The All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG), has described as highly insensitive government’s decision to implement the semester-based academic calendar.
The union says the calendar will prevent students from actively participating in class.
The Ghana Education Service (GES) has indicated that public Kindergarten, Primary, and Junior High Schools would begin using a semester-based academic calendar.
The new system, according to GES, will relieve teacher stress and decongest schools.
However, the decision has received several criticisms from some stakeholders, including teacher unions.
General Secretary of ATAG, Albert Dadson Amoah, in an interview with Citi News, said the new academic calendar will demotivate students and lead to an increase in absenteeism.
“The semester-based system is of no need. If you want to tackle challenges in the education sector, tackle the prevailing challenges such as teachers who are not motivated, teachers whose salary arrears are owed by the government, where we have infrastructure challenges where students learn under trees and therefore, we are saying that that government’s introduction of a semester calendar is of no need, and it is insensitive because the trimester calendar has shown to be more effective.”
“Why should a Kindergarten child who has a short attention span stay in school for six months and even within six months the child comes to school from seven o’clock to 4:30 pm. This is not right. The calendar is going to cause absenteeism and demotivate students”.
He further indicated that the delay in issuing textbooks to teachers is having a toll on academic activities in schools.
“We are reminding the government of our textbooks. The government has introduced a curriculum for the past two years now. This curriculum has not received textbooks. So, if there is a curriculum without textbooks and syllabus, then what is the education revolution and agenda all about?”
