The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare, has called on the government to permanently scrap the use of F9 grades as a barrier to admission into senior high school (SHS).
Mr Asare said the government should amend or review the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy document to clearly establish the qualification requirements for progression from basic to secondary education.
“We have recommended that government should amend or review the Free Senior High School policy document. The policy document must have enshrined in it the requirement to qualify for secondary education. We must waive that F9 thing there.
“There is no qualification to enter secondary education once one completes basic education, so that we don’t be going back and forth year by year, so that it becomes at the discretion of a politician that this year F9 will go, next year F9 will not go.”
Mr Asare maintained that denying students access to SHS because of poor Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) grades would be unfair, particularly because the government has a responsibility to provide adequate teaching and learning conditions.
He noted that students who record F9 grades are disproportionately found in deprived areas, including the five northern regions, Oti and Western North.
According to him, challenges such as teacher shortages, inadequate textbooks and a lack of basic furniture in some schools can contribute to poor academic outcomes.
“Until government provides adequate facilities across urban, peri-urban and deprived areas, you cannot punish pupils for having F9 in Maths and deny them an opportunity to enter Free Senior High School.”
He stressed that every Ghanaian who completes basic school should have the opportunity to continue to secondary education, regardless of their grades.
“Every Ghanaian that completes basic school must enter secondary education regardless of their grades.”
Mr Asare said Ghana should aspire to a system where no child is denied secondary education because of academic performance at the basic level.
He also welcomed the current approach of allowing students who may have obtained F9 grades to proceed to SHS, describing it as a step towards ensuring universal access.
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|NANA ACHIAA ABOAGYE
