There has been a steady decline in the level of academic performance among BECE candidates in the Talensi-Nabdam District of the Upper East Region.
The District Director of Education, Mr Francis Ayaba, who made the revelation in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, said the situation called for a multi-faceted approach to stem the problem.
He said the past four years had witnessed a worrying decline in the district’s educational performance and mentioned poverty, forced marriages, inadequate teaching and learning materials and lack of training on the part of teachers as some of the underlying factors contributing to the current trend.
Parents and teachers, he added, had also failed to perform their respective roles effectively, thereby leading to moral degeneration which was another factor affecting education in the district.
Mr Ayaba said since 2007, a little above 800 BECE candidates out of a total number of 4,538 obtained aggregates 6 to 25 whilst 1,225 candidates obtained aggregates 26 to 30, with 2,511 candidates obtaining aggregate 30 and above within the same period.
According to the District Director, only 26.94 per cent of BECE candidates in the district obtained passes during last year’s BECE exams as compared to 57.74 per cent recorded in 2007.
Mr Ayaba indicated that his outfit, in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders in the district, was putting in place adequate measures to forestall the current turn of event in the educational sector in the District.
He implored the youth particularly school going children to take their studies seriously devoid of laziness. This, he said was necessary since the district was poised to set a high standard in academic performance for other districts to emulate.
He also called on traditional leaders to play a leading role in the fight against certain socio-cultural practices that tend to affect students negatively, particularly girls.
Mr Ayaba was grateful to the Member of Parliament for the area, Mr John Tia Akologo, for providing his outfit with computers and accessories and urged other individuals and stakeholders to assist in that regard.