Ghanaian teachers in public basic schools are “criminals” because “they do not teach” yet take their salaries and send their children to private schools, a former rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, has said.
That attitude of Ghanaian teachers, he said, is affecting the quality of education at the primary level.
Responding to critics who argue that the government’s double-track system will affect the quality of education at the high school level, Prof Adei told on Class FM said: “Quality issues have nothing to do with the double-track system. The quality issue, first and foremost, lies in our basic education”.
“Eighty per cent of Ghanaian children attend public basic schools, and if you go there, many of the teachers are pure criminals. They don’t teach, and the worst still is that: people who have been trained as teachers, and they are paid more than GHS1,000 a month to teach in the public schools, send their children to private basic schools where the teachers are secondary school failures.
“In other words, they are saying that we will not teach and we’ll take our children to be taught by untrained secondary school failures. Why? Because, there, their children will pass and go to secondary school”, Prof Adei explained.
In his view, the answer to Ghana’s education malice “lies in making sure that the public schools teach, and it always lies with supervision. At this moment, even teacher training is not the most important thing but the supervision and making them accountable and that if they don’t teach, they’re fired, without adding a pesewa, you can improve the quality of basic education, at least, four times and once you produce better basic education graduates, immediately, you’ve improved secondary school.”
He noted that so far as he is concerned, Ghana has the “worst basic education system in terms of quality and output in the whole world. Go to Togo, every child who has been in school for two years can read. Go to any Ghanaian [public basic] school and see if there is a Class Two pupil who can read and you’ll not get more than one out of 10, and yet, I, Stephen Adei, can teach a child to read within three months so long as he is five years old…”
Prof Adei, among others, was the former Head of the UN System in South Africa, UNDP Resident Representative in Namibia, Economist and Chief of the Directorate of Africa Bureau, UNDP, New York; Senior Economist of the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, and was also a staff of the Ghana Investment Centre where he rose to the be the Deputy Director and Head of Research.
He has taught economics at both the University of Ghana and the University of Sydney, and undertaken several consultancy assignments.
Source: Class News
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Prof you are more than 70 years and super retired but if not greediness, you will have rejected the Job at NDPC becuase your pay can do for about 20 teachers. Your hypocrisy is too much and nauseating
AS I PASS THROUGH THE KANESHIE MARKET, I OVERHEARD A PASTOR CONDEMNING GUYS OF AGE 25 AND THERE ABOUT BEING STUBBORN AND DISRESPECTFUL AND YOU KNOW WHY?. IT IS BECAUSE THAT YOUNG GUY FELT THE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICIANS ARE REALLY HURTING THE COUNTRY BY THEIR CONSISTENT LIES THEY KEEP ON SPEWING.. NOW LOOK AT A WHOLE DAMN PROFESSOR CALLING OUT PEOPLE DOING GREAT SERVICE TO OUR NATION WITHOUT PROPER PAYMENT.. IF A PROFESSOR IS TALKING LIKE THIS WITH ALL THIS PAYMENT, I WONDER HOW HE'D HAVE SPOKEN IF HE WAS JOBLESS LIKE A LOT OF TERTIARY GRADUATES WITH GOOD GRADES... HE ADDEI WILL BLOCK PEOPLE'S CHANCES AND PLACE HIS BLOOD THERE. WHAT A WORLD..
Prof., have you ever done or read any research on why students in private schools pass more than those in the public school? it's not true that those trs deliver but I ll admit the passing rate is higher however, the reason(s) may not necessarily because trs at the private schools, whom you described as SHS graduates and failures, teach more or better. our problem in Ghana is that whenever students fail exams straight away, we put the blame on trs. I tell you, I ll put less than 10% of the blame on trs; the rest ll go to govt, parents and others. I see two main differences between private schools and public schools...in most of the cases 1. the only thing the private schools do better is that they force pupils to speak English at the early stages. I hope you are aware GES curriculum demands pupils to be taught in English when they're in class three? 2. the head teacher at the public schools will not use his personal fund or get any fund from the school to buy exams papers or influence invigilators to perpetuate examination malpractices. in confusion, at the SHS level, it mostly become clear that those that come from public schools exhibit good academic character to start higher learning. one can detect that they pass through professionals except that certain factors beyond the poor tr at the public basic school made it appeared those students were not taught well or regularly because trs over there are 'criminals'
we know that politicians are generally ***barred word***. but that doesn't mean that our teachers who draw salaries without teaching should not be criticize. proper teaching may even help to correct future politicians. one truth is that average salaries of public school teachers are better than that of private school teachers, yet the latter deliver. that is the import of the prof argument. if you try to say that cos the politicians steal you will draw scanty salary without teaching, you will both be ***barred word*** but with different levels of luck in terms of looted booty! you will then lose moral courage to condemn or criticize them. just do your part well and allow natural forces to deal with the politicians. do you know that teachers normally last longer, at least in ghana? nature has a way of dealing with real issues. make no mistake.
Prof. That’s the honest truth but ask yourself why do teachers show this lackadaisical behaviour? It’s because they are super poorly paid and doesn’t motivate them to give in their best. Teachers in Ghana wallop in poverty while they sit and watch politicians and few section of the population to siphon state money. Pay them well and they will sacrifice. Poor remuneration is causing this problem. Tackle the problem from the root not the top.
You are not to blame for calling us criminals
I know they will attack you but you've hit the nail on the head.
Talking about criminals, politicans top the list. They make their retirement money after serving 4 years in parliament & the most shocking of all Adwoa Sarfo has huge billboards at Pokuase estates linking to Nsawam with oware pot holes & dirty environment all over. What kind of sick mentality is that. I forgot to say politicians ship their kids to abroad & expensive private schools & this old man has the nerves to call teachers in public school criminals? Someone need to have his head examine?