School heads worried over lack of classrooms

Back Page Lead
14-01-09

HEADS of assisted secondary schools in the country have expressed concern that classroom blocks to cater for the fourth-year senior high school (SHS) students, under the education reform programme, have not yet been constructed.
As a result of the absence of the required infrastructure, some of the heads have indicated that they would, from this academic year, cut down on admission to make room for extra classrooms for the fourth-year students as a temporary alternative.
The education reform increased the number of years in SHSs from three to four years.
However, two years into the reform, classrooms are yet to be built for the first batch of students when they get to the final year.
The President of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Mr Samuel Ofori-Adjei, confirmed that classrooms for fourth-year students were yet to be built inmost of the schools.
For instance, he said at Accra Academy where there was 12 streams of students, a 15-unit classroom block would be needed to accommodate them.
“There is no sign of construction taking place on the campuses, and this situation is with most of the schools,” he said.
A new four-year SHS offers general education with electives in General Arts, Business, Technical, Vocational and Agriculture for entry into a tertiary institution or the job market.
After junior high school (JHS), students may choose to go into different streams at SHS, comprising General Education and Technical, Vocational and Agricultural Training (TVET) or enter into an apprenticeship scheme with some support from the government.
When contacted, sources at the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) said they were awaiting the appointment of a new Minister of Education to see how they could implement the policy of the new government.
The new government has indicated its new vision for education, including the making of SHS education three years, instead of the four years under the 2007 education reform.
According to the Director of the Secondary Education Unit of the GES, Mr Stephen Adu, staff were waiting for the new government to come out with its policy on education.
Commenting on the provision of infrastructure for schools, he said, the ministry was working to provide and improve facilities in all the schools in the country.
Plans, according to him, were on course to provide facilities for all levels of education.