Help provide schools with required ingredients to make the new education curriculum flourish – gov’t told
The headmistress of the Covenant Presbyterian Preparatory School, Dzorwulu, Mrs. Evelyn Amoamah Antwi has charged government to strive harder and ensure that all basic schools in the country are provided with the adequate resources and ingredients in order to make the dream of the new education curriculum achievable.
The new education curriculum which was launched by the Ghana Education Service on Thursday, April 11, as part of ongoing reforms in the sector, particularly at the pre-tertiary level, seeks to make education more responsive to the human resource and development needs of Ghana. It is expected to take effect at the start of the new academic calendar in September.
Speaking to journalists at the twelfth graduation ceremony of Covenant Presbyterian Preparatory School in Accra on Friday, the headmistress stressed that until the government realizes the need to provide basic schools with the adequate tools, infrastructure and resources to work with, the purpose of implementing the program cannot be achieved.
“Under this new education curriculum, we cannot afford to see children sitting and writing on the bare floor as it is being done in some part of the country recently, so we’re calling on government, the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ministry of Education to put in place all the necessary ingredients to ensure the success of the new curriculum”.
Delivering his keynote address at the Covenant Presbyterian Preparatory School celebrations, the Minister in Charge of District Covenant Presby Congregation, Dzorwulu, Rev. P. O. A Bawua Bonsafo reflecting on the theme of the event: “Raising the standard of basic education, the role of stakeholders” observed that most often teachers are blame whenever criticisms about falling educational standards are made.
He posited that it is unfair to blame teachers alone for the problem simply because education is a shared responsibility which entails that the society or government, parents and guardians including the Parent-Teacher Associations and even the church have a big part to play.
“If stakeholders play their part well, in coordination with the other stakeholders, we will see the standard of education rising. If we leave it to one or two of the stakeholders to shoulder all the responsibility for basic education then it will not happen”, he stressed.
The revered clergyman charged parents and guardians to be responsible in the upkeep of their children and ensure that they receive warnings about the dangers posed by long hours of watching television or chatting on social media and devise strategies to help them out.
Rev. P. O. A Bawua Bonsafo bemoaned that children must not be encouraged to watch soap operas or sex themes with adult as they undermine their good moral upbringing and warned parents and guardians against it.
He advised children to be submissive to the orders of their parents and guardians always whenever they insist that they should read their text books or story books, adding that those rules are meant only for their own good.
Dr. Charles Fordjour, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pharma Symbiosis who chaired the occasion admonished the students to eschew smoking, use of hard drugs including avoid bad companies and focus their attention on education with firm belief in God to make it successful in life.
For her part, Regional Manager of Presbyterian Schools-GA, Joyce Osae-Apenteng advised the students of Covenant Presbyterian Preparatory School to always concentrate on their studies and make it their business in life as well as ensure that they continue to respect the core values of the school which focuses on centrality of the word of God, respect, discipline and hard work.
While congratulating the graduands for successful passing out from one stage to another, she urges all of them to work even harder and put in more efforts as they move on to the next stage of the educational ladder.
The colorful ceremony marked the graduation of sixty-three (63) Kindergarten and Junior High School (JHS) scholars. Out of that number, thirty-seven pupils graduated from Kindergarten Two to Class One while the remaining twenty-six passed out from JHS 3 to Senior High School (SHS).
The event also coincided with an awards ceremony which saw some deserving staff, teachers, and students honored. Among the tall list of awardees for the day, Gideon Appiah was adjudged the overall best teacher while the overall best graduating student for the 2018/2019 academic year award (JHS 3) was conferred on Nyarko Kukua Esoun who took home a Samsung tablet, a certificate of recognition and a hamper. Other honorees include Kelvin (JHS Two) Brani Agyemang Josiah Kwadwo (JHS One), Wilson Emmanuel (overall best Class Six).
The highpoint of the ceremony was the presentation of certificates of merit to the young graduates but the thrill of the occasion came from a delightful line-up of choreographed Ghanaian dances and drama sketches, poetry recitals and above all a spectacular display put up by the taekwondo and cadet team of the school.