Of the 872 SHSs in Ghana, 66% are government-managed while the remainder is privately owned.

Also worthy of notice in the data is the fact that the Eastern Region, which has the second highest number of Senior High Schools in Ghana, 112, receives the most number of Junior High School graduates from other regions to pursue their Secondary education there.

The Eastern Region also records the highest competition rate; the percentage of SHS students who are able to successfully complete SHS.

Greater Accra has the lowest percentage rate of 27.5%, indicating that about 72% of students who attend Senior High School in Accra do not complete.

See the infographic below for a breakdown of the figures across the country.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Regional distribution of Senior High Schools in Ghana [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the government intends to make significant progress by making the language compulsory from next academic year in September.

[contextly_sidebar id=”RY74iIoaKRyXe9M704IK5O68CnFP0xDc”]Akufo-Addo made the remarks in Togo on a two-day official visit to that country.

The compulsory study of French language in Ghana is currently limited to some basic public schools.  The language is also an examinable subject at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

In spite of this, most Ghanaians are not proficient in the language, a situation Nana Akufo-Addo says is unacceptable.

According to him, Ghana, which is surrounded by three francophone countries must not be seen to be lagging behind in communicating in the French language.

“[I’m] strongly for making French a compulsory language in our schools right up to the end of Senior High School. I’m fortified in taking this decision because as far back as 10 years ago when I left Ghana into la Francophone, I did so in Bucharest. The decision was that the Francophone organization will help us with the teachers of French in the schools because at the end of the day, everything you did in the education always comes back to the teachers,” he said.

“Mathew Opoku Prempeh, the minister for education, has it as a major priority on his agenda so I think that between now and hopefully the next academic year, some positive development is going to come out of it because to me it is absolutely essential that we do so, so that we empower our population with the capacity to survive in this ECOWAS environment. People speak English, but we don’t speak French. It is not good; and I think that we have to go about it that way,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), has welcomed the decision by the government.  The General Secretary Ofori Acheampong in an interview on the subject, said the idea is long overdue.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Study of French to be compulsory in SHS – Akufo-Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The headmasters of some schools in the north have threatened to close down the schools and send students home due to the non-payment of feeding grants by government for students.

The Ghana Education Service said it has paid part of the grant owed the assisted schools but cannot immediately say when the remaining arrears will be paid.

Speaking to Citi News, the Public Relations officer of GES, Rev Jonathan Bettey urged the headmasters not to close down the schools.

“The first term payment has been made, the movement of GES is calling on school authorities to resume for academic work. We are aware government owes the schools but as I talk to you, negotiations are still ongoing to make sure that the remaining monies are paid but as to when the money will be paid, I cannot release that to the public now,” he said.

“A new government has just taken over administration and the ministry of education is yet to welcome the new Minister and a lot of things are to be put in place before the normalcy of a number of things so we are of the view that with one term being paid to the school authorities, school can resume so they use this one for the time being whiles negotiations, the rest of the money will be paid,” he added.

Second cycle institutions in the three regions of the north, have been temporarily shut down due to the perennial problem of unpaid feeding grants for three consecutive terms. The students were scheduled to resume their course work on January 5, 2017, following the Christmas break. But school heads have asked them to stay home indefinitely over the non-payment of the feeding grants.

Some of the affected students in a Citi News interview decried the situation and called for a permanent solution.

They accused government of being insensitive to the plight of students of second cycle institutions in the three regions of the north.

The Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), earlier served notice of postponing reopening if government failed to defray the accumulated debt.

According to the leadership of CHASS, they can no longer feed for the students’ on credit.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

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