Regional News of Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Source: GNA

Chief expresses concern about falling standard of education

Nkoranza (B/A), Oct. 27, GNA - Nkoranza Traditional Council has held a meeting with headmasters of junior high schools in the Nkoranza South District to find a solution to the downward trend of education in the area. The meeting followed the poor performance of district's candidates in this year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the council expressed deep regret about the situation.

Addressing the meeting Okatakyie Agyeman Kudom IV, President of the council, emphasized the need for parents to collaborate with teachers to instil a high sense of discipline in school children. "The days when people boasted with their wealth on account of huge cocoa farms they owned are over as education remains the only viable legacy parents can bequeath to their children". "It is only education that could put people into responsible positions", Okatakyie Agyeman Kudom said. He said it was wrong for some parents to attack teachers for punishing their children and said this was contributing to the upsurge in indiscipline in schools.

He called for cooperation between the District Chief Executive and the Member of Parliament for the area so they could initiate projects. The district recorded 54.2 percent in this year's BECE, which is an improvement on last two year's results. In 2008 Nkoranza scored 46.2 percent as against 43 percent in the previous year. Mr. John Kofi Amoah, Nkoranza District Examination Officer, complained that the inability of schools to conduct mock examinations for final year students was a big challenge. He appealed to parents to support and contribute to the conduct of mock exams to prepare the students adequately for the BECE. 27 Oct 09