Professor Kwasi Nsia-Gyabaah, Rector of the Sunyani Polytechnic on Friday said the concept of extra classes in the country is not inappropriate in itself but the level of provision is the problem.
It is unnecessary to organise additional classes or provide extra tuition generally for basic school pupils and Junior/Senior High School (J/SHS) students, he said.
It was better and essential however, where the situation demanded to provide that for graduating pupils and students at certain levels of the educational system.
Professor Nsiah-Gyabaah expressed these views in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani.
He explained that the idea was not wrong but it should be done at where it was needed at no cost or with just a little incentive to those teachers involved to avoid exploitation of parents and guardians by self-seeking teachers.
The Professor argued that, calling for a complete ban on it was not the solution to the problem but it should be streamlined and regulated by the educational authorities so that it did put extra financial burden on parents and guardians.
He wondered why pupils of levels as low as class one should be made to attend extra classes, saying that was incomprehensible because even at such stages there was not much requirement in their cognitive progress and development to warrant that.
Professor Nsiah-Gyabaah said additional classes or tuition were mostly required when there was the need for final level pupils and students to complete the syllabi, adding that, until recent years when it became the norm in many of the basic and second cycle schools, it was mostly being used as a period of brush-ups.
In those days either a month or more prior to final examinations teachers and tutors would call for the extra class to enable the children to ask questions for further explanations relating to topics in all subjects covered, the Professor added.
He said during that time, it was loving and heart-warming to see the kind of commitment and dedication with which teachers did that without financial demands because "the wish of every teacher is to see his pupils and students obtaining 100 percent passes with distinctions in their final examinations".
Professor Nsiah-Gyabaah indicated teachers took opportunity to guide pupils and students even how to answer examination questions, stressing it was not an obligation for all to attend because it was there for only those who felt the need for additional teaching help.
At the moment, some teachers, to make extra income based on the excuse of inadequate salaries allegedly under perform during the normal, official class hours to create the condition for the children to attend their additional classes at extra financial cost to their parents, he said.