Professor Stephen Adei, the One-time Director-General and Rector of GIMPA has proposed a strategy that will transform all public schools in the country.
In Prof. Adei’s submission on PM Express Personality Profile, he spoke at length about the troubling nature of Ghana’s public basic schools and suggested a revolutionary solution for tackling the poor performance in government schools.
According to Prof. Adei, his best solution to the issue of poor performance in government basic schools in Ghana is to sack all the teaching staff and employ them based on terms and conditions.
The overhauling of the education heads is the best way to go, he explained.
“We have allowed the quality of our basic education to collapse in the public sector. It’s so sad. The teachers are not teaching. They’re qualified, far more qualified than we were – because mine was you first start serving, and then you go for four years. These days they’re almost all graduates.”
Further in his submission, he admitted the fact that the teachers are highly qualified for the work but the problem is about the supervision of their work.
Strict supervision will bring the best transformation in Ghana’s education system.
If proper supervisory measures are employed, Ghanaians will see the quality of teachers the nation has. He noted that due to little or no supervision of teachers, it will be very tedious to yield the best results from students.
Speaking about salary as a measure of work, he linked it to his suggestion.
He spoke in detail saying the government should sack all teaching. But in the first place, three (3) months’ notice should be served to all teaching staff (during the long vacation).
Further, Prof. Adei suggested a road map. He said the government should announce the employment of Heads of Basic Schools using.
Next, the salary of those Heads should be increased (twice the former salary).
He explained the rationale behind the increment saying the Heads are now the main brain behind the success of students therefore paying them huge will motivate them to perform to the brim.
The government should make it clear to the Heads about their new duties and responsibilities. It must be known to the Heads that discipline of school children is their duty.
Heads must also be informed that their salary is assured but they must apply all the best measures they can to achieve the best results.
He added that when his revolutionary approach is applied, the government will see a rise in the quality of education in a span of 12 months.
Moreover, he did not sideline the everyday cry of teaching and learning materials in Basic Schools.
He talked about the provision of textbooks. To Prof. Adei, the government’s inability to provide needed textbooks has breaded the lackadaisical attitude in teachers. When all the needed materials are supplied, the best of the teachers will be experienced.
“All the rest, not that I don’t believe in textbooks, classrooms, all those teacher education and all those things, but let me tell you, unless we change the structure and the management and the accountability, every money is going down the drain,” he added.
SOURCE: Coverghana.com.gh
