A former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof. Stephen Adei, is calling for an overhaul in the management of senior high schools to avert the poor performance of students.
He has advised that authorities punish teachers who fail to teach during official school hours or dismiss them outrightly.
Prof. Adei has blamed the poor performance in Mathematics in the 2025 WASSCE on teachers’ reliance on extra classes.
He believes that as long as teachers are allowed to teach outside of school hours, they will neglect their regular duties, citing the extra income they earn from charging students about GH¢400 per subject per term.
This practice, he notes, prevents them from completing the syllabus during regular class hours and puts students from low-income homes at a disadvantage.
“What is happening is not accidental. Many headmasters are accomplices,” he said. “They know the teachers are not covering the syllabus, but they cannot act because the system does not give them the authority.”
He noted that until the centralised system where disciplinary powers descend from the central government is averted, accountability will always be weakened and allow poor classroom practices to continue.
He said nothing will change until the system is decentralised and teachers are held directly responsible for classroom results.
The Professor also cited overcrowded classrooms as a contributing factor to the students’ poor performance, explaining that the high student-to-teacher ratio hinders effective teaching and puts pressure on students.
He noted that the free senior high school risks losing its purpose if unofficial paid tuition continues. “Those who cannot afford the extra classes are simply not being educated,” he said.
Prof. Adei admonished the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to address what he described as a problem of weak discipline in classrooms and poor teacher conduct, adding that Ghana’s long-term education outcomes depend on firm action now.
