The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Afigya-Kwabre, Akwasi Karikari, has expressed grave concern about the continued poor performance of students in public schools in his area particularly in the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE).
He accordingly appealed to public school teachers to help the government to improve the performance of students.
Speaking in an interaction with teachers at Tetrem and Boaman Schools in the district during a day’s working visit, Mr Karkari called for proper stakeholders’ engagement to tackle the poor academic performance in government schools at the basic level.
He was not happy about the increasing rate of examination malpractices in the district, which he indicated led to the cancellation of students’ results in mathematics in the last BECE.
“If you have any help for the children, please don’t wait until examination day before you assist them to cheat,” he admonished.
He pledged his commitment to motivating teachers to help the students to obtain the best results in the final examinations.
“I am prepared to work with the district education directorate to institutionalize teachers’ award scheme as part of efforts to motivate and address some of the problems facing you,” he told his audience.
The DCE was also concerned about the high rate of teenage pregnancy among school-children and called on the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) to work with other relevant stakeholders to curb the canker.
Mr Karikari said he would collaborate with the chiefs and elders in the various communities to enact bye-laws to tackle truancy among school-children in the district.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi