PRUDENT policies initiated by the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the Ashanti Region over the years have enhanced admissions at all levels of educational institutions in the region.
According to the GES, “gross enrolment in the region rose from 56.9 per cent, 83.4 per cent and 79.9 per cent at the kindergarten, primary and junior high school (JHS) respectively in 2004 to 86.2, 105.9 and 91.6 in 2007”.
The Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Mr J. K. Onyinah, who announced this during the regional education sector annual review programme in Kumasi, noted that the increased enrolment of students in the region had not matched the educational infrastructure to enhance academic work.
He expressed concern about the lack of qualified teachers in such critical areas as Science, Mathematics and English.
The sector is thus addressing the problem by granting study leave with pay in those subject areas, and conscious efforts are being made to recruit more graduates in Science, Mathematics and English to augment the qualified teachers, he stated.
On the enrolment of teachers, as against educational infrastructure, he explained that “the increased enrolment has resulted in large class sizes, and even the provision of additional classrooms has not been able to match the rate of increases in enrolment”.
Explaining further, Mr Onyinah said “some public schools in Kumasi and over 70 per cent in Obuasi run the shift system, and in some cases, classes are held under trees”.
Giving statistics to support his claim, Mr Onyinah said between 2007 and 2008, the region had a total of 3,036 private and public schools at the kindergarten level, with their total enrolment being 260,046, but all the kindergarten schools in the region had only 1,526 classrooms, which were in good condition to facilitate effective academic programmes.
He said at the primary level, total enrolment in the region for both private and public schools between 2007 and 2008 stood at 686,293, but in terms of classrooms which were in good conditions, and at the primary levels, only 6,441 were made available.
With a total enrolment of 261,208 students at the JHS level in the region for both private and public schools, only 2,617 classrooms were provided, creating congestions in some schools and making teaching and learning rather difficult, he noted.
Enrolment in the Ashanti Region in senior high schools (SHSs) during the same period was 83,203 for both public and private schools, he stated, adding that the total classrooms for the purpose of academic was only 1,137.
He also expressed concern about facilities at SHSs in the region and appealed for more dormitories to be constructed to create a healthy environment that would enhance efficient academic work.
“There are many ongoing projects, which when completed, would ease congestion. District Assemblies should focus on the construction of more classrooms and other ancillary facilities at the basic level,” he advised.
On the output of academic programmes in terms of examinations in the region, Mr Onyinah said for the past five years, an average of 69 per cent of Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates qualify for entry into SHSs compared to the national average of 69 per cent.
The Director said for the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), 43 per cent qualified to enter tertiary institutions compared to the national average of 36 per cent.
In 2008, he said the overall best student and the first runner-up came from St Louis Senior High School in Kumasi.
Mr Onyinah said GES was striving to improve the conditions of service for teachers as a way of “improving teacher retention”.
He touched on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and said the programme was improving very fast, but there was the need to support JHS and SHS levels in the areas of computers.
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