A Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak, has taken a swipe at the Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum on his recent announcement that the government has taken steps to affiliate grade C schools with grade A schools in a bid to make them better.
The lawmaker who represents Builsa South constituents said mere affiliation would not be the solution to the problem the government intends to solve.
The Education Minister had explained that the government is introducing a policy to associate all lower-performing senior high schools to grade “A” schools.
According to him, the initiative is to imbibe the principles of the grade ‘A’ schools into the grade “C” schools to improve their academic performance.
“Invariably, when we are opening new schools, we don’t look at how we can partner the new schools with existing high performing schools.
“For instance, you may have T.I. Ahmadiyya school in other towns across the country, but we all know the one with distinction is what is located in Kumasi.
“But we can pair these schools up so that they learn from the best practices of the Kumasi one and in no time the lower performing ones will learn from them,” he said.
But in a statement, Dr. Apaak indicated that The proposed method of addressing underperformance in schools classified as grade ‘C’ has been badly exposed by some of the very variables used to differentiate between a grade ‘A’ and a grade ‘C’ school. The criteria or indicators used include whether or not a school enjoys the best or worse of the following: 1) Subscription (CSSPS); 2) Infrastructure; 3) WASSCE pass rate; 4) Location; and 5) Enrolment.
Undeniably, the adoption of best practices is necessary for institutional growth. However, this simplistic approach to dealing with underperformance in less-endowed Senior High Schools by mere affiliation with grade or category ‘A’ schools, without dealing with the fundamental challenges, will not work.
The fundamentals in grade ‘C’ schools ought to be in place first before trying to incorporate best practices from the grade ‘A’ schools. The conditions present in grade ‘A’ schools ought to be replicated in grade ‘C’ schools to make indoctrination of the practices in the performing schools possible. What is mentoring going to do when the conditions are not right in the grade ‘C’ schools?”
Read the full statement below
MERE AFFILIATIONS WITH GRADE ‘A’ SECONDARY SCHOOLS NOT PANACEA TO CHANGING THE PLIGHT OF GRADE ‘C’ SCHOOLS
Tuesday May 17th, 2022
We have a fundamentally huge problem at hand in our grade ‘C’ Senior High Schools which demands our urgent attention. Unfortunately, the Minister for Education has chosen a rather surfaced effort to attempt addressing a deep issue that requires serious intervention.
Rather than address the factors that make a school grade ‘A’ and another grade ‘C’, our Minister for Education is talking about affiliations, whereby grade ‘C’ schools are paired with grade ‘A’ schools. It is expected that the grade ‘A’ schools will provide mentorship to the grade ‘C’ schools, and the grade ‘C’ schools will imbibe best practices from the grade ‘A’ schools.
The proposed method of addressing underperformance in schools classified as grade ‘C’ has been badly exposed by some of the very variables used to differentiate between a grade ‘A’ and a grade ‘C’ school. The criteria or indicators used include whether or not a school enjoys the best or worse of the following: 1) Subscription (CSSPS); 2) Infrastructure; 3) WASSCE pass rate; 4) Location; and 5) Enrolment.
Undeniably, the adoption of best practices is necessary for institutional growth. However, this simplistic approach to dealing with underperformance in less-endowed Senior High Schools by mere affiliation with grade or category ‘A’ schools, without dealing with the fundamental challenges, will not work.
The fundamentals in grade ‘C’ schools ought to be in place first before trying to incorporate best practices from the grade ‘A’ schools. The conditions present in grade ‘A’ schools ought to be replicated in grade ‘C’ schools to make indoctrination of the practices in the performing schools possible. What is mentoring going to do when the conditions are not right in the grade ‘C’ schools?
Is the Minister for Education saying he does not know why some schools are not performing? If a school is non-performing because of no science laboratory, no computer laboratory, no library, no teachers for core subjects, no accommodation to attract teachers, no transport for the head and the school, among others, how does affiliation to a grade ‘A’ school solve these problems and raise the standard of performance?
Quite clearly, my former school, Sandema Senior High Technical School, lacking basic necessities like well-equipped science and computer laboratories, well-stocked library, adequate students and teachers accommodation, adequate textbooks, adequate teachers, can not just by affiliation and mentorship perform like Prempeh College or Wesley Girls.
To be blunt about it, if the Minister moves the entire academic and non-teaching staff from a grade ‘C’ to a grade ‘A’ school, nothing will change in the grade ‘C’ school on their return, if they do not have the conditions and facilities in the grade ‘A’ school they went to for mentoring and to imbibe best practices.
The provision of adequate infrastructure, well-equipped laboratories (Science and Computer), well-stocked libraries, textbooks, adequate teachers for all subjects, and adequate furniture, will remedy the underperformance in grade ‘C’ schools. Affiliation and mentorship alone will not change the plight of grade ‘C’ schools.
Dr. Clement Apaak
M.P, Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member, Education Committee of Parliament
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
