Dr Kwabena Tandoh, the Deputy Director-General for Quality and Access of the Ghana Education Service, has stated that the introduction of the semester system being introduced at the basics level will help ease pressure on teachers in the country.
To him, the semester system decongests the various schools and helps align academic calendars.
He indicated that the newly-introduced semester-based academic calendar for public Kindergarten, Primary, and Junior High Schools has come to stay.
“We know based on research that one of the causes of classroom absenteeism among teachers in the various schools was because some teachers sought to upgrade themselves. This is because the three-term system in the basic schools overlaps with the university system. Gradually, we are getting to the point where we can align. We are giving teachers the time, by aligning their system with the university systems to upgrade if need be,” Dr Kwabena Tandoh to Citi TV.
“Recent research in Greater Accra showed that because primary schools had a different calendar from the Junior High Schools, parents could not align. Research also showed that because the primary school children had a different timetable from the Junior High Schools when the latter was in session, attendance went down by 11%,” he said.
Dr Kwabena Tandoh said: “When we were doing the term system, they were in school between 13 and 15 weeks per term. In this system, they will only be in school for not more than 10 weeks per time. This initial one is only because we are trying to align the timetables.”
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Solomon Nartey
