One Hundred and Seventeen (117), out of about Five-Thousand (5000) students who sat for the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) passed.
The rest of the students failed, the North East Regional Minister, Zakaria Yidana, has disclosed. This, according to him, means that only 3% of the students passed while 97% failed, a development he observed as worrying.
“We had about 5000 students and when the results came, only 117 students passed the WASSCCE exams, that represents 3% out of 5000 students. You ask yourself, what happened to the over 4,800 students. 97% failed. We cannot do that in this region and think that we have a future”, he said.
Mr Yidana revealed this development at a handing-over ceremony of a 12-unit classroom block and a 400- bed capacity girl’s dormitory for the Walewale Vocational and Technical Institute to reduce overcrowding in the school.
The North East Region has 11 Senior High, Vocational and Technical Schools in the Six Municipalities and Districts of the region.
The Minister said the students need to up their game to make the most out of the opportunity they have. He charged them to do their best.
“I’m challenging you, you’re more than intelligent and your teachers are more than capable of making you succeed but much of it depends on you the students”, he said.
According to the North East Regional Education Directorate, the abysmal performance in last year’s WASSCE is a result of challenges confronting the education sector in the region. Some of the challenges the directorate mentioned included lack of infrastructure, lack of teaching and learning materials, lack of teachers accommodation, lack of furniture and other challenges.
One of the challenges the Municipal and District Assemblies in the region are facing is the numerous uncompleted infrastructure in the Senior High and Technical Schools which they say their Internal Generated Funds and MP’s Common Fund cannot provide all these infrastructures.
To help solve overcrowding and infrastructure deficit in the schools, Ghana Education Trust Fund and the West Mamprusi Municipal Assembly constructed the 12-unit classroom block and a 400-bed capacity girl’s dormitory for the Walewale Vocational and technical institute.
The current student population at the technical institute stands at 1,246 comprising 842 males and 404 females. The current situation at the girl’s dormitory is not conducive and there is overcrowding in the rooms forcing many girls to sleep on the floor.
The North East Regional minister Zakaria Yidana, charged students in the region to put more effort into their studies irrespective of the challenges in the various second cycle institutions.
The principal of the institute, John Abdul Razak Salifu appealed for more support to the school including a dining hall, boys’ dormitory, fence wall and workshops.
The Municipal Chief Executive of West Mamprusi Arimiyaw Somo Lucky assured the institute and the other three second cycle institutions in the municipality of the government’s support and has urged students to take care of the projects for others benefit. He indicated that all the stalled projects in the second cycle institutions would be re-awarded to serious contractors to complete the projects.
