A school in Gusheigu Municipality
Gusheigu Municipal Chief Executive, Musah Issah, has lamented over the rapid decline of educational standards in the Gusheigu Municipality.
The municipality, which was once the envy of its peers in the area of education, is fast losing its high standards, as the performance of students in the municipality is fast declining.
Mr. Musah Issah revealed to DAILY GUIDE that measures had been put in place to address infrastructural challenges. He added that to tackle the issue of shortage of trained teachers, the municipality and the Ministry of Education have agreed to increase the quota of teachers posted to the area to ensure more trained teachers are posted to solve the problem.
He further disclosed that the municipality had also entered into agreement with the authorities of the Bagabaga College of Education to extend its teaching practice programme to the municipality, with some 100 students expected to be posted to the municipality for their teaching practice next academic year.
Meanwhile, Musah Issah has called on parents to compliment government’s effort of fighting illiteracy by taking keen interest in the education of their children.
DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the lack of effective monitoring, supervision and perpetual absenteeism and lateness on the part of teachers has resulted in the poor performance of students in the municipality.
Information available to DAILY GUIDE indicates that teachers in the municipality have developed a habit of absenting themselves from the classroom without tangible reasons. Others report to school at late hours.
The situation has negatively affected the performance of students in the municipality over the years with students recording grades below average in both the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination.
The performance of students in the BECE has been on a downward trend. In 2017, the percentage score of students was 36.7% as against 12.41% in the previous year.
However, some of the students who spoke to DAILY GUIDE revealed that another challenge they face is the lack of trained teachers, infrastructure, and adequate teaching and learning materials.
FROM Eric Kombat, Gusheigu