Former President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbonu, has urged the government to adopt a deliberate strategy to upgrade all Senior High Schools (SHSs) across Ghana to comparable standards.
According to him, the continued classification of schools into categories such as Category A and Category C highlights inequalities within the country’s secondary education system.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Mr Carbonu questioned the rationale behind having a small number of schools regarded as more desirable while others struggle to attract students.
“Why should we even be calling some schools Category A? It is a reflection of our failure as a country,” he said.
Mr Carbonu said about 70 schools reportedly attract the interest of nearly 60 per cent of Junior High School (JHS) graduates seeking placement, creating intense competition during the SHS placement exercise.
He questioned why such a large number of students would compete for places in only a limited number of schools.
“Why do 60 per cent of applicants want to go to that school? It is because they have the semblance of what looks like a school,” he said.
He noted that Ghana has more than enough SHSs to accommodate students, but said many parents are reluctant to have their children placed in some schools because of inadequate facilities and poor learning environments.
Among the challenges he identified were the lack of boarding facilities, poor school infrastructure and limited resources to support students pursuing their preferred programmes.
He further observed that some schools only resort to advertising their institutions after the placement exercise in an effort to attract students.
“If we have more than enough SHS, but the problem is that there are schools parents don’t want their children there because they don’t have boarding facilities or the environment that will help them study for the courses they want, then as a country, why don’t we make sure we make all SHSs Category A?” he asked.
Mr Carbonu also questioned the basis for determining which schools should be placed in the various categories, arguing that every student deserves access to a quality learning environment.
“Who should go to A and who should go to C?” he asked.
He said Ghana has about 1,000 SHSs across the country and questioned why more effort has not been made to bring the remaining schools up to the standard associated with Category A institutions.
“Why are we still talking about Category A without thinking the rest also need to be upgraded to that level?” he questioned.
Mr Carbonu cited schools including Wesley Girls’ High School, St. Mary’s Senior High School and Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School (PRESEC-Legon) as institutions that have benefited significantly from the support of parents, old students and other stakeholders.
He, however, acknowledged that not every school can rely on such fundraising efforts, particularly in communities where parents have limited financial resources or expect the government to provide educational infrastructure.
He therefore called for a deliberate and coordinated state-led approach to improving SHSs, rather than allowing the development of individual schools to depend heavily on their alumni or local communities.
“We have to be deliberate as a country,” he said.
“We must identify what we want to call a school, what facilities and environment they should have and announce to the public that these schools are now Category A schools.”
The former NAGRAT president also proposed setting annual targets for the upgrading of schools to make the process measurable and enable successive governments to be assessed on their progress.
Mr Carbonu believes that addressing the SHS placement challenge requires more than simply increasing the number of schools. He said improving the quality of infrastructure, facilities and learning environments across all schools would make them more attractive to students and parents.
He argued that this would help reduce the intense competition for a few preferred schools while giving students greater access to quality education regardless of the school to which they are placed.
By: Prince Martey-Sogar