School records 0% BECE pass for eight years

Not a single pupil from the Anyinam Kotoku Local Authority Methodist Junior High School (JHS), near Akyem Oda in the Eastern Region, has passed the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for the past eight years.

The situation has adversely affected enrolment as there are currently only eight students in the school who are about to enter form three to prepare for the BECE in April, next year.

The unfortunate development has compelled the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Birim South, Baffour Mensah Takyi, to hold a stakeholders' meeting attended by teachers, parents, school prefects, traditional rulers, officials of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the district assembly, at Anyinam Kotoku to identify the problems and find lasting solutions to them.

Addressing the meeting, Baffour Takyi threatened to close down the school and transfer the teachers and pupils to other schools if the staff and parents of the school did not take realistic measures to reverse the poor performance of the pupils.

He dismissed the notion by the teachers, pupils and some parents that a spiritualist had revealed that someone had cast a spell on the school by spiritually planting an amulet on the school compound, hence the children's poor academic performance.

The DCE warned that the government could not continue to invest huge sums of money in education without getting any fruitful results.

He advised the parents and teachers of the school against misusing the labour of the schoolchildren for their selfish interests.

Baffour Takyi also cautioned the pupils to refrain from truancy and lateness to school, warning "drastic action would be taken against any schoolchild who would go to the bush in search of 'bonawa' at the expense of his/her education".

The Royal Bretuo Abusuapanin of Anyinam Kotoku, Nana Kwame Fosu Akowiah, who acted as the spokesperson for the chiefs and people of the town, said the continuous poor academic performance of the schoolchildren was of great concern to them.

He, therefore, thanked the DCE for assembling the stakeholders in education to find out the challenges that militated against the academic progress of schoolchildren and help find antidote to them.

Mr Fosu stressed that the traditional rulers and parents would practically support any practical move to be adopted to reverse the falling standards of education in the area.

Source: Daily Graphic