A Senior lecturer at Garden City University Collage in the Kumasi Metroplis in the Ashanti region, Dr Francis Tandor is advocating for the reintroduction of the 5-year Senior High School system to promote effective teaching and learning in schools.
He said the current 3-year system being run in the various Senior High Schools across the country is inadequate to ensure students cover the entire syllabus and sufficiently prepare them for their final examination.
He insists that the current three-year system is not helping the educational sector because it is producing mass failures which need to be curbed compared to the quality the five-year system produced.
Speaking on OTEC FM’S flagship programme, ‘NYANSAPO’ on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, Dr Tandor observed that students under the three-year system are rushed through the syllabus only for examination purposes with many not having a full grasp of the content of what they are mandated to study.
According to him, the results of the five-year system speak to its advantages and therefore will be prudent for the government to reconsider the decision of reverting it to the old system and make teaching and learning more effective as well as prepare grandaunts for tertiary level.
“There is the need to extend the 3-year program to 5 years so that we can have proper education for our wards. This should not be about politics. We don’t have to make politics a part of the education system in our country,” he stressed.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration under President John Kufuor introduced the 4-year Senior High School programme in 2007. However, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) reverted to the 3-year system after it regained power in 2009.
The NDC’s President, John Mahama following his party’s re-election in 2008 said calls for the return of the four-year Senior High School system was “uncalled for” as statistics show that students have performed better in the 3-year system.
But Dr Tandor who is also Economist told the Programme’ host Captain Koda that politicians in the country should be blamed for the falling standard and the poor performance of students in the country.
He said the situation where the education policy keeps changing with every new government has been unhelpful and that there needs to be some consistency.
‘’It is disheartening that partisan interests often are allowed to override the main objectives of the numerous educational reforms and this defeats the essence of these reforms to the disadvantage of students and national development’’, he said.
He therefore expressed worry that politicians are overly toying with the educational system in the country warning that the three-year system and associated shortfalls could have dire consequences on the educational system of the country if it is retained.
Education is crucial in any type of society for the enhancement of the lives of its members but we cannot run a smooth education devoid of infrastructure.
The Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) was introduced followed by the capitation grant. With this programme, parents are under obligation to send all Ghanaian children to school.
Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com
