GIMPA’s former CEO and Rector, Professor Stephen Adei, has said that his game-changing strategy to transform the underperforming Ghanaian public schools was simply to fire all teaching staff.
He noted that the lack of active supervision in basic public schools has resulted in highly qualified teachers not doing their best to ensure students excel in various subjects.
No matter how much money the government pours into basic public education to improve the sector, he said, if the governance and accountability structures in schools don’t change, “all the money will be lost.”
“First, we have let the quality of basic education in the public sector decline. It’s sad. Teachers don’t teach. They are qualified, much more qualified than were – because mine is you who first started serving and then left for four years. Today, most of them have graduated.
“I heard that from today there will be no more students to teach.
Now entering poor private schools, the teachers there are all dropouts from secondary schools, but all of them are literate.
But when it comes to the public sector, the average person cannot read or write because the teachers refuse to teach and they are allowed to get away with the murder,” he said on PM Express Personality Profile.
He said the main factor to improve education in public schools is basically ensuring close supervision.
“In teaching at my school, only three things matter; supervision is the authority of the head teacher, who supervises them, who insists that teachers teach and holds them accountable, these was ignored at the basic level and so you can see it vividly in our school in my village.
“When the kids go to high schools across the country, it’s the year we celebrate 60 percent passed, but do you know what that means? And it’s a good result, which means 40% failed and the average over the years is 50%. 50% success and 50 failure. Any education system that produces nearly 50% of failures is in crisis.
“But do you know why even 50% passed? Firstly, you always have talented and lucky people no matter what, even if you put them in the hole. The rest, they pay extra tuition.
The teachers are the same oo, they won’t teach them. It’s after school and if you don’t go you will fail because they will tell you, they themselves will tell you if you don’t come you will fail and you will fail too. And that’s the system we preside over,” he said.
Professor Adei said the government spent enough money on education and did not get the desired results. “But the secret to changing it wasn’t more money, it was my revolutionary attitude, just announce and fire all the teachers, period.
Notify 3 months in advance during the long vacation “you are no longer employed” and then ask the people to re-apply for the positions of head teachers and principals.
Choose quality schools, put them in schools and pay them well, pay principals and head teachers twice their salaries because they are so important and say now you are free to hire who you want.
“I’ll give you the money, but you have the right from today to discipline them and get results.
So if you don’t get results, you the director, will be held accountable. Within a year, the quality of education will increase. This is my extreme measure and the fastest way to improve education in Ghana,” he suggested.
He added that while he believes the government should provide basic school supplies like classrooms, textbooks, etc., the apathy of teachers in basic schools will wipe out any investment in the education sector.
“It’s not that I don’t believe in textbooks, classrooms, all teacher training and all that, but let me tell you, unless we change the structure, and the management and accountability, otherwise all money will be lost.
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“But because our universities are limited we will always have enough successful people but we are raising an army of dangerous and unemployed people and one day I may be gone but you might get run over by thieves you don’t train,” he said.
Private school Vs Public school
Private schools are autonomous and generate their own funds from various sources such as tuition fees, private grants and endowments. Public schools are funded by the government and all students attend for free.
With funding from multiple sources, private schools can teach beyond the standard curriculum or cater to specific types of students (gifted, special needs, specific religion/language). or offer alternative curricula such as arts, drama, and technology.
Public schools must adhere to the curriculum established by the school district and may not deny admission to children within the school’s residential area.
There are some prejudice about private and public schools. Private schools are often considered very expensive, elitist, and suitable for admission to a good university.
Public schools are often seen as shoddy, undisciplined, and with an inferior curriculum.
This comparison takes a fair look at both schools to help parents make informed decisions.
Attending private school at the basic level may be considered as a “luxury.” In terms of academic performance, private schools generally perform better than public schools.
Source: myjoyonline.com