My birthday toast and the new school year
It is my birthday today, a day for both celebration and reflection. Throughout my relatively short journey, I have had several regrets, and yet there are many things I would do all over again, given half the chance. But above all, it is abundant grace that has kept me breathing, and for this I am eternally grateful.
Beyond the significance of today to me personally, I note that September 10 has a wider national significance this year. Basic schools across Ghana reopen today for the 2019/20 academic year. School bags have been dug out of dark recesses in preparation for today, and in many cases, new school uniforms, complete with new socks and shoes, have been procured, alongside new books.
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Today, thousands of little children will be entering the school system through kindergarten (KG). ‘My First Day at School’ will be celebrated in all the schools to welcome these little ones. Ministry of Education and Ghana Education Service (GES) officials will visit the various schools across the country, interact with the children and parents and present goodie bags to the children to welcome them.
Crucial element
One crucial element of early childhood education is getting parents to enrol their children in KG at the right age, which the experts posit should be at the age of four. In 2007, Ghana took a major step by incorporating kindergarten education into her Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) which is enshrined in her Constitution.
In addition to this, a number of initiatives are ongoing to ensure that children are enrolled in school at the right age and benefit from quality instruction. These include the construction of 80 KG blocks since 2018, with more to come. A four-year B.Ed. programme with an emerging specialisation in early grade teaching and extended hours for teaching practice is also being rolled out in our colleges of education to ensure that this crucial area is handled by specially trained and properly equipped teachers.
Challenges
Ensuring quality KG education for children enrolling at the right age is not without its challenges. The rate of over-age and under-age enrolment in this country is high, and a large majority of primary school-age children are attending KG. More than 400,000 children —approximately one in four pre-primary age children — are still not enrolled in kindergarten. Children belonging to the richest quintile or living in Greater Accra are more likely to have made the transition to primary school by age seven than those belonging to the poorest quintile or living in the Upper West Region. Evidence indicates that early learning is correlated with completing some form of pre-school and/or KG, and being at the right age for their grade.
But the reality is that some communities do not have KG facilities, and as such children have to travel long distances (about 3km) to access KG education. Some parents, quite understandably, do not allow their children to trek such relatively long distances for safety reasons, hence children are delayed at home till about age six or seven. This is where the construction of more KG blocks is particularly imperative, as it will significantly address the access factor which has been a drawback to enrolment rates.
The RAE campaign
Beyond the issue of access, there are other factors such as a lack of awareness of the critical need to ensure that children are enrolled in school at the right age so that they derive maximum benefit from the education system. Today, the GES will be rolling out a mass media campaign to promote Right-Age Enrolment (RAE) for KG and primary education.
Its aim is to sensitise families and communities and increase the efficiency of the system. The UN agency, UNICEF, is partnering the government in the rolling out of this important and comprehensive multi-language campaign by enlisting the support of significant social influencers. If children start KG on time, they are much more likely to enter primary education at the right age and be better prepared.
A champagne toast
This afternoon, as you enjoy a glass of your favourite drink to mark my ‘Golden Plus One’ birthday, I beseech you to toast to the health and happiness of the thousands of schoolchildren resuming or starting school today and also spare a thought for the many others who are over four years old but are not yet enrolled in school.
May we soon get to the point where a Ghanaian child being enrolled in KG at the right age is a matter of course.
Writer’s E-mail: [email protected]