Engaging teachers and pupils of some Basic Schools in the Gomoa West of Ghana district has affirmed expert views and unveiled a picture of an impaired educational system that is producing workers who may not be ready for the demands of a knowledge economy. Across the civilized world, all economic development models are structured around a skilled workforce capable of innovating and using technological tools to solve social problems. The core foundation – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) – are therefore a strategic imperative to ensure global competitiveness. The Ghanaian narrative is however different. Not only are our Universities overly skewed towards the humanities at the expense of the sciences, but performance at the basic level (Basic Education Certificate Examination) raises critical questions about whether certain aspects of public policy on education are anachronistic or whether bureaucracy within Ghana Education Service may be a contributory factor to the problem.
So what is The Problem?
In the next 10 minutes, I hope to engage your interest by focusing on the Gomoa West district as a microcosm of a national problem in education. It does appear, that the issue of poor B.E.C.E results, year after year only becomes topical for a short fashionable while, useful only for political point scoring. I would argue however that it is the most essential conversation to have if strong foundations for growth are going to be laid.
According to data from the District League Table (DLT), an annual report by UNICEF, and the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), Gomoa West has experienced some of the worst performance among 216 districts nationwide. In 2014 the district ranked 208th (with a weighted index of 41) while it ranked last in 2016. The report aggregates data from various sectors (health, sanitation, education, etc.) and creates a weighted index to rank performance. Again, data from Ghana Education Service show a BECE average pass of 31.74% (2011-2014) for the district. Albeit this compares favorably to districts within the upper East, for instance, the question of “why” still remains relevant as a way of unearthing the subtle drivers of underperformance.
The Gomoa Education Project
On May 20, 2016, Tunka Institute DSI-Platform (then Rural Heights Foundation) embarked on yet another Gomoa Education Project that saw the donation of goodies to the Kindergarten class of Darumpong Catholic Primary, including 100 balloons and also held coaching sessions for Junior Students majority of whom, almost invariably, suffer shattered dreams after experiencing the fate of those who fail to advance to Senior High School each year. As part of the project, the Foundation also engaged the teaching staff in a dialogue on possible causes of poor B.E.C.E performance. Incidentally, this very Basic School, with a population of about 700 pupils, is the alma mater of the incumbent Member of Parliament and also the two aspirants contesting for the seat on NPP and NDC tickets.
In an interactive forum dubbed “The Future leader’s Dialogue Series” the teaching staff of Gomoa Darumpong, raised critical issues of policy and administrative importance that may be contributing to the poor B.E.C.E performance in districts such as Gomoa West. Issues identified and discussed include language, teacher-pupil ratio, lack of adequate instructional materials, and the unintended consequences of the school feeding program, inter alia. Incidentally, these matters had been affirmed in a prior engagement with teachers of W.O.P Methodist ‘A’ Primary in Gomoa Pinanko.
Language Policy – Exoglossic or Endoglossic?
Consensual opinion was that the current pseudo-exoglossic policy of 70:30 where 30% of instructional medium ought to be Ghanaian indigenous language and 70% English, may be having a counterproductive impact on comprehension. A greater emphasis on local language as a medium of instruction at the lower level may be more effective in laying a foundation for cognitive development and subsequent appreciation of abstract concepts.
Increasing Access – School Feeding & Capitation
Whilst commending the school feeding program as effective in achieving high enrolment figures, the unintended consequence has been a high teacher-pupil ratio leading to fragmented attention and supervision. This has untoward implications for quality outputs. In Darumpong Catholic Primary alone, the Kindergarten section (1&2) constitutes about 19% of the total school population which is a little above 700. Indeed, this view that suggests a negative correlation between high enrolment and poor tuition quality has been articulated by some researchers. For instance, Yelkpieri and Bilikpe (2013) in a study on Capitation Grant draw a similar conclusion about enrolment data and tuition quality.
In order to improve performance outcomes at the basic education level, considerable attention is required in the area of administrative inefficiency, coordinated policy execution, and remodeling of language policy from exoglossic to endoglossic over time.