Educationist urges return to basics in the teaching of grammar in schools

Kumasi (Ashanti), 14th May ?99 ?

Mr I.K. Gyasi, a retired educationist, has advocated for the teaching of "traditional English grammar in a more conscious manner" in schools rather than allowing pupils to merely pick such grammatical skills only in the course of reading.

In addition, teachers should learn to use the dictionary well and teach pupils to appreciate its use in checking grammar, tenses and spellings for their correctness, he said.

Mr Gyasi said this in Kumasi on Thursday at a forum on improving education in the Kumasi metropolis organised by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and the metropolitan directorate of education for educationists, chiefs, assembly members and various stakeholders of education development in the Bantama and Manhyia sub-metros.

The forum, a follow-up to the recently held regional education conference in Kumasi, sought to bring all stakeholders in education together to discuss problems militating against the smooth performance of the educational sector and seek remedies to them.

Mr Gyasi, who spoke on "Strategies for Improving English in Schools", urged the government and parents to do more in terms of supplying sufficient learning and teaching materials to enable teachers produce desired results.

"Teachers are not magicians; they can do as much ? there is no teacher that can teach English well when the required books are not available", he said.

Mr A.A. Daramanu, Ashanti Regional Director of Education, advised the public to desist from encroaching upon school premises, saying schools need serene and quiet environments to ensure sound performance.

He appealed to chiefs to support efforts of school authorities at protecting such lands from not only encroachers but also recalcitrant persons who sometime use the compound to engage in anti-social activities.

Mrs. Margaret Benneh, Kumasi Metropolitan Director of Education, urged chiefs, religious leaders, parents and the community as a whole to get actively involved in school activities.

She said schools with community involvement now perform more creditably than those, which are denied the involvement and participation of the community.