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Seventy percent (70%) of pre-tertiary schools, both public and private in Ghana, are below the satisfactory mark in National Schools Inspectorate Authority’s (NaSIA) ratings.
The Inspector-General of Schools, Dr. Haggar Hilda Ampadu, made it known in an interview with Citi FM, monitored by Angelonline.com.gh on Monday April 12, 2021.
According to her, a variety of factors including availability of trained teachers and infrastructure account for the low score among the schools.
She said: “We do lesson observation: we sit in the lesson and see how the three subjects are being taught: English, Maths and Science. Do you have adequate teachers who are trained and equipped with the right skills to be able to do that?
“We also look at facilities: do you have a library, a computer lab, enough infrastructure i.e. tables, chairs etc. We looks at all these, combine the data and give you a score for it.”
“So if you are satisfactory, then it means on our scale of one to ten, you are within 4 to 5, which you can improve upon with the recommendations that we give you,” she added.
Dr. Haggar Hilda also noted that rather than close down schools which fall below the satisfactory mark, those schools are given recommendations which are aimed at helping them to level up.
“if a school is unsatisfactory, we give recommendations of things that need to be fixed and we put the monitoring and evaluation team around such a school to help them improve. We give a tineline and we keep coming to ensure that you improve,” the Inspector-General of Schools said.
According to her, the Authority’s mandate is to ensure that the pre-tertiary schools meet the purpose for which they were set up, but not to close down or penalise the schools.
She said: “The whole goal of NaSIA is that children are learning in safe environments and that learning outcomes are being attained in these schools. Our inspectors are there to help improve but not to punish or penalise the schools.”
Dr. Haggar Hilda therefore advised that pre-tertiary school authorities register with the authority, NaSIA, so they can be aided to improve upon their services and by that meet the requirement of the law on schools registration.
“The law came into being in August 2020. It says within six months, you should register with the authority. We are hoping that all schools will register by end of year. It’s not so much about the money. If they can’t pay, they can contact us,” she advised.
