"Ghana Cannot Be First In Maths And Science In Africa"

Mr Daniel Miracule Gavor, a mathematics education specialist with Ghana Mathematics Society, has challenged the recent publication by an international organization that Ghana is the leading country in Mathematics and Science in Africa. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Koforidua, Mr Gavor argued that Ghana over the last decade, had stalled at 50 percent passes or less, in elective and core mathematics of all Senior High School students in the West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE). Mr Gavor, therefore, debunked the 2014 Global Information Technology Report by the World Economic Forum, saying, �the Report�s methodology used to compute the rankings is erratic, unempirical, prejudiced and do not have any procedural trustworthiness or basis to be used to compare nations.� �The rankings in short, should be treated with disrepute because it is greatly unreliable. The shortcomings of the WEF�s methodology are too obvious that by mere glance at the list of nations and their respective rankings one can identify with how unreasonable the methodologies were,� he said. Mr Gavor described the ranking as shoddy, indicating that just between 30 and 100 business executives were questioned only about their individual countries, and asked to rate performance based on a scale of one to seven to state their perceptions. He said the framing of the questions on the survey did not even elicit factual responses from the respondents but left the interpretation of results to biases. �Meanwhile we know from other objective international standardized testing in the West African region where performance of Ghana is dwindling year after year,� he said. Mr Gavor who is also the Executive Director of Vedic Math Ghana, remarked that given Ghana�s low performance in WASSCE and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), �to be rated first in Africa is a misnomer.� �Yes, we can become the world�s best, if and only if our development agenda is driven by Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Innovation,� he added. He said until such time, Ghanaians should not be deceived by reports which had doubtful technical credibility and are not reflective of the reality of the nation�s educational situation and economic struggle.