Dr. Ato Essumana two-term elected member of the council of state, has called for increase incentive for teachers and headteachers of deprive areas in the country.He made it clear at a public lecture on decentralization policy and practice in Ghana organised by the center for entrepreneurship education research and training of the methodist university. According to Dr Essuman some teachers in deprive communities are most often receive poor allowance bring out laxity and some sort of freedom not to work as expected of them, more especially if they find themselves in schools where there is no strong headmaster and lack of supervision and monitoring. Some of the teachers have become chronic absentees. Sometimes, some these teachers leave the school for their personal and parochial businesses in town, thereby reducing the contact hours they need to have with the students. It is very bad.
He made mention of the fact that the cause of poor performance is the lack of proper and adequate educational infrastructure in the form of classrooms, school libraries, teaching and learning materials (TLM's), etc. This does not create a very conducive and congenial atmosphere for the children to study. I feel ashamed, sometimes, when I visit some schools, especially in the countryside. It is a pity that that's the environment our children have to study in. You will notice a world of difference when you visit schools in big cities, more especially the private ones whose environment gives the children a perfect setting and the right environment for teaching and learning. But these students from two different educational environments sit the same BECE. What a pity!
During the lecture Dr Essuman further stated that inadequate teacher motivation in the form of salaries, general and special allowances, and other conditions of services - bungalow, government-sponsored housing and auto schemes for teachers. Oh yes, teachers need to be motivated in order to deliver. The notion that 'teacher's reward is in heaven' can no more be countenanced if we really want to reverse the falling standard of education in Ghana today. . Also, a lot of schools in the country do not have adequate and qualified teachers. Most schools do not have the required number of teachers to handle the various subjects. In some schools, some classes have to be combined for one teacher to handle them. In other instances, some teachers have to handle subjects they are not well conversant with. This has also contributed to the poor performance in the final exam. Moreover, many teachers are moving out of the region to other regions. This has therefore created a lot teacher vacancies in many schools across the region.
The member of councils of state in Ghana also revealed that poor academic performance is the students themselves. Most the students today do not study hard enough on their own. They waste their time on unnecessary things which, in any way, do not contribute to their academic performance. Most students today do not stay with their books for long but rather engage in watching videos and films, browsing the internet (facebooking), going to 'jams' and wake-keeping, using mobile phone for unnecessary calls, etc. These students know almost all the latest songs and films but cannot define the word 'atom'.
He then call for proper supervision and monitoring by the education authorities, namely the Ghana Education Service (GES) through its Circuit Supervisors. Because of this happening, many teachers have become absentee teachers for most part of the week, with some coming to school only once or twice a week or on just a specific days of the week. Research has shown that Ghana has one of the highest rates of teacher absenteeism. This development affects contact hours and quality of teaching and, therefore, contributes to poor performance of students in the final exam.
Given the above stated conditions or reasons in education in the country, there is no way most children can be educated and develop their full potential and therefore the falling standards we are now experience
The Way Forward.
We must start taking about decentralising our education system small incremental actions and initiatives expecting to get exponential results later. Education cannot be wholly financed or supported by the central government alone. Everyone's contribution is needed in order to achieve desired results in education. No stakeholder can stand aloof. Everyone has a role to play. How then do we do this together as a people?
We need enough capacity at the local level and as well collaborate with stake holders to minimize absenteeism Everyone is involved and must be found vigorously doing something to help better the standard of education in Ghana. All hands must be on deck: Government, parents, teachers, community, GES, Ministry of Education (Government). It is a collective decision and resolve that we need to take in order to reverse the downward trend in education .
Dr Ato Essuman. holds a doctoral degree in education from the University of Sussex, U.K and an MBA in Operations Management from the University of Hawaii in U.S.A. He was admitted in KNUST in November 1975 to read Economics and Law and graduated in 1978. He won the Vice Chancellor’s award as the best overall sports personnel in 1978.
He is a member of British Association for International and Corporative Education, American Management Association, Ghana Institute of Management amongst others. Dr. Essuman was also a business and financial advisor to a firm in U.S.A. He worked with Nestle Ghana Limited in 1985. He also served in the Ministry of Education, served on WAEC, GET Fund, GES Council among others. He is the Executive chairman of Profile Consult Limited and has been a two-term elected member of the council of state.