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•Ms Elizabeth De Souza.

‘Ghana’s education not gloomy’

The Ghana Education Service (GES) says Ghana’s successive sweeping of the three top awards in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for the last five years shows that Ghana’s educational system is not gloomy.

Rather, it said, the performance of Ghanaian candidates in the international examination demonstrates that the country’s educational system was still one of the best education destinations in Africa.

A Deputy Director-General of the GES, Ms Elizabeth De Souza, who made this assertion in an interview with the Daily Graphic, noted that the country had a good educational system that is producing quality graduates who are excelling in many fields locally and internationally.

Challenges

“In spite of the little challenges, we have a very good educational system. At the basic level, for instance, we still have challenges with reading at some of our schools and if we are able to tackle that we would go very far,” she said.

The government, and, for that matter, the GES, she said, would not relent in their efforts to ensure that Ghanaian children got the best education, adding that various initiatives were being undertaken in that direction.

“I am not saying we are 100 per cent okay. But with the interventions such  addressing teacher absenteeism, strengthening of monitoring at all levels, provision of infrastructure and facilities we would see positive results”.

Last year, candidates from Ghana competed with 2,018,497 other candidates in the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) members — Nigeria and, The Gambia. Candidates from Liberia and Sierra Leone could not take part in the WASSCE because of the outbreak of the ebola disease.

Excellence awards

At the end of the examination, Hassan Mickail, Kenyah Blaykyi and Henry Archibald Eninful, all from Ghana took the top three awards.

In 2013, Ghanainas Ivy Ama Mannoh, Rhoda Adu-Boafo, and Lucio Dery won the three awards in that order. Yvette Yeboah-Kordieh, Abaasa Ayambire Josbert and Kwame Tsevi Bright Seyram swept the awards in 2012. For 2011, Ann Antwiwaa Sakyi (first), Irbaz Hameed (second) and Elikplim Ahiable (3rd).  In 2010 Ghana did not take part in the WASSCE because of the four-year system operating at that time, and surprisingly no candidate won from the other member countries.

In 2009, Frank Adu-Poku, Maame Afua Otua Ofori and Fathia Karim took the excellence awards and then in 2008, Priscilla Asafo-Adjei, Josephine Tsorgali and David Kofi Nyarko won the awards.

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