Leaders of Tomorrow foundation faults rankings

Kumasi, Feb 15, GNA - Leaders of Tomorrow Foundation (LTF) a non-governmental organisation based in Kumasi, has stated that the Ministry of Education and Sports' sticking to a quantitative approach in ranking senior secondary schools based on results of the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) left much to be desired.

''The whole ranking system is flawed with inadequacies as it leaves more questions to be answered.''

A statement issued in Kumasi and signed by Mr Appiah Kusi Adomako, the administrator of the Foundation, said its view stemmed from the fact that there was so much talk on the quality of students passing out of secondary schools and not quantity.

''Today the emphasis is on quality and not quantity. This is why the Presidential Commission on Ghana's education has recommended the discontinuance of the wholesale promotion of pupils and students.'' The Foundation noted that since a mere pass cannot lead students to get admission to a higher level of education, the yardstick for ranking schools based only on passed grades has to be revised. It said a student might have all the passes but those passes cannot lead him to gain admission into the universities, polytechnics, teacher training colleges and so on.

The statement was of the view that the process whereby schools are graded based on the number of students who passed in six, seven or eight subjects was outmoded.

The foundation said the league system would give a false sense of superiority to some schools and at the same time give a false sense of inferiority to others.

It said, for instance, Prempeh College presented 813 candidates and had 709 students passing in eight subjects, while 76 and 19 passed in seven and six subjects respectively.

''It will be illogical to use quantitative assessment to make for instance Kukuom Agricultural Secondary School among the first schools in the league while placing Prempeh at the 15th position.''

Kukuom Agricultural Secondary School presented 51 candidates and that 14 students passed in eight subjects while 32 and five passed in seven and six subjects respectively.