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GHANA WEATHER

Education Director worried over poor WASSCE Performance

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It has emerged that only about 23 percent of students from the Upper West Region who take part in the The West African Senior School Certificate Examination, (WASSCE), are able to pass with flying colors.

Due to the low grades, most students are unable to further their education to the tertiary level.

Regional Director of Education, Evans Kpebah

The Regional Director of Education, Evans Kpebah who expressed worry about the situation said despite several interventions by the service to improve the fallen education standards, little has been achieved. 

Mr. Kpebah was speaking at the launch of the silver jubilee celebration of the Jirapa Senior High at Jirapa in the Upper West Region.

Mr. Kpebah encouraged the management of the various senior high schools to liaise with the board of directors and the education service in order to get better results from students.

The Jirapa Senior High School was founded in 1994 with the aim of “moulding the school into one of the first educational institutions noted for strong moral armament, faithfulness, hard work and milling out students with excellent academic pedigree for Ghana.” 

The school which begun with a student population of 126 now has a total population of 1,280 along with 132 teaching and non-teaching staff. The Jirapa Senior High School which started with Business and Home Economics now offers Visual Arts, General Arts, General Science, Business and Home Economics. 

Headmaster of Jirapa Senior High School, Primus Baro

The Headmaster of the school, Primus Baro thanked the Jirapa Municipal Assembly for handing over a 3-seater WC toilet to the school to improve the sanitary conditions. He however reminded the Assembly to fulfill its promise of constructing the roads leading to the school.

Mr. Baro said he along with his staff are working assiduously to ensure that “discipline is instilled in students and exemplified by the staff.” He continued to say that “zero-tolerance for absenteeism by both students and staff is upheld. You can hardly find an empty classroom during classes, aimless loitering in town by students is curtailed to the barest minimum.”

The Headmaster was however, unhappy that the school’s only bus was in total disrepair. Mr Baro said, “the 33-seater Eicher bus can now hardly make a successful trip to Wa. It is currently off road and the cost of maintenance is consistently growing out of proportion, if care is not taken, JISEC would soon not have a bus to convey students.”

The Senior Boys Prefect, Issifu Abdul Gafaru

The Senior Boys Prefect, Issifu Abdul Gafaru was unhappy that the boys dormitory was about 30 minutes’ walk away from the main he campus. He said this continued to stress the students who have to wake up early in order to get water and then still walk a long distance before getting to school for studies. He appealed to government and well-meaning individuals to help the school complete the boys dormitory which is under construction.

Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Amidu Chinnia Issahaku

The Deputy Upper West Region Minster Amidu Chinnia Issahaku asked the teachers to remain committed and ensure that students do the right thing saying: “When you go to our work places today and you see that the commitment of workers is nothing to write home about”. It is all because, from the very beginning, we don’t inculcate the best of habits into the young ones. So it is important that as teachers and administrators, we inculcate into them discipline, hard work and high moral levels.”

“When they become the future teachers, the future nurses, the future industry players, they become the disciplined and hardworking people who will contribute to the socio-economic development of the country.”

The launch of the silver jubilee was attended by staff and students of the school, old students and directors of education from the municipality and region. 

Story by Mark Smith

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