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NPP calls for national conversation on education crisis
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called for a national conversation on education following what it describes as worrying results from the latest West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and challenges with the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) placement process.
The party expressed concern over the number of students who completed secondary school without obtaining credit passes in key subjects, particularly Core Mathematics and English Language.
According to the NPP, 183,233 young people completed secondary school without a credit pass in Core Mathematics, while the credit pass rate for English Language dropped to 62.40 per cent, its lowest level in four years.
It noted that performance in both subjects was also below the levels recorded in 2024.
The party also raised concerns about the placement of BECE candidates into senior high schools, claiming that 54,985 candidates were initially denied automatic placement.
It further alleged that some children had been wrongly placed in special schools, while others reported to their assigned schools only to find that there were no spaces available for them.
The NPP questioned the situation, particularly in view of government figures showing 859,828 vacancies for 623,072 candidates.
It also pointed to the availability of capacity in 85 private schools participating in the Free Senior High School programme.
The party argued that providing a self-placement portal alone was not enough, stressing that every child needed an actual place in a functioning classroom.
It therefore called on the government to publish the final placement outcomes and explain the rules and pass marks used in the process.
The NPP also urged the government to properly fund teaching and remedial programmes and provide alternative pathways into technical and vocational education and training (TVET), apprenticeships and skills training for students who do not obtain the required WASSCE credits.
The party called for a broader discussion on education funding, teaching quality, contact hours, teacher motivation, learning materials, infrastructure and supervision.
It maintained that the issue should be treated as a national concern rather than a partisan political matter because the future of an entire generation was at stake.
The NPP further stated that its introduction of Free SHS and Free TVET, as well as apprenticeship and skills development opportunities, was aimed at ensuring that poverty or examination results did not permanently limit the future of Ghanaian children.
It urged the government to find solutions for the 54,985 BECE candidates who it said needed school places and the 183,233 WASSCE graduates who required opportunities for a second chance.
The party appealed to President John Mahama to treat the situation as a major national crisis requiring immediate and lasting action.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has urged Ghanaians to make regular physical activity part of their daily routines to improve blood glucose control and reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
It said regular exercise helped the body use insulin more effectively, thereby improving blood sugar regulation and contributing to better overall health.
The call forms part of the Service’s 30-day diabetes awareness campaign ahead of this year’s World Diabetes Day, which is observed on November 14.
The GHS encouraged people to engage in simple physical activities such as walking, dancing, cycling and gardening.
It noted that staying physically active did not necessarily require expensive gym memberships, as everyday activities, including household chores, could contribute to maintaining an active lifestyle.
The Service advised adults to aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week, stressing the importance of starting with manageable activities and gradually building consistency.
It further encouraged people living with diabetes to combine regular physical activity with prescribed treatment and a healthy diet to help manage the condition.
The awareness campaign, being undertaken ahead of World Diabetes Day, is aimed at promoting healthy lifestyle choices and encouraging early action to prevent and manage diabetes.
This year’s World Diabetes Day is being observed under the theme “early action on diabetes,” with November 14 set aside to raise awareness of the condition and the importance of prevention, early detection and proper management.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
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We take certain things for granted but it should not be so, especially if you can read, write and understand what is said on TV and Radio in English. Usually at 7:00 pm, I watch the news on one of the popular media channels and it was no big deal until a few days ago.
As I listened to a radio presenter on a popular Fm station, the important role my parents played in my life, as far as education is concerned, suddenly dawned on me. The usual style at the start of the programme, is to play a very funny interaction between a man who identifies himself as Barry …and a Ghanaian man called Akwasi.
This Barry guy apparently was talking to Akwasi by phone and he was speaking in English and Akwasi asked him to speak English, meanwhile Akwasi did not understand the English language, so he quickly asked the Barry guy to change to Twi, when he realised that the intonation was not the normal Ghanaian one.
I really had a good laugh and that was when I realised that my parents had indeed helped me by giving me access to education.
Imagine going to enter a place and they have written push on the door frame and because you cannot read, you decide to assume that you need to pull the door towards you and the embarrassment you will go through, pulling with all your might and especially at places with glass doors at the main entrance, everybody watching you and you struggling with the door for quite a few seconds before deciding to push.
It is in moments like that, that you either start blessing your parents or otherwise, depending on whether they sent you to school or not. There are things we consider as little that we take for granted but in reality, it is a big deal if you are not educated.
I recently had to go to an office located in the Ridge Hospital area and it was located on one of the floors of a story building. The protocol requires that visitors to the place log their details in a book provided for that purpose.
You write the date, your name etc., the usual. Imagine for a moment that you are Akosua Seiwaa, an uneducated person, who is going to see someone in one of the offices in the building and you are required to fill the log book with your details. It suddenly generates a stressful situation for you.
The FM programme really set me thinking about how grateful we ought to be to our parents or guardians who gave us access to education such that we have the confidence to go boldly to all kinds of places without stress.
Just imagine going to a hospital and given a whole bunch of medication. As is usually the case, the pharmacist mentions your name and immediately starts telling you the number of times and the various dosage you are to take them.
He or she then goes to the next person and chances are you are likely to forget some of the instructions. If you are uneducated, how are you going to identify the right dosages and any other special instructions you need. There is a saying that ‘If you can read this, thank a teacher.’ I think it should rather be, ‘If you can read this, thank your parents.’
There was another recording of a hilarious conversation on the show between two ladies one of whom was uneducated and did not understand “It’s been a while”. Apparently a church member met her and she said to her it’s been a while and did not know how to respond till a young girl she was walking with explained to her in Twi “Ose ohuu wo aky3”.
She was bitterly complaining to the friend that had it not been the young girl, she would have been greatly embarrassed with this “it’s been a while, it’s been a while” that the church member said to her. Do not laugh alone. Share. God bless.
