By J. K. Nabary
Winneba (C/R), Aug. 08, GNA – Mrs Mabel Judith Micah, the Effutu Municipal Director of Education, has called for the holistic education of children, which is essential to achieving success in life.
“Children are the future of the country; they must get quality education to be independent and productive in the society,” he said.
Mrs Micah said this in an address she delivered at a stakeholder’s engagement, organised by the Municipal Directorate, Ghana Education Service, as part of activities to commemorate this year’s Education Week at Winneba in the Central Region.
It was on theme: “Quality Education, Our Future: The Role of Stakeholders.”
She said quality education should aim at developing a balanced set of capabilities in children and focus on the child’s holistic development in terms of emotional, mental, and cognitive to adequately prepare them for life.
Mrs Micah said quality education enhanced the individual’s well-being to become economically productive and have sustainable livelihoods to contribute to national development.
She said announced that learning outcomes in the Municipality was consistently declining and needed strong backing of all stakeholders to find solutions to those challenges.
In 2016 the Municipality recorded 72.9 per cent pass rate in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), 70.2 per cent in 2017, 69.54 per cent in 2018, 62.72 per cent in 2019 and 52 per cent in 2020.
For passes, 95.6 per cent was recorded in 2018, 95.2 per cent in 2019, 99.85 per cent in 2020, and 91.11 per cent in 2021.
Mrs Micah pledged the upgrading of efforts to change the narrative and said the Government had put in place a number of interventions such as the Free Senior High School programme to make education accessible to the youth.
She called for the construction of more schools, provision of furniture, and allocation of funds to the Directorate to organise mock examinations for BECE candidates to improve outcomes.
The Directorate, as part of interventions to improve learning outcomes, had embarked on radio learning programmes and built the capacity of School-based Girls Education Coordinators to enhance psychosocial support to all learners, among other programmes, she said.
She commended Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Member of Parliament for Effutu, for investing in teaching and learning in the area by providing laptops for all teachers in both government and private schools, scholarship to teachers, construction of some libraries, renovation of school buildings, and sponsoring the Best Teacher Award.
She said despite the support, the school faced challenges including deplorable school buildings, inadequate parental support for children’s education, teenage pregnancy, child labour/abuse, drug abuse, lack of funds for monitoring and supervising works, lack of textbooks, and thefts in the schools.
Mrs Micah called on the chiefs and local authorities to put in measures to stop children from loitering at night and during school hours adding that parents must provide the needs of children to complement government’s efforts.
She expressed the Directorate’s commitment to working with all stakeholders to improve education delivery and provide the best moral training to students to make them responsible citizens.
Alhaji Zubairu Kassim, the Effutu Municipal Chief Executive, who chaired the event, appealed to parents to increase efforts in the proper grooming of children and prioritise their educational needs.
GNA