Parental Investment; Greatest Challenge to Children�s Education

Richard Kuwornu is a Mathematics teacher at Kanda Estate 3 Junior Secondary School in Accra. While students are on a break, he offers a reassuring smile before discussing his take on the state of schools and future opportunities and challenges in the classroom. As underfunded as he feels schools are, he claims that in some ways, the current state of Junior Secondary Schools is an improvement from his days as a pupil. �We keep their exercise books so they are always neat,� he says, adding, �there are enough textbooks from the government.� With a total of 18 years in pedagogic experience, he has already seen an increase in class size, and a need to keep up facilities, especially furniture: �I realized that the furniture is just being produced; [no one takes] the size of the students into consideration.� So often, larger junior secondary students fit uncomfortably into desks fitted for primary students. Still, the greatest challenge for him in the classroom is pupil attentiveness. Students were roaming the outdoor corridors, discussing sports and dancing, but once in the classroom, some sleep. Kuwornu attributes this to the child�s busy schedule at home. �Some of them, instead of going to do their homework, end up selling in the streets. Some wake up really early to assist their parents either to sell or carry their wares to the market,� he says. Technology may be a key to enlivening students� progress, or as he puts it, a move away from �chalk and dusters.� He is especially interested in the parents� role in improving the educational agenda of their children. �If you look at the private schools around, where parents are actively involved, [those children] are making the results.�