The Eastern Regional Parent-Teacher Association Chairman, Rev. Joshua Terkpenor, has called for the complete removal of the categorisation system for senior high schools, advocating instead for all institutions to be upgraded to the same standard.
He stated that the government and educational authorities must equip all secondary schools with the necessary logistics, infrastructure, and teaching tools to bring them to equal levels, thereby ending the intense competition for a few selected institutions.
According to him, the current system drives parents to focus solely on Category A institutions, creating unnecessary pressure and friction during the Computerised School Placement System process.
He explained that if every school across the country were provided with equal resources and rated on the same level, students and parents would readily accept placements anywhere without hesitation.
Speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he lamented the fixation of some parents on specific elite schools despite their wards’ performance.
“The school selection process has also become a challenge. Part of the problem is from the parents. Let us accept that. Someone is aware the child wants to attend Aburi Girls or Wesley Grammar but will go ahead and select different schools on grounds that they will wait for the results to be released so that when the children perform better, they go and change it. Others want their children to attend only Category A schools and not B or C or D. What is the criterion in categorising the schools? If there are challenges in B and the other categories, making them not fit to be in the A category, let us solve them and rate them at the same level as the A. If possible, we should remove the categories and ensure that all the schools are at the same level so that wherever you get as a school, you will not reject it but attend,” he said.
Rev. Terkpenor stressed that addressing these infrastructural and logistical disparities across lower-tier categories is essential to creating fairness in the secondary education sector.
In addition to structural reforms in schools, the PTA Chairman tasked parents to accept their share of the blame for the general poor performance of candidates in the Basic Education Certificate Examination. He noted that while policy fixes require collective effort, parents must take responsibility by investing adequately in their children’s academic needs.
He further called on the West African Examinations Council and relevant stakeholders to demystify the marking and grading systems so that parents and candidates can fully understand and accept examination outcomes without suspicion or confusion.
“We do not know the technicalities used for the marking, and so we will admonish WAEC, the Examination Council, to provide us with the details of how the exams are marked and grading generated so parents and other stakeholders will have an understanding of the systems. When this is done and the results are released and the candidates underperform, parents will accept it, or if the marking was poorly done, the needed steps would be taken to correct them,” he added.
Rev. Terkpenor concluded that these structural and administrative challenges have lingered for far too long, urging authorities to implement permanent solutions once and for all.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
