The Deputy Minister said the initiative would help build the capacity of headmasters in the secondary schools to be abreast with current development in the management of schools.

[contextly_sidebar id=”M6AUKATGrlwbZEfuTWWGYUmP92frNDuY”]Dr Adutwum said this in Accra, at an orientation workshop for selected journalists across the country on the Secondary Education Improvement Project.

He said the Ministry had realised that some of the headmasters performance was below average and that there was the need to organise a leadership course for them to up their responsibilities and also ensure accountability in the school system.

“I was shocked to ask a headmaster of a school about the performance of the school and he said he doesn’t know, how can that be possible, a whole headmaster who is not interested in knowing how well the school had performed,” he added.

He said it was important for headmasters to know the performances of their schools to enable them to plan ahead and improve in the previous performance.

Dr Adutwum said in line with the reforms, any teacher who aspires to be a headmaster or headmistress would have to undergo a compulsory professional training course to be equipped with the needed skills to manage a school.

According to the Deputy Minister, if the performance of a headmaster or headmistress was not encouraging, in terms of consistent failure in the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations, that headmaster or headmistress would be re-assigned.

He believed that as a headmaster or headmistress, productivity and performance should be the key consideration in promotion and not only focusing on the number of years served.

Dr Adutwum said the government would soon introduce a system to rank Senior High Schools in the country, adding that, the approach would be a nationwide ranking of schools as well as a ranking of similar schools.

He explained that the top schools with the same facilities and infrastructure would be ranked together while the so-called lower schools would also be ranked together.

The Deputy Minister said the aim of the ranking was to help schools with the lowest ranking to learn from best practices and improve upon their performance and the educational sector as a whole.

He said other reforms include understanding diverse or specialised learner’s background, gifted and talented education and the transformation of the inner city schools.

He said all these reforms were in line with the government’s free Senior High School policy to improve the country’s educational curriculum.

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Source: GNA

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Addressing the press on Monday, a Deputy Minister of Education in charge of pre-Tertiary Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, said the government shared in the anxiety of parents and is working to resolve the technical challenges.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vb3uFnWS7mLlNWv7vo38BtjAci4coaMw”]He also noted that, the Secretariat’s server has been overwhelmed, but back ups are being put in place.

“As I speak, we have acquired new servers. We are making sure there are back up plans. We are working with NIIT in Accra… their place is open for parents who may have connectivity issues.”

According to the Minister, the government is also trying to liaise with some internet cafes to help BECE graduates patronize the online portal for placement.

“We are looking at options around the country. Internet cafes and other places, we are talking to them to see how they can open access to our parents so that they can get in and prepare their children.”

The burden on the CSSPS started when the Ghana Education Service (GES) announced an extension for the placement of BECE candidates after it emerged that over 100,000 qualified  candidates had still not been placed

The GES asked qualified students who were not placed to go online and select an option available during a window that will end on Tuesday, September 5.

No need for panic

Meanwhile, Citi News checks at some places in the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions at some internet cafes, revealed that hundreds of students were still finding it difficult accessing the GES site to secure their placement.

The concerns notwithstanding, Dr. Adutwum assured that, no candidate would be cut off by the deadline.

“…So parents should not panic. What we are saying is that, we will give you the opportunity; at the end of the two days, if your child is not enrolled we are not going to cut them off. We will work with you, we are monitoring the situation” he said.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We’re tackling SHS placement challenges – Gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.