Another source of the current confusion is a certain proposed High School Diploma which has even already been announced by His Excellency Nana Addo. According to government, a High School Diploma will be awarded after a successful assessment and completion of the CCC in SHS 1. Students would then chose between an academic or a career programme the next two years after obtaining the High School Diploma Certificate.
We don’t know what will happen to those who do not pass that assessment. What we know is, this is another practice in other Western and Francophone countries whose relevance is another penumbra, as not all schools for instance may have TVET opportunities for those who may chose TVET Careers after the High School Diploma. Don’t forget that contrary to what exists in countries implementing this concept, not all schools in Ghana have TVET capacity for instance. So what happens when a TVET career is chosen by a student in a non-TVET school after the High School Diploma, bearing in mind school placement occurs only once before SHS?
Also, in these countries where the High School Diploma concept works, there is no BECE. In our case, since all our assessments is test based, our children will likely write two major exam within two years-BECE and High School Diploma Exam, which is not only tedious but a diversion from the gradual global diversion from test based assessments.
. Given the status-quo, eventhough we are not Professors of Education; neither do we profess to be knowledgeable like or than governments Education Policy and Curriculum Advisors, we wish to propose to the MoE the following actions on the basis of equity, relevance and expediency:
A. Abridge the 4-Year CCC into 3 years and run it form JHS 1 to 3 OR maintain the 4 years but start teaching at BS 6.
B. Forget about the High School Diploma and maintain our SHS curriculum structure where subject specialization starts from form 1. Any improvements in SHS curriculum must not affect structure; only content.
C. As a country, never again should we rush through a curriculum reform process, especially when it involves structural changes. We should always give at least two years moratorium for adequate simulation, and implementation planning to prevent today’s avoidable, yet extremely uncomfortable situation. In addition, we must be careful about what we import into our education system, especially when it is obvious they are not applicable.
Time is of serious essence in this pandemic stricken academic calendar. In this regard, MoE and GES should not only fix this urgently, but must be seen to be fixing it.
While we are confident in the capacity and ability of the current leadership of the MoE to resolve this quagmire, it would be much appreciated if there is some official communication on the processes. Keeping teachers, parents, students and the general public in the dark on such a critical matter is not part of the solution, as this is not just an employer-employee issue between GES and their teachers; It is a Public Interest matter.
