No doubt the teacher needs to know the number of weeks in a term and hours to spend a day in school to plan his/her scheme of work and lesson plans even before school resumes. Argument could be made that the teacher could start teaching the first topic while the issues about the term system and hours in school is resolved. But the question is, is that what is done in America?

Chaos In Ghana’s Educational System Under American Educationist And Founder Of Charter Schools As Minister Of Education…

Another complication that comes with the recent academic calendar roll out is the number of minutes per period. The number of minutes per period has been increased to 50 minutes for the basic schools just as it was increased to 60 minutes from 40 minutes for the Senior High Schools with the introduction of the double track system. The fact is that, GES with its experts in the syllabi drew lesson plans using the old minutes per minutes. So is the teacher supposed to spend the increased minutes per period to teach lessons as contained in the lessons per periods in the syllabi? No of course, the teacher must redesign his own lesson plans using the new minutes per periods. But the question again is, what happens to standardisation and syllabi as a guide? And is that what is done in America where our minister was a hero and other places where some of our MoE/GES staff had some insight?

Imagine a week extension stay in school was announced to schools when student were writing their end of term/year exam. So what would the students and teachers be doing in the schools? Were they to stop the exam to learn new lessons and/or do another revision and restart the exams or what? Even privately run schools do not extend their term when exam is ongoing.

What is least worth mentioning is the wrong/correct reopening dates for our double track green/gold students where you could have students who are already on vacation be asked to go on vacation.

READ: GES, MoE eat humble pie, reverse academic calendar to trimester

I was happy reading the American experience by the minister of education during his nomination as a deputy minister designate and loved his style of debates especially concerning the free senior high school. But as a FIGHTER (Economic Fighters League member), I can not forgive myself not alerting the honourable minister that the chaos in the education sector is economically unproductive for the country, creating problems for students/teachers/parents and by extension casting aspersions on his own abilities

By: Anonymous