While the government’s flagship programme, the Free Senior High Policy has been largely embraced, there are those who still question the sustenance of the policy, as well as its impact on quality education.
The policy, which has drastically increased enrolment, has however decreased enrolment in some private Senior High Schools.
Nonetheless, some parents say they will prefer enrolling their wards in private Senior High Schools because they believe the policy has affected quality.
A former head of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Dr. Prince Hamid Armah, however, disagrees with these claims.
At various levels of Ghana’s education from crèche to the university, there appears to be some form of competition regarding the quality of education churned out by private and public schools.
While many believe that private schools offer better quality at the basic level, some also hold the view that at the secondary level, public schools are usually far ahead.
In the public school system, inadequate funding, inconsistent policy directions and largely lack of commitment on the part of government, have been mostly blamed for the fallen standards in education.
Some parents, who spoke on the Citi Breakfast Show, explained why they prefer private to public schools or vice versa in some instances.
“Look! Our secondary school system is not the way it was in those days. We have deliberately created category A, B and C schools and so those who go to category C schools are not resourced. Yet, these people will come out and come and work for us as Ghanaians. These same students are supposed to be writing WASSCE. I mean chew, pour, pass and forget.”
“I taught in one of the senior high schools for my National Service and one thing I can say is that, our senior high schools are structured in a way to teach the students to pass exams and then proceed while in the private schools, the students are not only taught but managed to become better people in life.”
According to the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, the quality of education has reduced because of the increasing number of students in public schools largely as a result of the free senior high school policy.
“The free senior high schools have increased the number by 30% which means class sizes have increased as well. Immediately these class sizes increase, you know that the quality of instruction is going to be affected ordinarily. One of the main reasons why people think that the quality of teaching and learning in public schools is reducing may be because of the increasing number of students due to the free senior high school policy. When you think of all these, you then will prefer to pay for a private school that is properly equipped.”
However, the former head of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Dr. Prince Hamid Armah, says it would be wrong to compare private schools to public schools since some of them use a different curriculum for teaching.
“Sschools like the Ghana International, Association International and SOS offer the international programs like IBD and the International General Certificate for Secondary Education Program. Then we have other international schools that offer WASSCE program. Others also offer both. So if you want to compare private school provision as far as secondary school is concerned as against public school, then you need to situate which of the private school sector they are referring to. As it is now, many of the children who are placed by the computerized system prefer to go to our public secondary school.”
Dr. Armah also stated that the government is addressing challenges such as the quality of input of education in public schools.
The post Some Ghanaians share views on quality of education in private and public schools debate appeared first on Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS