JHS First Term Exams to Be Financed with Capitation Grant
JHS first term exams for the 2019/2020 academic year are to be financed with Capitation Grant by the various schools.
This new directive is to ensure that, learners in all public schools across the country successfully take part in the first term examination without hitches.
The JHS first term exams which will take place in the 14th week and sponsored with the schools’ capitation grants are expected to cost GHC4.00 per learner.
This was announced on 18th November 2019 at a meeting in Accra which was chaired by the Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service.
During the 2018/2019 third term examination, Public Basic Schools wrote the 3rd Term Exams on Chalk Boards this gave the GES bad publicity as teachers took to social media to show all manner of pictures in which they wrote questions on chalkboards.
The all-important meeting provided an opportunity for participants to discussed and find solutions to the many challenges that have confronted the termly examination and its financing in public schools in recent times.
Other challenging issues regarding the Capitation Grant were also discussed. At the meeting, it was also resolved that the examinations should be a district common exams. Each District was charged to have their 9 member committees to plan the examination.
Such committees are expected to have members comprising:
4 representatives of COHBS
2 representatives of teachers
Basic School Coordinator
Exams coordinator
District Director of Education.
While it was resolved that Municipal/District Directors of Education should participate in the entire process, the Deputy Director of Supervision was to represent the District Director of Education in his or her absence.
The mandate of the committee among other things was to come out with the modalities such as the source of questions, printing and time table among other things.
It was stated further at the meeting that the SMCs and the Teachers ‘ Associations (PTA) could offer their own support from their coffers towards the JHS First Term Exams but stressed that no child should be charged or rejected to write any type of test, including MOCK.
MOCK examinations The gathering also said that regional CODE and COHBS meetings should also be conducted to discuss and execute further if necessary.
The conference discussed the funding by District meetings of studies.
Private schools would however not be compelled to follow the guidelines of the Ghana Education Service on terminal assessment.