College to support female students’ academic performance
The Presbyterian College of Education (PCE) at Akropong Akuapim, has received a grant of GH¢60,000 from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) to help improve academic performance of female students at the college.
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The grant is part of a programme known as “Transforming teacher education and learning” (T-tel). It was initiated by the government, with sponsorship from the DFID, to provide support for the various colleges of education to help improve teaching and learning.
Under the scheme, the colleges can apply for support on any concrete plan that would improve teaching and learning in their institutions.
At the launch of T-tel project at the institution last Friday, the Principal of the college, Reverend Samuel Yeboah Antwi, said the PCE decided to focus on female education to help bridge the gap between their performance and that of their male counterparts.
Contact hours
He stated that the T-tel initiative would enable the college to increase the contact hours between teachers and the female students who would do an additional two hours of classes after the normal class hours.
“Over the weekend, the female students will do an additional two hours. When school vacates, they will have the option of either staying on for one week or going home and coming back to the college a week earlier to get additional contact hours,” he said.
He explained that over the years, the performance of the male students of the college had been far better than that of the females.
“For example, in 2015 all the 11 first-class students were males. This year, 10 males had first class while only two females got first class. We, therefore, realised that something ought to be done for the female students to catch up with their male counterparts,” he said.
The principal explained that the grant was to cater for remuneration for the teachers who would take part in the project, refreshments for the students and also learning materials that would help in the teaching of the students.
Assessment and evaluation
The project, he said, would be for a period of two years after which the college and the T-tel team would assess and evaluate its impact.
“The aim is to see that at the end of their education here, their performance would improve and at least five per cent of the females would graduate with first class,” he said.
Rev. Antwi announced that as part of the project, the college would organise a stakeholder’s conference that would bring together parents, students, education officials and the traditional authorities and T-tel officers.
Awards ceremony
The ceremony was also used to honour teachers and workers of the college who had distinguished themselves in their duties towards the institutions.
Four other personalities, including the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Reverend Professor Cephas Narh Omenyo, were also honoured at the ceremony.
Rev. Antwi said for the past two years, the results of the students had been very impressive and, therefore, “there was the need to thank the teachers for steering the students to achieve such performance.”
For her part, the Chairperson of the Governing Council of the PCE, Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye said, the PCE was gradually transforming into a tertiary institution and as such, it needed support to fully achieve tertiary status.
“We are doing our best but we still need assistance to expand our infrastructure and also build the capacity of our staff,” she said.