Cape Coast, June 8, GNA - The former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, Prof Josephus Anamuah-Mensah, has expressed concern about challenges facing the education system and said this has resulted in a large number of children of school going age not in school.

He said about 900,000 primary age children who should be in school are not in school and that there was also an increasing dropout rate as pupils move from primary one to primary six resulting in low enrolments in the junior high schools with a net enrolment rate of 53 per cent. Prof Anamuah-Mensah said this at the 22nd graduation of St Nicholas Seminary at Cape Coast, under the theme "Christian Education: A Tool for National Revitalization - The Place of Theological Education." Thirty people, including two women, graduated with Diploma in Ministry and Diploma in Theology from the University of Cape Coast. He said participation in senior high school was very low with a gross enrolment of 30 per cent and net enrolment of 10 per cent adding that access to technical institution had remained static since 2001/2002 and attributed the high dropout rates to poverty, unmotivated teachers and unattractiveness of schools.

Prof Anamuah-Mensah said at the tertiary level the participation rate was only six per cent but was likely to increase to 11 per cent due to the introduction of the diploma awarding teacher training colleges and stressed the need to revamp Christian education to help bring about changes in the education system.

He said with the inefficiencies in the education system, it has created an army of uneducated, mis-educated and partially educated people who are rendered poorer in the society, adding that adult literacy rate was at 63 per cent and that a vast majority of Ghanaians fail to read and write after years of primary education. The former Vice Chancellor said apart from academic problems facing the nation, there were also social and ethical issues that dominated the society.

A study conducted by Scripture Union of Ghana, indicates that over 5,000 youth are in prison and 600 in psychiatric hospitals, with a large number of junior high school students into prostitution. He said there was a rise in sexual immorality and HIV/AIDS prevalence among the youth with occultism growing rapidly in schools. In 2007 14,139 girls between 10 to 19 years got pregnant in the Western Region alone.

He appealed to theological institutes to train Christian leaders who are intellectually and practically prepared to spread the tenets of Christianity of love, hope and faith through the Churches, schools and in the communities.

The Central Regional Minister, Ama Benyiwa-Doe, expressed concern about the fact that the region was blessed with so many schools including two universities with qualified teachers but still performed poorly in the BECE annually.

She said most teachers ask for transfer to the region but to abandon the classroom for their university courses. "The situation is greatly affecting teaching and learning in the region," she said and called on Churches and all stakeholders to come out with pragmatic solutions to address the problem.