Government has rejected suggestions that the decision to reverse the four year academic calendar of Senior High Schools (SHS) to three years contributed to the poor performance of students in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) over the years.<\/p>\n
Over 1,000 candidates had\u00a0some of\u00a0their subjects results cancelled, while \u00a0598<\/strong><\/span><\/a> candidates had their entire results cancelled in the 2016 edition of WASSCE.<\/p>\n Some stakeholders have since suggested that the four-year SHS policy has largely contributed to the development.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”UX7yxawbhfMwgLvASlHbxhPOl8KKBdu9″]The Paramount chief of Sefwi Anwhiaso Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi had asked the presidential candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akuffo-Addo, to consider bringing back the four-year duration for Senior High Schools if he\u2019s given\u00a0the nod in the December general elections.<\/p>\n He made the appeal when Nana Addo commenced his 5-day visit in the northern part of the Western Region.<\/p>\n Yaw Gyebi argued that the recent results released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), for the WASSCE, paints a picture of an ailing senior high school system.<\/p>\n He said the three-year programme is too short to guarantee<\/strong> <\/span>success and churn out the quality of graduates needed.<\/p>\n But responding his suggestion, the Deputy Minister of Education, Alex Kyeremeh said the three-year academic calendar of various Senior High Schools (SHS) has rather improved performance of candidates over the years.<\/p>\n Speaking to Citi News<\/strong>, the Deputy Minister of Education in Charge of pre-tertiary, Alex Kyeremeh said a decision to revert to four years will not make any difference.<\/p>\n \u201c…If\u00a0you look through the results from 2008 to 2015 you will either see an improvement or a drop in improvement every year so we cannot conclude that the results is as a result of the four years.”<\/p>\n He however indicated that government is open to discussions if it becomes necessary to revert to the old system of four years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to have a stakeholders meeting and the end of it all , we at the Ministry helping the people to improve the education, if it comes out that they prefer four years, I think we have to go back to Parliament to seek approval before we can revert to four years.”<\/p>\n Politicizing education damaging to Ghana \u2013 Prof. Yankah\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Kyeremeh’s comments come barely a day after the Central University President, Prof. Yankah said the\u00a0politicization of the structure of Ghana\u2019s educational system has handicapped secondary education.<\/p>\n He said the short-lived extension of<\/strong><\/span> <\/a>secondary education to four years was a positive step but political expediency ultimately saw a reversion to the three system at the expense of quality education.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Marian Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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