Conference of Heads of Basic Schools raises a red flag over unqualified students being allowed to write BECE.
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Conference of Heads of Basic Schools raises a red flag over unqualified students being allowed to write BECE.
The Conference of Heads of Basic Schools (COHBS) in Ghana has called on the government to end the illegality being practiced in basic schools across the country by individuals who call themselves ‘education Contractors.’
COHBS said these persons are in the business of importing unqualified students to register for the annual Basic Education Examination Certificate (BECE), which has adverse effects on the quality of results.
The representative of COHBS national executives and the Northern Regional Chairman, Mr. Musah Adam, during the 2nd quadrennial Upper East Regional Delegates Conference of COHBS, revealed this development and said that, if not controlled or eliminated, the quality of education in Ghana is at risk.
Mr. Musah Adam explained that these ‘education contractors’ mostly carry out these acts in schools that are found in rural areas where supervision is not effective, and that some head teachers are collaborating with these people to carry out the illegality.
“One area we want the government to look into is our students, especially some schools in the country that are registering unqualified students to sit for BECE when they are not supposed to. For instance, when the recession comes, students in B7, B8 there are some contractors who take them to some other schools at a fee, and that one is agreed by their parents, and they go to sit for BECE. It means that the future of our education is in danger,” he said.
The Upper East Regional Chairman of COHBS, Mr. Abdul Wahab Adam Hamid, reiterated the need for the government to take steps in eliminating this canker, which has eaten deep into the general performance of basic school students as far as the BECE is concerned.
“This issue of unqualified Registration of BECE candidates did not start now, and heads of basic schools in the region, we tried fighting this canker, but the issue of superiority and corruption has taken over, and a lot of heads of schools are handicapped when it comes to stopping this situation”, Mr. Abdul Wahab Adam Hamid said.
Another concern affecting public basic schools in the country, especially in the Upper East Region, that came up at the quadrennial conference is the issue of public-school teachers enrolling their children into private schools rather than where they teach, and that is affecting the public schools.
An educationist and former Upper East Regional Minister, Professor Ephraim Avea Nsor, has descended on Basic School teachers for not enrolling their children into public schools, but rather wasting much resources and school hours sending their wards to private schools.
“As we said, look, there are some colleagues in Bongo District who wake up and take their students to Zuarungu for some school there, and then you have to run back to Bongo to attend to the public students. So, if you are the teacher, tell me how you are going to put up with that. Look at the stress for yourself on that child. And you are teaching in a primary school right in Bongo, there, and you ride every morning, every morning, five days a week. What are you telling about yourself to the school and the system you are running? Don’t we feel ashamed? Don’t we? This is the most glaring sign that we need to rebuild the credibility of our own schools, starting with our own action”, he said
”In many countries, in Europe, where we are always telling them, go to the U.S., go to France, Private participation in these schools is not just limited, but heavily regulated, ensuring that they go strictly by the same curriculum as the public schools. In fact, many of those schools, especially in Western Europe, where in the Scandinavian countries, where there are social democrats, it’s mostly the churches, and you cannot have them have that. Almost everything is private schools, and the reasons, you know, why they do that. And we are copying them. We are copying them very wrongly,” he added.
In response, COHBS has agreed with the concerns of Professor Ephraim Avea Nsor and has called on teachers in the public schools to try as much as possible to enroll their children into public schools, especially where they teach but quickly reminded government to invest heavily in educational infrastructure and human resource in the education sector that will compete well with private schools in terms of logistics.
“We have the best and qualified teachers in the public schools with first degrees, master’s degrees, and other higher education certificates and qualifications, but the motivation and welfare issues in the education sector are not encouraging”, Abdul Wahab Adam Hamid reiterated.
He added, “Most of the teachers at the private schools are senior High school leavers without experience, but because these private schools are well-resourced and have better motivation, the students do well, so it is all about putting the right things in order, and public schools will be great”.
The quadrennial conference brought together representatives of the heads of schools in the fifteen municipal and districts in the Upper East Region, with a focus on empowering head teachers to take up challenges in the area of their service as well as improving the general management and performance of the basic schools.
