The government has been urged to review the wholesale promotion of pupils, restriction on caning and the conduct of extra-classes in public schools to help improve discipline and academic performance.

Speaking at a forum at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana on Monday, a number of concerned parents and teachers noted that the academic performance of most public schools is worsening because the prospect of wholesale promotion has blunted the competitive urge of pupils to excel.

The forum was organised by the Sunyani Circuit \"B\" of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to appraise the performance of its schools in a Performance Monitoring Test (PMT) conducted last year.

A total of 112 primary schools in the circuit took part in the nation-wide test, which covered English and Mathematics.

The gathering, comprising assembly members, parents, teachers and other stakeholders, was unanimous that the academic performance of private schools in external examinations was far better than that of public schools.

They were of the opinion that the situation could be reversed if pupils in public schools are promoted on merit and teachers are allowed greater freedom in the conduct of extra-classes and the use of the cane in correcting erring pupils.

Mr Maxwell Ofori, Sunyani Circuit Supervisor, said Sunyani Circuit \"B\" placed first among the eight in the district, with 57.9 percent, followed by Sunyani \"A\" and Abesim.

Mr Ofori appealed to parents to supplement the efforts of teachers by providing their children with all their education requirements to motivate them to attend school and learn on their own.