GES needs to help the Yendi 12
My heart bleeds for the Junior High School students of Yendi who the Municipal Assembly and the municipal education authorities reportedly prevented from writing their final examination (held June 13 –17) for alleged truancy.
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And I feel for their parents, too.
As reported in the Daily Graphic of Saturday, June 18, “Twelve registered Junior High School final year students in the Yendi Municipality of the Northern Region were not allowed to write this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
“According to the Yendi Municipal Chief Executive, Alhaji Issah Zakaria, the decision not to allow the affected students to write the examinations was taken by the assembly with the municipal education directorate, as a result of truancy on the part of the candidates, who were not attending classes regularly after they had registered for the examinations.
“Speaking to newsmen at Yendi, after the first quarter town hall meeting, he said the decision was also to serve as a deterrent to others …(and) formed part of measures to arrest the abysmal performance of students in the BECE …”
Alhaji Zakaria said education was the assembly’s major priority and they had put in place measures to address the decline in academic performance in the municipality. They would therefore “not allow anyone to tarnish the image of the municipality.”
Some of the affected students, 11 boys and a girl, were said to have attended classes for only 10 days while others were present for fewer than 20 days.
The MCE said the Assembly had observed that most of the students refused to attend classes after they had been registered for the BECE until the period of the examination, and that affected their performance tremendously.
“Alhaji Zakaria explained that the affected children were advised to go back to school to prepare for the examinations next academic year … and also serve as deterrent to others, but not to punish them,” the report said.
Fortunately, the Graphic contacted the Ghana Education Service in Accra for their view on the matter. The paper quoted the Rev Jonathan Bettey, the Public Relations Officer of the GES as saying that the Yendi Assembly “had no right to prevent registered candidates from writing the examination, and indicated that the service would take up the issue.”
What a relief to know that the GES doesn’t support the action of the Yendi Assembly!
It’s all very well for MCE Alhaji Zakaria to say that the Assembly has taken measures to ensure the improvement of schools’ performance and therefore will not allow anyone to tarnish the image of the municipality. But are they the required, helpful measures?
The MCE may view the “abysmal performance” as a dent on the image of the municipality, but what about the affected children who will bear a lifetime stigma as non-performers in today’s highly competitive world? Who will be affected more, the Assembly or the unfortunate students?
If the assembly wants better academic results, surely it needs to work with the students, parents and teachers.
My belief is that any student who has stayed in school till the last year, and has even paid the fee, evidently intends to sit the final examination. The absenteeism could be due to serious problems, not just truancy for the love of truancy.
Having identified the problem of absenteeism, I wonder if the Assembly and the education authorities held meetings with the pupils, or with their parents, to talk about the causes of the absenteeism, to see how they could help them.
It’s no exaggeration to say that many parents in today’s Ghana, especially in the rural areas have to really strain themselves and sacrifice to see their children through school, even the ‘free’ school systems, and to be able to afford the examination fees.
Banning students from sitting the BECE may have been seen as a good deterrent, but if the root causes of the absenteeism remain, the “deterrent” can’t work.
In any case, it seems that by leading the ban the Assembly took over what should be the role of the teachers or the school heads or the education authorities and this can’t be right.
The Assembly’s role, in my opinion, should be in an advisory capacity. Furthermore, the MCE should be more concerned with solving the challenges keeping candidates out of school.
And if the MCE advised them to go back to school for another year, does that mean that the Assembly will be responsible for them during the extra year of schooling? Will the Assembly also pay their examination fees for the re-registration?
Happily GES spokesperson Rev Jonathan Bettey, has indicated that they are looking into this disturbing matter. I hope the GES means it; and that this will not be the end of this seemingly high-handed action of the MCE.
The GES should step in and act in the best interest of the unfortunate Yendi students and their parents; a way must be found to undo the harm perpetrated against these vulnerable people by their Assembly.
Of course it’s commendable that the Assembly aims to put its schools on the BECE ‘honour rolls’. However, it seems to me that to do that, it needs to identify and tackle comprehensively, and in good time, any problems the children may have.
The concern should not be expressed through using harsh methods, such as preventing candidates from writing their final examinations.
For a start, the Assembly could visit some of the schools in similar localities that are doing well to find out how those schools achieve better results, how they help their students to improve their academic performance.
I have in mind the saying that if your neighbour’s lawn has greener grass, it’s usually because that person’s water bill is higher – and is more committed to watering the garden.
It takes more input, pragmatic actions, to obtain excellence.
