The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has criticized the Education Minister for threatening to shut down underperforming schools.
At a meeting with the Conference of Heads of Aided Secondary Schools (CHASS) in Kumasi, the Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, warned that failing schools risk shutting down.
However, GNAT’s General Secretary, Thomas Musah, believes the Minister’s remark is misplaced.
“This is totally misplaced. That is not where that comment should go. For these schools that he is talking about, those who go there have poor grades, you put all these in one place and expect the heads to do magic. The Minister should sometimes consult.”
The Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, challenged the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) and Principals of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Institutions to produce better results.
He explained that a school with a consistent zero to ten percent pass rate should put together intervention programmes to ensure that majority of their students will find opportunities for further studies rather than becoming a liability to their parents and society due to their inability to pass their exam.
The Minister explained that closing down the schools would help save the nation from the huge financial losses being incurred by the government as a result of the existence of the schools so that the affected students would be redistributed to other nearby schools, so they could continue their education.