GRADE 'D' AND 'E' SHOULD NOT BE GLORIFED

By Joyceline Natally Cudjoe

The Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has entreated heads and teachers of Senior High Schools (SHS) to adequately prepare their students to enable them graduate with best grades.

According to him, grades ‘D’ and ‘E’ should not be considered as pass grades but rather as a fail mark.

Dr. Prempeh said, no university in the country would admit any student with such grades therefore they should improve their learning performance.

The Minister said this at the 2017 Ghana Education Evidence summit held in Accra, which aimed to improve quality education and learning in the country.

The programme was on the theme “Using Evidence for Impact in Teacher Education.”

Dr. Prempeh urged students to strive in the pursuit of academic excellence and become professionals Ghana would boast of.

 “I want every SHS student to meet the required grade of tertiary institution and become a person the nation will be proud of”, he said.

He attributed the poor performance of students to inadequate guidelines teachers give to them adding that “teaching is evidence based and the reflection of that evidence is the examination result.”

In ensuring better performance of students, he said, teachers should increase the time that they spend with students in teaching.

Dr. Prempeh stated that they should not only focus on the subject knowledge but emphasize the pedagogy to make sure each student understand the lessons being taught.

He stressed the need for teachers to create more interactive, pupil-centered approach to teaching as it is the key to learning.

The National Programme Manager of Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL), Mr. Akwasi Addae-Boahene in an interview with Ghanaian Times bemoaned that the lack of evidence demonstrated in teaching has retarded the progress of learning.

He said teachers should observe and assess the lessons that they teach to ensure students and pupils make enough progress in their performance.

“Teachers have to assess and see whether there is enough reflection, evidence and impact of the lessons they teach their students”, he stressed.

Mr. Addae-Boahene however called on teachers to significantly improve their level of teaching and learning to ensure better results across the country adding that “Teachers make our Nation”.