Basic education must not be a barrier….

As this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) commenced throughout the country yesterday, a total of 422,946 candidates from 12,562 public and private junior and senior high schools nationwide are expected to write the fate-determining exercise.

Even as this Paper joins the thousands of well-wishers across the nation in wishing the pupils the best of luck in this trying moment in the course of their lives, we are equally worried about the state of our future leaders’ preparedness.

The Ghana education service (GES) has revealed that only 60 percent of pupils who write the BECE make it into senior high schools. The assumption therefore is that the remaining 40 percent either go into informal vocational or technical training, or they learn a trade or sit idle!

These statistics are not good for an aspiring middle-income country that wants to break through into the ranks of the developed world. This situation is not a healthy one for a developing country, and in the words of a former Director of Education, Michael Nsowah -- who has criticised the BECE concept – “it terminates the future of students who are unable to pass their examinations”.

Mr. Nsowah cannot be far from the truth, because the assumption is that basic education certificate examinations should not be a bridge to a bright future since at their level, they are meant to test the proficiency and aptitude of pupils to determine how well they are grasping the lessons taught them.

But, rather, the examination result is used as a yardstick for the future. At the basic education level, education is supposed to be free and compulsory to ensure a progressive work-force for a growing economy: not as a stop-gap for the future! This is the concern because if one does not get admission into the next level that is so crucial, it is considered terminal -- which is the unfortunate aspect of it.

Children who sit BECE are usually around 14 or 15 and legally are not allowed to work; so if at the basic level their education is terminated as a result of their inability to qualify for senior high school, then they are virtually left to ‘rot’ and be a burden on society – assuming their parents do not have the means to ensure a re-sit or some other contingency.

Basic education is supposed to prepare the pupil for a sound footing, and not meant to be a terminating point. Statistics of the pass-rate for basic education from 2006 to 2011 gives an indication of the problem at hand.

While the pass-rate in 2006 was 62 percent, it had consistently fallen to 47 percent by 2011. What accounts for this falling standard? It is from the viewpoint of the teacher, or the pupil unable to grasp the lessons imparted? These questions should occupy our minds even as we debate whether it should be a three-year or four-year enterprise as the case may be.

We should be concerned that all school-going children are given a good education to prepare them for the competitive world they are bound to face in later life! If they lack the basic tools, then what does their future hold?

We use this platform to wish the numerous pupils around the country the best of luck and success as they sit for their BECE this week. This Paper also entreats the GES to devise innovative ways to ensure the United Nations requirement -- that basic education becomes compulsory and progressively free for all – is fulfilled! That way, the nation’s future progress will be assured.