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Volta Students Association holds classes for basic schools

The Volta Region Students Association of Ghana (VORSAG) has organised a one-month voluntary teaching programme for some selected basic schools in six districts in the Volta Region.

The programme was the contribution of university students from the region to national efforts being made to help reverse the falling standards of education.

The volunteers, numbering 217, worked in 81 basic schools in the districts, teaching the pupils in subjects such as mathematics, social studies, science and English.

The districts covered included Ho West, Ketu North, South Tongu, Central Tongu, Akatsi South and Keta Municipal.

The exercise was to complement the efforts of the teachers, conduct research into the actual factors leading to the poor academic performance among the pupils and come up with findings, as well as recommendations. 

Teacher motivation is key

At the closing ceremony, the Member of Parliament for Anlo, Mr Clement Kofi Humado, observed that lack of teachers was a major contributory factor to the poor performance. 

According to him, many teachers are unwilling to accept postings to the region, adding that  ‘I have tried to find out why teachers, including people from this region, refuse to accept postings to teach in our basic schools and it is all about motivation.”

He called on chiefs, and well-to-do citizens of the region living in other parts of the country to assist the students to teach the pupils.

No funds

In a speech read on his behalf, the Volta Regional Director of Education, Mr Emmanuel Keteku, made short and long-term recommendations to reverse the trend. He said, what was needed to achieve quick results and keep all other interventions in place for maximum outcomes was funding.

“Our challenges have far outweighed our solution. In fact, we need to do more in the area of generating more resources in terms of funding for all recommended interventions,” he added.

He applauded the students for the initiative and pledged support from the regional education directorate for the sustainability of the programme to cover senior high, vocational and technical schools.

Annual programme

The Chairman of VORSAG, Mr Amos Dela Yegbe, stated that it was the first time the group was organising such a programme but hinted that it would be organised annually during the long vacation of the universities, as a means to contribute their quota towards enhancing education and development in the region.

He mentioned that in the course of their teaching, they observed a lot of challenges that were contributing to the falling standards of education. They included inadequate teaching and learning materials, negative attitude of teachers, inadequate community libraries, inability of most pupils to read and write simple words, lack of parental control and lack of seriousness on the part of pupils in respect of their studies. Also parents engaged pupils in household chores for long periods after school.

He called on stakeholders in the educational sector to provide adequate teaching and learning materials, in addition to the provision of computer laboratories, regular and periodic supervision at the schools and community sensitisation to address the problem.

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