Gov’t asked to introduce cut-off point in the Free SHS programme

The central government as part of a review of the flagship Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy has been urged to introduce a cut-off point in the Free SHS programme to promote academic excellence.

The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference and the Bishop of the Sunyani Catholic Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, Most Rev. Mathew Kwasi Gyamfi, who made the call said a cut-off point when introduced will help promote the quality of education in the second cycle institutions.

The call was part of proposals that came out at the end of the Second National Catholic Education Forum in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital.

In a synopsis which will be presented to the Ministry of Education, he bemoaned how indiscipline and examination malpractices are becoming rampant in schools, which they called on the government to address as a matter of urgency.

The Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference President suggested that the repetition of non-performing students at the pre-tertiary level should be brought back into the country’s educational system to help promote academic excellence in schools.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) Kofi Asare in support of the review of the free secondary education policy has opposed the call for the introduction of a cut-off point in the Free SHS programme introduced in September 2017 by the Nana Akufo-Addo government.

In a social media post sighted by Pretertiary.com, the Africa Education Watch Director said “Can’t we find another way of stimulating learning than to discriminate against low academic achievers? I think we can.”

In another social media post, he described the Senior High School (SHS) admission cut-offs as medieval and discriminatory says he is against the admission cut-offs in secondary schools.

In the Facebook post, Mr Kofi Asare stated it’s untrue that a top-performing Junior High School student is academically better or has a higher IQ than a student from a low-performing Junior High School (JHS).

“There is no scientific proof that one with aggregate 6 from Presec Primary where over 10 teachers teach in JHS is academically better or has a higher IQ than one with aggregate 36 from Mafi Dugame where one teacher taught the entire JHS in 2021.

Even if so proven, every child must have access to basic and secondary education with relevant learning outcomes before entering the world of work.

During my first visit to Brazil in 2010 to study school-free secondary education models, I discovered the least qualified taxi driver was a secondary school graduate.

Their approach to business, given the quality of secondary education served in that country, would likely to be better than a primary school graduate’s productivity.

Today, Ghana has one of the most youthful populations in the world with about 60% aged below 25. It is important to make the minimum human capital standards for all, the equivalent of a secondary education.

To achieve this, our basic education system must strengthen career guidance to identify non-academic interests, potentials, and nurture and direct students into those pathways.

The guidance system must be deliberate in facilitating the direction of at least 20% of primary students to skills and creative arts pathways by JHS, and nurture till the second cycle- Creative Arts School, TVET, Agric Colleges etc.

The former Minister of Education introduced Creative Arts Schools, which is commendable. More non-academic pathways are required to nurture non-academic talents, including sports academies.

Teachers and parents must have conversations on potential careers in view of pupil performances in school. These must manifest in teacher KPIs.

Not allowing aggregate 40-50 students to enter secondary school is never a solution but the opposite. The most important thing is, that learning must take place in secondary schools.

At the end of the day, the student you abandon for holding Agg 45 may be the one to build your house for you. The quality and skill he exhibits, among others, may depend on the education you served or denied him,” he stated.

The African Education Watch (EduWatch) Director in his social media post concluded that “Remember; education is a public good. One’s consumption must not affect the other’s enjoyment,” the EduWatch Executive Director said.