Professor Stephen Adei, a former director general and rector of GIMPA, claims that his ground-breaking plan to improve the subpar performance of public basic schools in Ghana is to simply fire all the teachers.
Prof. Adei said that highly educated teachers in public elementary schools were not doing their part to make sure that kids did well in their classes because there was no active supervision.
No matter how much money the government invests in public basic school education to enhance the industry, in his words, “every dollar is going down the toilet” if the management and accountability system in the schools is not changed.
“First and foremost, we are to blame for the public sector’s crumbling fundamental education standards.” It’s really sad. The instructors are not instructing. They are qualified—far more qualified than we were, as my requirement was that you serve for four years after starting. They are practically all graduates now.
I’ve heard that starting today, there won’t be any student instructors instructing. Even though we had student instructors teaching with us, our output was higher and better. Currently, if you go to the underprivileged private schools, all of the teachers are high school dropouts, but all of their students are literate.
On PM Express Personality Profile, he stated, “Go to the public sector; the average citizen cannot read and write because the instructors have refused to educate and they are being let get away with murder.”
Prof. Adei claimed that maintaining strict monitoring is critical to improving education in public elementary schools.
“In my school, there are only three factors that matter when it comes to teaching: supervision, which is the authority of the head teacher to keep an eye on them, holding them accountable, and insisting that they teach.
These factors have been neglected at the fundamental level, and as a result, you can see it graphically in our school in my village.
This is the year we’re celebrating that 60% of students countrywide who attend senior secondary schools passed, but do you know what even that means? And it’s a good outcome since it signifies that 40% of the students failed, compared to a 50% success rate on average over time. 50% of the students succeeded, and 50% failed. Any educational system that results in 50% failure is in serious trouble.
Do you know why even 50% passed, though? First off, no matter what, even if you throw him in a hole, there will always be certain individuals who are lucky and gifted by God. They must pay for further lessons for the remainder.
They won’t be taught by the same teachers, okay? It’s after class, and if you don’t go, you’ll fail because they’ll tell you, and they’ll tell you that you’ll fail and also fail if you don’t come. “And this is the system that we are in charge of,” he lamented.
According to Prof. Adei, the government invests enough money in education but does not see the desired results.
“But the key to altering it isn’t additional money; instead, give notice to all the professors and fire them immediately, according to my radical revolutionary theory. You get three months’ notice during a lengthy vacation before being asked to apply for headships, head teachers’ positions, and principalships.
Choose the best candidates, place them in the schools, and pay them handsomely. Pay the principals and the head teacher nearly twice as much since they are so crucial, and then declare that you are now free to hire whomever you want.
“I’ll give you the money, but from today, you’ll have the power to punish them and obtain the desired outcomes.” Therefore, you, the head instructor, will be held accountable if you don’t receive the outcomes.
The standard of schooling will improve in a year. That is my last resort and the quickest way to improve Ghana’s educational standards, he advised.
The government should supply classrooms, textbooks, and other essential school supplies, he said, but the lax attitude of the instructors in the elementary schools will render all investments in the field useless.
“All the rest—not that I don’t believe in textbooks, classrooms, all the teacher education, and all that, but let me tell you, every penny is being wasted until we alter the structure, management, and accountability.”
“We’re raising an army of dangerous, unemployed individuals, and one of these days, I may be gone, but you may have your head rolled by the thieves whom you didn’t train,” he warned.
“But because our universities are small, we will still get enough people who will pass, but we’re raising an army of dangerous, unemployable individuals,” he said.
source: myjoyonline.com