NAGRAT calls for fresh debate on SHS duration
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) says the government should reopen the debate on the duration of Senior High School (SHS) education, this time calling for a broader consultation on the issue to put the matter to rest once and for all.
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“For us in NAGRAT, we think it demands a lot of discussions because as of now, we have raised issues about the duration in terms of the contact hours with our students. Now, by the time the SHS student completes school, between eight months and one year is spent outside the classroom and we think we have to look at it again,” the President of NAGRAT, Mr Christian Addai-Poku said.
Contact hours
Expressing the sentiments in an interview with the Daily Graphic, he stated that with the current three-year SHS system where students’ contact hours were inadequate and fresh students reporting late for the first year, it was prudent to extend the duration to four years.
Otherwise, he said, to maintain the three-year duration, there was the need to readjust the timetable for more contact hours with students, as well as ensure that first-year students reported to school early “since with the present system, by the time the first-year students get to school, the first term is already over”.
Moreover, the NAGRAT president indicated that the second term for third-year students was used for the writing of mock examination and then they start doing the practicals of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates somewhere in February, continuing up to May when they finish writing the WASSCE.
First term
“By the time first year students get to school, they have almost lost the first term. As we speak, almost all the SHSs have started writing their mock examinations. By February, no effective teaching and learning would go on because they would start writing their practicals. So from February to about September which should have made up the full three years, they have lost that,” he said.
Moreover, Mr Addai-Poku said the lost of the first term from September to December meant that one whole year was lost, leaving the SHS programme to run for just two-years.
He said during a meeting with the Transition Team, the association made a presentation to the incoming government to consult the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to bring the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) forward, to maybe March and by August release the BECE results for the fresh form one students to go to school in September, when the new academic year begins.
In the discussions with WAEC, he said a suggestion could be made to move the WASSCE to April or May to see how feasible it would be.
“Even if you look at the Prof. Anamuah-Mensah report, it was not explicit. Anamuah-Mensah gave two alternatives, three/four years based on certain conditions which have not been fulfilled, and so it is clear that the whole issue on three/four-year SHS had not been conclusive, and, therefore, there is the need to look at the issue again,” he pointed out.
Tax exemptions
Mr Addai-Poku called on the government to honour its promise of restoring the tax exemption for teachers to import certain vehicles, adding that the government was credited for introducing it and hoped it would do so again after it was scrapped by the immediate-past government. More than 11,000 teachers benefited from the policy which helped them with their means of transport.
He said teacher welfare issues and motivation were key to the delivery of quality education, and expressed the hope that all outstanding issues including teachers’ arrears and pension would be addressed to put an end to those matters.
He, among other things, said the government should provide the resources to ensure smooth academic activities in schools, stressing that NAGRAT members would offer their best in terms of quality teaching.