Ho education authorities strategize to raise standards

Ho, Oct. 16, GNA - The Ho Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES) is assessing the factors impeding the good performance of schools at the junior high school level to reverse the trend.

These include those related to teaching, supervision, parental responsibility, discipline, school management and logistics.

Mr Emmanuel Keteku, Ho Municipal Director of Education, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in separate interviews.

The success rate of BECE results in the Municipal Area went up from 50.56 percent in 2010 to 53.2 percent in 2011.

Eleven schools, the same number as was in 2010, scored 100 per cent in the 2011 exams.

Mater Ecclesiae, a private Junior High School (JHS), at Sokode-Gbogame, was the overall best, followed by Holy Spirit Cathedral JHS, in Ho. They are both Catholic Church schools. Mawuli EP JHS also in Ho, came third.

Ten schools scored zero per cent, with Bokorvikofe JHS, being at the bottom of the table.

Bokorvikofe is a hard to reach area, about five kilometres off the Ho-Accra Highway. Most of the pupils live on the far side of the Tsawe River, and skip school when the river is full or is dangerous to cross.

Though the results table in the Municipal Area reflected the general trend in the country where most private JHSs outshine their public counterparts, a good number of public schools posted very good results this year.

All 28 candidates presented by Sokode-Gbogame LA JHS passed with aggregates of 30 and below. The same was the case of the 29 pupils of the Nyive Lume JHS and the four presented by Agogoe Lume JHS.

Other public schools which got 100 per cent passes were Tanyigbe Kpodzi JHS, which presented 14 candidates and Saviefe Gbogame JHS with 11 candidates.

Ho-Kabore and Volta Barracks School, both Garrison Schools, which presented the highest numbers of candidates, 161 and 80 respectively, got 95.5 per cent each.

Prince Charles JHS in Ho, a Private school, which presented the lowest number, being three, had a 100 per cent pass.

Mr Keteku said the approach of the Ho Municipal Directorate in the review was methodical to bring out all interlacing factors, the tangible and intangible, to throw a “brighter beam on the problem”.

Mr Keteku, aided by Mr Japhet Buamah, Special Needs Officer, and Mr Kofi Pi-Bansa, Public Relations Officer, during the interviews, observed that while it was true that standards were generally falling, it was also important to make evaluations scientific and realistic beyond the monotonous statements about performance at the BECE.

Mr Keteku said getting the grades to gain admission to Senior High Schools may not be the right barometer for measuring the success of JHS education because even some of those who get the good grades terminate their education at the end of the BECE.

Therefore, he suggested, there should be lots of other opportunities of advancement both academically and careering alongside the SHS.