He said the teaching, learning and passing of the three core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science (EMS) had become a major threat to the development of education in the northern part of Ghana as many prospective graduates could not make a pass in those subjects.  

Dr Asakiba said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Pusiga, when he disclosed that 560 out of 2,000 applicants to the Gbewaa College were admitted because the rest could not meet the cut off point for the EMS subjects, which was C’6 grade.

 He noted that students could not pass the three subjects because teachers handling them either did not have the requisite basic skills to impart knowledge to students or students had a natural mind setup that those subjects, especially mathematics and science were difficult.

    The situation, he said, had made many potential human resources given up on furthering their education in the country since they could not pass those three subjects.

    He therefore charged parents to champion the course since they were closer to their children in their tender ages of life, by engaging them with issues related to mathematics and science.

    That, he said, would help children generate interest in those subjects and from there teachers would take it up in schools through the application of necessary skills.

  Dr Asakiba also urged students not to be afraid of mathematics and science but build the “can do” spirit since those subjects were the pivot of all other subjects in the educational system. 

    He called on stakeholders and policy makers in education to give a critical look at the situation and find lasting solutions to it as the country was losing a lot of its human resource because many had given up on the road to attain higher education.