Weekend students of Dambai College of Education produce bad results
Only one out of a total of 160 weekend students who graduated from the Untrained Teachers Diploma in Basic Education (UTTBDE) course at the Dambai College of Education (DACE) in the Volta Region obtained a third class division.
The remaining 159 had passes in the 2016/2017 academic year.
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Among another set of 167 regular students, only one obtained first class, 38 had second class upper, 59 obtained second class lower, 47 had third class and 22 recorded passes.
Affiliated to the University of Cape Coast (UCC), the college, at its 11th congregation ceremony for students who had successfully completed their programmes in the 2016/2017 academic year, graduated a total of 327 students made up of 167 regular and 160 weekend students who were each awarded a Diploma in Basic Education certificate.
Delivering a keynote address on the theme: “The introduction of the four-year Bachelor of Education Degree Programme: the role of Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) Ghana”, the Country Director and Team Leader of T-TEL Ghana, Mr Todd Robin, said the country’s education system must rather encourage the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Fallen standards
He noted that the education system in Ghana was focused only on examination, thereby making the students engage in ‘chew and pour’ type of learning, pointing out that schoolchildren were completing the basic level of education without the ability to read and write well.
Mr Robin said “it is in view of this that the introduction of the four-year Bachelor of Education Degree Programme will help bring concrete measures to curb the lapses and poor academic performance at the basic level.”
He announced the readiness of T-TEL to support and equip teachers of the various colleges with new knowledge and strategies to deliver quality teaching and learning in preparedness as colleges assume tertiary status.
The Principal of the Dambai College of Education, Dr Musah Yambah Issahaku, said infrastructural projects, including the complex assembly hall, the administrative block and the construction of roads linking various parts of the campus, had been halted.
He, therefore, called on the government to come to the aid of the school to give the college a face-lift befitting a tertiary institution.
Water crises
The principal commended the Member of Parliament (MP) for Krachi East, Mr Michael Jato, for helping resolve the inadequate water and sanitation challenges temporarily and called for a permanent solution to the water crises in the school.
Dr Issahaku urged the graduates to eschew any form of laziness and truancy in the performance of their duty.
He also advised the male graduates to shun having sexual affairs with the little girls at their various stations, saying “you will lose your respect if you do so”.
He also advised them not to meddle in the geopolitics of the area where they are posted, saying “you may not know the people you are dealing with”.
Mr Nina Dominic Mawindal, who presented the valedictory address on behalf of the graduates, recounted how challenging it was to combine academic work with social roles.
He commended his mates for their determination to successfully complete their respective programmes of study and wished them well in their future endeavours.