Mr. Ernest Kwame Adade, Executive Director of the African Foundation for Educational Development (AFfED), has said that the government’s move to buy pass questions for students should not be applauded.
According to him, buying past questions aims to forsake students’ cognitive growth, therefore there is no reason to applaud such a step.
His remarks follow the confirmation by the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, of the government’s purchase of past questions for candidates studying for this year’s West Africa Senior Schools Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).
In response to a question on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, July 14, Dr. Osei Adutwum said that the past questions were obtained at a cost of almost GHS35 million from Kingdom Books and Office Stationery.
This follows a similar step made last year.
That decision sparked criticism from a former Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who was also a Vice Presidential Candidate in the 2020 elections.
“Achieving good results from our students cannot be achieved by buying past questions,” she stated during one of her campaign stops before last year’s election, which her party lost.
“We can only do that by grooming the children well, by supporting the teachers, by putting methods in place for strict supervision and accountability.”
According to Mr. Kwame Adade, Executive Director of AFfED, in a statement issued on Thursday, July 15, 2021, while spending about 4% of Ghana’s GDP on education is commendable, the processes surrounding the expenditure and the ability to put the resources to efficient use are what raises a lot of eyebrows.
“From 2019 to 2020, the government purchased 568,755 past questions at a unit price of GH59.15 for a total of GH33,641,043.75. This occurred at a period when the number of 2020 WASSCE candidates was 357000.
A total of 193,755 booklets were produced. It perplexes me that in 2021, the government purchased 446,954 past questions at a unit cost of Gh78.00 for a total of GH34,862,412.
“Point is, the per-unit price of the past questions when calculated has shot up by GH18.85 per pamphlet using the same source of production.
“The MoE and the WAEC could have engaged other publishers other than the only one approved publisher, Kingdom Books. This would have resulted in a reduction in the money invested in the procurement process.
“Clearly, the Education Ministry has not placed priority on equipping, challenging and developing the cognitive capacity of our students in the Senior High Schools but have rather taken interest in purchasing past questions which will serve good to students in just a short while rather than equipping the teachers with the adequate resources to improve teaching and learning.
“The Ministry has abandoned elementary schools under trees, substandard and dangerous school infrastructure, and insufficient Teaching and Learning Material while spending about GH35 million of tax payers’ money on the purchase of past questions.
In fact, providing past questions four and three months before the final examinations makes little or no difference in terms of student development.
“If we focus on primary education and create a suitable atmosphere for teaching in Senior High Schools, we would not need to give past questions.
“In our schools, the overall circumstances for teaching and learning must be addressed, and appropriate facilities must be given. This will help pupils cognitively grow in order to achieve widely accepted standards.”
Related Article: Adutwum defends GHS33.6M spent on WASSCE past questions
SOURCE: ATLFM ONLINE
