DURATION OF SHS (MAY 27, 2009)

THE controversy surrounding the duration of the senior high school (SHS) course appears to be gathering storm after Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, the Chairman of the committee which drafted the 2001 report on the country’s educational reforms, waded into the debate.
According to him, the forum the Education Ministry was calling to help determine the duration of the SHS was uncalled for because the issue had already been determined in the past when the committee under his chairmanship toured the entire country and collated views and memoranda from all stakeholders who overwhelmingly endorsed the three-year duration (see front page).
Earlier, both the Conference of Heads of Assisted Senior High Schools (CHASS) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) had taken opposing positions, with the former opting for four years and the latter three years.
While both sides of the argument do have their relative merits and demerits, additional issues ought to be factored into the debate to help us arrive at a durable resolution that will protect the interests of the stakeholders — students, parents, teachers, the government, etc.
The first issue or question to raise is, what is so overwhelmingly bad or wrong with the three-year period for us to jettison it for the four-year term when it has generally served us well for all these years?
Again, given our current deficit economic situation, can we get the requisite resources within the short space of time available to put up the infrastructure needed to meet the demands of the additional year?
Moreover, can parents and guardians meet the cost and pressure of the additional year that their children and wards will spend in school?
If we find it difficult to address resource and other constraints in a three-year system, does it not stand to reason that we will be overwhelmed by problems if we opt for the four-year system, with its resultant challenges?
While we believe that reverting to the three-year duration will serve the interests of all better than the four years, we nevertheless wish to respect the decision of the Education Ministry to organise the forum to get fresh views from stakeholders and the Ghanaian public on the way forward in this matter.
In giving Ghanaians another opportunity to contribute ideas in respect of this important matter, the government’s hand will not only be strengthened in the taking of a final decision on the matter but it would also have stretched its democratic credentials and respect for the views, interests and aspirations of the people.
We appreciate that owing largely to years of under-funding and poor salaries for teachers in public schools, students in such schools have come out worse and this will not change, whether the SHS duration is three or four years, if the same conditions persist.
We want to urge the government to devote more attention and resources to these areas so that even in the three years SHS, both access and quality of education can be improved.
We finally urge the government to pay attention to the findings and recommendations of the Anamuah-Mensah Committee, especially on issues relating to the foundation of the educational system from the kindergarten, through primary to junior high school levels.
A superstructure erected on a solid foundation can stand, no matter what.