GES Director cautions stakeholders against malpractice in WASSCE

Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has cautioned students, parents, teachers, among other stakeholders to desist from promoting examination malpractice in the ongoing West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

He specifically called on parents and teachers not to urge their wards and students to engage in that practice, but to leave them to prove their worth in the examinations.

Professor Opoku-Amankwa gave the caution at a media engagement to give updates on GES activities including the WASSCE, the upcoming Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), academics, Human Resource issues among others.

With the academics, he said preparation on the Common Core curriculum for the Senior High Schools could not be done for schools and teachers due to COVID-19, adding that, it would soon be introduced after the necessary preparation.

He emphasised that there had been no change in the SHS calendar as some heads of schools were worried about, noting that, the calendar sent to them was a reminder.

For the Junior High School (JHS), the old curriculum was still being run, albiet a delay in the production and procurement of the materials for the Standard Base Curriculum.

He was quick to add that the situation would not affect academics because 150,000 teachers had been trained and given resource packs to augment the Standard Based Curriculum when it is introduced.

Speaking on the capitation/feeding grant, Prof. Opoku-Amankwa said though funds from the Ministry of Finance sometimes delayed, grants for KG/Primary and special schools for the first and second terms have been released.

On the issue of the one-teacher-one laptop programme, he said all teachers would be supplied with one in the next two months to support the hybrid system for teaching and learning, occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Director-General who addressed the issues of upgrades, promotions, transfers and condition of service, said the backlog of staff who were allowed to go on study leave and had pursued approved courses have been upgraded, and asked such staff to go to their various regions to verify.

On transfers, he advised teachers not to see their movement to other stations as punishment, as it was in the interest of both the Service and individual, stressing that it was part of the reasons staff in deprived areas were given incentives.