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Opinions of Monday, 11 April 2016

Columnist: Ahmed Zakariah Frimpong Jr.

My education, my future: An insight into Ghana's education system.

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Of late,the grievances raised about our education system are on the increase. The future of an ordinary Ghanaian child has been left in the sky floating like 'a lost kite'. In this article, I will ponder on some whims and caprices of the Ghana Education System, specifically the examination bodies as well as some formidable solutions to these problems.

Sometimes I wonder if Ghana is even a member of the Commonwealth Community because nothing shows.Our credentials are viewed with squeezed eyes and less worth all because of the emanation of the credentials-Ghana. UK, US and most of the European countries do not even regard our WASSCE results amidst the leaks and incredibility around the exams. Are we going to sit for the incompetency of these Examination Bodies ruin the future of the ordinary Ghanaian child?

I strongly believe WAEC is 'playing chess' with the future of our students. In 2015, prior to the leaks of the core papers of the BECE,WAEC took an adamant decision and canceled all these papers that had been written already.Where lies our future? Why should one Examination Body like WAEC use their monopolistic influence to ruin the future of our students.I sigh,I grief and I strongly sob that WAEC is failing us and we need an alternative.

Even with a genuine WASSCE credential,one would still need to write other so called internationally accepted exams such as TOEFL,SAT, GRE, etc before one could gain admission overseas and yet Ghana could proudly hit its dancing belly and say it is a Commonwealth Nation.To me,I strongly believe Ghana is an African nation and for that matter must live as one.

Vis-a-vis the aforementioned problem, I believe that the solutions to these persistent problems are as follows:

*All secondary schools in the country should conduct its own Entrance Exams such that after a child has completed his or her Junior High Education,he or she would sit for such entrance exams and would thereof be admitted into the senior high school.

*Furthermore,I think WAEC should not enjoy the monopoly it has enjoyed for the past years.I plead unto the reputable authorities thus the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to set up another Examination Council which would consist of our notable great Educationists from the Tertiary Institutions.I strongly trust and believe that an Examination Body headed by our reputable Professors and Doctors in Education would not experience anything like leakage of examination papers.

*Lastly,all Universities and other third cycle institutions in the country should conduct its own Entrance Exams to avoid over dependence on the WASSCE results as the only criterion for admission.

I am only a concerned educationist and a seeker of truth,peace and accountability. In view of this, silence to the degraded education system of the country would be more harm than good to all of us. I plead on anyone who could forward this to do so till it gets to the real implementer and seeker of relief for the ordinary Ghanaian Child.