PERIODO DE RECUPERO

Survey data revealed that school sizes are small with an average enrolment of 82 students. Pupil: teacher ratios ranged from 44 to three which indicates that there is an adequate supply of teachers although not all are qualified (KF 4.3). In actual fact, urban centre schools have higher enrolment figures with adequate numbers of qualified teachers, compared with the remote area rural schools that have smaller school sizes and fewer teachers many of whom are underqualified and inexperienced. Many of the classroom teachers were three-year trained (55%) and only eight per cent have additional professional qualifications. Of greatest concern is the fact that 34% of the teachers are untrained. Of the 166 JHS teachers in the District, 31% are currently at various stages of upgrading their professional qualifications (KF 4.2). Some informants expressed the view that commitment to duty or teacher professionalism outweighed the issue of teachers‟ qualification (KF 6.2).

Educational leaders expressed divergent views regarding the inadequate supply of qualified teachers (KF 5.2). Some were convinced that it is a problem of deployment of trained teachers rather than simply increasing the number of new entrants to the profession. The belief was that the system needs to ensure that posted teachers actually get to their schools and remain there and teach. Mpokosa and Ndaruhutse (2008, p. 35) explained that many of these teachers do not stay long enough to make any “significant impact on the learning environment of children”. Stakeholders also commented that their conditions of service especially salaries and incentive packages needed to be reviewed to address issues of retention and attrition of teachers (KF 6.2). Cobbold (2007, p. 10) suggests that “these beginning teachers think they are neglected by the system once they are posted to schools”, as they neither receive resources to work with nor induction to help them settle in.

District Education statistics indicate that the prospect of teacher supply for the District was positive (Ghana Education Service, 2009). These figures indicate that there is a regular flow of newly trained teachers coming into the system each year. If there is such a regular inflow of newly trained and qualified teachers coming into the system, then how does one explain the lack of qualified teachers in the schools (KF 5.2)?

First of all, some teachers fail to accept posting. Other teachers, who are trained for teaching in basic schools, claim that they do not feel competent enough to teach some time-tabled subjects. Some teachers lack competence with English Language and this impacts on the implementation of the curriculum (KF 6.2). English Language lesson notes of some teachers clearly showed how much of the real content of lessons was regularly ignored by these teachers. Consistent with the view of Ampratwum and Armah-Attoh (2010) head teachers‟ reported that teachers‟ content knowledge, English competence, knowledge of syllabus and “adequacy of lesson preparation have the greatest impact on the quality of teaching and learning” (JICA, n/a, p. 10). There is considerable concern over the teaching of core subjects and Ghanaian Language (KF 4.4). Additionally, the inflexible policy requiring all the students in the District to be examined in the same local language, namely Dagaare, regardless of how proficient students and teachers are in that language is yet another constraint (KF 5.2). English is used as the medium of instruction in most of the classes, though it is a concern that some JHS classes still use vernacular as the medium of instruction. One-third of head teachers have great concern about the quality of teaching in English, Mathematics, Ghanaian Language, Social Studies and General Science which are core subjects for the BECE (KF 4.4).

The data indicated that the schools experience difficulty in accessing an adequate supply of specialist teachers for core subjects and to teach French and the local language, Sissala (KF 6.3). Part of the difficulty in getting specialist teachers can be attributed to the fact that school sizes are small with an average enrolment of 82 students and given the small number of teachers at these schools it is not possible to have specialists for all subjects. The reality of the situation from field observations is that there are many combined classes with the teachers having no skills for multi-grade teaching. Head teachers reported that there is a lack of skilled teachers and hence the need for teachers‟ capacity building especially in relation to multi-grade teaching (KF 4.8). Furthermore, the lack of trained teachers means that the District is not able to comply with the policy of providing trained teachers in each of the transition classes (KF 5.2).

The high proportion of untrained teachers and teachers attempting to teach core subjects without specialist training also impacts negatively on the quality of teaching and learning. Considering the fact that “teachers are the greatest source of variance that can make a difference to students‟ achievement” (Hattie, 2003, October, p. 3) it becomes a concern when it is the wrong sort of influence.

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Low teacher professionalism

Educational leaders considered the College of Education program to be comprehensive and adequate for the training of emerging teachers (Teacher Education Division, GES, 2000). Graduates from these Diploma awarding institutes are expected to teach all subjects on the basic school time-table. Furthermore, Campbell (2007) argues that it is important for teachers to bring enthusiasm to the work of teaching. This enthusiasm is demonstrated in the preparations made before each class, with a readiness to read around the subjects, and teaching themselves what they are preparing to teach their class. This is in contrast to other teachers also within the system who would simply walk into class unprepared and just teach anything. This contradicts the statement in the rules of professional conduct for teachers: “a teacher shall prepare relevant and adequate teaching notes for his/her work in advance. It shall be the responsibility of the head of the institution to see to it that this is done” (Ghana Education Service, 2008b, p. 7). Among the many young and inexperienced head teachers are those that feel threatened and incapable of confronting such defaulting teachers. There are some teachers who only want the tick and signature of the school head appended to their lesson notes to signify that their lessons notes have been vetted. Anything beyond that has sometimes created unacceptable and unethical scenes; some teachers do not accept being corrected. Head teachers feel disempowered and without the backing from District Office in their role as frontline supervisors, they cannot exert their authority (KF 4.10).

Furthermore, significant barriers to quality education include high levels of teacher absenteeism due to low levels of teacher professionalism, inadequate supervision and the high proportion of untrained volunteer or „helper‟ teachers who are not salaried (KF 6.2). Teachers‟ lack of professionalism and motivation (KF 5.1) are indications of dissatisfaction with their conditions of service. Some teachers express the view that it is not worth sweating over what is not his father‟s business. A statement such as this alludes to the level of apathy within the system. It is common practise especially in the remote schools to find some teachers taking a whole class to help out with planting or harvesting on his private farm or some personal engagement. It is also, common place to find teachers in petty trading, bringing some of their wares to school for sale. Some could be so daring as to even involve the children in seeing to their trade which breaches the teachers‟ code of conduct about “improper use of children‟s labour” (2008b, p. 8). Many of these remote area schools least expect to see a GES officer visiting their schools, this therefore buttresses the argument that if supervision could be intensified, many of these teachers will learn to do the right thing at the right time (KF 4.8, KF 5.4 & KF 6.2). Additionally, the Australian statement of professional standards

for teaching include standards related to planning for teaching and learning, assessing and providing feedback, engaging in professional learning, and engaging professionally with colleagues, parents and the community (Sempowwicz & Hudson, 2011).

Low levels of professionalism such as lack of punctuality and absenteeism, inadequate preparation for teaching and not giving feedback have implications for the quality of teaching and learning. These account for the teachers‟ inability to cover the syllabus and children not being well prepared for their examinations which leads to low pass rates in the BECE.