40: Ghanaian Education Weekly Review (6/5 – 6/11)

Blunt words from Akufo-Addo

President Akufo-Addo was unlikely to inspire many young people when, speaking at the 50th Anniversary of the Association of African Universities, he blamed disheartening labor statistics on graduates lacking creativity and transferable skills. Unsurprisingly, teachers unions were not pleased with Akufo-Addo’s veiled shot at their ability to prepare future employees. Hurt feelings aside, structural unemployment is presenting itself where it shouldn’t, and this a problem that the government and the teachers need to work together to fix.

 

Let the kids re-sit

By Friday, most high school hopefuls were feeling an odd mix of relief and anxiety: they had completed the much-stressed-over Basic Education Certification Exam (BECE)… and then were left to wait and see how they fared. However, 200 students from Bunkpurugu found themselves in the unenviable position of having to beg the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to let them re-sit for the BECE. And at first glance, it seems like they deserve another shot. The students didn’t miss a portion of the exam because they overslept or anything. Rather, they missed the exam because they were unaware of a change in the location of their testing center. WAEC, though is less convinced and is insisting they wait until February 2018 to retake the exam. Child rights activist, Bright Appiah, has found WAEC’s response particularly unsettling and has been working to raise awareness about the case. “Once you are bringing services to children and once the state has declared something to be free and compulsory to children, then nothing else should inhibit the process,” she claimed.

 

Also…

Interesting article on the topic of development aid (particularly that earmarked for education) in Ghana.

An Op-Ed lobbying for an educational curriculum that is less singularly-focused on IQ.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated five cars to the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Congrats to the 17 students at the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana who will receive their PhDs in plant breeding in July…

…But at the same time, the Ghana Education Service (GES) has expressed concerns over decreased interest in agriculture education.

GES set on making sure that pregnant girls and teenage mothers are still able to utilize the national education system.