Gov’t must focus on quality everywhere, not categorisation of public schools – Ben Boakye

Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ben Boakye, has urged the government to focus on improving the quality of education in every senior high school rather than placing too much emphasis on the categorisation of schools. He said the current debate around the Senior High School (SHS) placement system should not be centred solely on which schools are classified as Category A, B or C, but on ensuring that all schools have the teachers, facilities and support needed to provide quality education. Speaking on JoyNews ‘ Newsfile on Saturday, September 12, during a discussion on the SHS placement crisis, Mr Boakye said there are short, medium and long-term issues that must be addressed. “There are short-term, medium-term, and long-term issues that have to be addressed,” he said.

However, he questioned the value of maintaining a system where schools are placed into categories without doing enough to improve the quality of education across the board. “But I don’t see how we should lock ourselves into categories of schools and not improve quality of education at all levels,” he said. “I don’t think it makes sense. ” Mr Boakye said the government should instead ensure that schools across the country have capable teachers who can provide students with the education and training they need. “We really have to make sure that the teachers that are, you know, assigned to all the schools can deliver,” he said. He acknowledged that parents and students may continue to have strong preferences for certain schools, including emotional attachments to particular institutions. “As for people categorizing and emotional attachment to schools, we can leave them to do that,” he said. However, he said such preferences should not determine the government’s education…