MINISTRY REJECTS C'TTEE'S RECOMMENDATION 4 -YR SSS

The Ministry of Education has said it will not be in the interest of students and the EDUCATION Reform Programme to increase the duration of the senior Secondary (SSS) from three to four years.

The Minister said it still favoured a nine-year programme of basic education and,therefore insisted on the maintaince of a pre-tertiary education structure which offered six years of primary, and three junoir secondary, and the three years senoir secondary schooling. The ministry's position is contained in a catalogue of views or recommendations made by the Education Reforms Review Committee (ERRC)which submitted its report last october.

The 54-member ERRC,recommended a 6-3-4-4 structure of senior secondary schooling from three years to four years,therebyincreasing the length of pretartiary education from 12 to 13 years. The commitee' recommendation, as the reports suggests, is intended not only to improve on the quality of education at that level, but also create opportunity for students who cannot complete the SSS course in three years to repeat and remedy and defiencies they may have.