Headmasters in the public basic schools who fail to improve the performance of their schools within a three-year period will be demoted and not be allowed to head any other public school.
The punitive measure has been identified as part of an accountability framework designed by the Ministry of Education to improve the sense of urgency and responsibility of school heads towards the performance of students.
The initiative will be fully enforced after the implementation of a new curriculum and a National Assessment programme where ‘critical’ performance data on public schools will be collected for assessment purposes.
The Deputy Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, announced this when he addressed some stakeholders in Accra on March 19, 2019, at the Edurevolution conference organised by Infoview Data Solutions.
He explained that such a measure was necessary as public schools at the basic level had for a long time underperformed, which is partially due to low sense of urgency among some heads.
Unlike the senior high schools where the old students have keen interest in the administration of the school, he said the public schools at the basic level do not have that kind of interest from old pupils.
Dr Adutwum added that the National Assessment programme would do away with the existing practice where teachers ended up being rewarded as headmasters by virtue of serving in the educational sector for a long time.
He however gave an assurance that government would prioritise its support to low-performing schools by improving infrastructure and building the capacity of teachers in ensuring that they meet their targets.
A renowned educationist, Anis Haffar, who was speaking on the topic: “The Irony of Analogue Teachers in a Digital Age” said the benchmark of quality education should be ability of students to apply knowledge acquired in serving to make life better for others.
“Based on the Aggreyean Principle, don’t tell me what you know but show me what you can do,” he stated.
He advised teachers to always be on the lookout for new ways to add value to themselves in order to remain relevant to their profession that relies heavily on technology.
He also urged parents and teachers to develop a collegial relationship with their children in order to make learning mutual.
Source: Daily Guide
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
The caliber of students produced in our public schools are nothing much to write home about. The blame is on the ministry of education and Ghana education service. Hardly can a student be repeated nowadays for poor performance.... There's what has come to be known as mass promotion in our public schools both basic and high school, how can you expect good performance if students aren't challenged to study hard.... In the US like in the universities, hardly can a student graduate from high school or elementary if that person fails a subject. The person, have to resit and until he or she passes. But such is not the practice here. No repetition, hardly can students be dismissed for very poor performance etc and why should teachers/headmasters be held responsible for poor performance on the part of students!!!! I gave my students questions I was bringing in an examination, about 90% had zero, does it mean as a teacher, I didn't do my work well or we have to deal with lazy students.... Teaching government with English as the language of instruction, I have to try to explain to students in twi.... Because doing so in English becomes suicidal. Academics is not for everyone, review your policies on education, change the curriculum to a skill based one... Student shouldn't have the opportunity to graduate to the next level of their education if they should fail in any subject, they should either be repeated or made to resit the particular subject or paper they failed.... This feet alone can compel students to sit up in class.
We need to have a second look at this policy before implementation commence. Modern education should train the child wholistically who will be able to think criticality to find solutions to problems. Teachers are therefore trained to use innovative pedagogy capable of meeting this goal. However, I can predict that this policy will make the head teachers adopt crude methods of making sure students pass including forcing them to learn. Rote learning and other unacceptable teacher centered pedagogy will be used to force the children to learn and pass so the head can continue to sustain his/her job. We don't need that as a country. Therefore, we should have a serious rethinking about this policy.
Non performing governments will toppled first.