Shama (W/R), Oct. 29, GNA - The abysmal performance of candidates in this year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), in the Shama District, dominated discussions at the Third Session of the Third meeting of the assembly on Wednesday. Out of 1,549 candidates registered for this year's BECE in the district, 1,072 failed representing 69.61% with 464 passes representing 30.13%.

Speaking on the performance of the BECE candidates at Shama, Mr Emmanuel Mensah Tornyigah, District Education Public Relations Officer (PRO), said there was the need for quick interventions to address the fallen standard of education in the district. Mr Tornyigah said a survey conducted by the District Education Directorate, revealed that, most of the students in the area could not read and lacked writing skills.

In view of this, Mr Tornyigah said the District Education Directorate had instituted a Reading programme to sharpen the reading abilities of the students and also improve their writing skills. He said the programme would also look at literacy, numeracy and problem solving and urged head teachers, teachers and circuit education supervisors in the district to ensure its success.

Mr Tornyigah appealed to the government to cancel the wholesale promotion policy, where all students were promoted irrespective of their performance, adding that it was one of the contributory factors to the large percentage of failures in the BECE. He urged parents in the district to invest in their wards education.

The District Chief Executive for Shama, Ms Emelia Arthur said although the situation was worrying, it was not hopeless. She said the district spent GHC11,400 on the District Mock Examination this year, to prepare candidates for the BECE, but the teachers in the district refused to release the results of the mock examination because of unpaid allowances, which contributed to the poor results in the BECE.

Ms Arthur urged teachers in the district to be committed to their work, adding that, a District Improvement Education Fund (DIEF) had been instituted to reward hard working teachers. She said the district had instituted a scholarship package for students who excel in examinations.

Ms Arthur said the assembly had contracted an education consultant to advice on the education improvement programme and that an education working group would be convened to develop a comprehensive framework for improving education in the district.