Govt to abolish shift system

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16-09-09


THE government will abolish the shift system currently being run in basic schools in the country, the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, has disclosed.
The minister, who expressed shock that the system was still being run after 10 years, indicated that the shift system is not the best and will be abolished once infrastructure and other facilities are put in place.
Mr Tettey-Enyo made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday, when he visited some basic schools in Accra for the “My First Day at School” programme to welcome fresh pupils to basic school.
“I thought the shift system had been dealt with 10 years ago. It is not right and would be abolished in due course,” he said when he was told by heads of schools that the system was in operation as a result of inadequate classrooms and other facilities.
According to him, more classrooms and other educational facilities would be provided to cater for the increase in the number of students.
Mr Tettey-Enyo expressed disappointment at the low attendance of pupils on the first day at school, and indicated that the matter would be looked into to see how best to improve attendance.
He believed that school enrolment would improve as the days went by. Heads of schools, however, expressed the hope that attendance would go up as school went into full session.
The schools visited were the Kanda Estate 1 and 4 Primary, The Nima Cluster of Schools, the Kizito RC Primary School and the Five Garrison Schools at Burma Camp.
In an interaction with teachers at the Nima Cluster of Schools, Mr Tettey-Enyo reminded the teachers of their responsibility for ensuring that the children entrusted into their care were given the best of education.
He said the success or failure of the children would depend on the teachers, and appealed to them to give their best as the government took steps to motivate them.
Addressing the media later, he said the free uniform policy was on course while contracts had been awarded for the free exercise books to be delivered to schools sooner or later.
Commenting on the School Feeding Programme, the minister said the contract between the Government of Ghana and the Dutch Government was expected to elapse in April next year, saying that “before it elapses we would try to expand it so that many deprived schools would benefit from it”.
“We hope that by April next year we would find solution to the expansion, since it boosts enrolment,” he said, and stated that the Government would put in place the right strategy to improve the delivery of education in the country.
There was excitement on the part of the pupils as the minister, who was accompanied by the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah; the Director of the Basic and Secondary Division of the GES, Mr Stephen Adu, and other officials of the Ministry of Education and the GES distributed caps, crayons and other educational materials to them.
Mr Tettey-Enyo urged the pupils to take their studies seriously and be regular at school, since there was nothing more valuable than education.
Dorothy Appiah, a 10-year-old pupil of the Kanda Estate 1 Primary, told the Daily Graphic that she was excited to be in school. Her ambition in life, she said, was to become a doctor.
At the Burma Camp, Mr Tettey-Enyo and the Minister of Defence, Major Gen J.H. Smith (retd), visited primary school pupils at the Five Garrison Schools.