Curriculum Implementation, Teaching and Learning in the Ghana Basic Education

All Ghanaian primary schools are required to work to nationally prescribed teaching programmes that are contained in the syllabi; that is, they include detailed guidance on what is required to be taught in each year with suggested teaching and learning activities. To ensure that the programmes provide the foundation for a child's basic and further education, the following are stated in the policy guidelines to education reform as the first two goals of the Ghanaian primary school:

i. Numeracy and literacy, i. e. the ability to count, use numbers, read, write and communicate effectively.

ii. Laying the foundation for inquiry and creativity (MOE 2008).

The present study analyses in detail the formal primary school English Language, Ghanaian Language and Mathematics syllabi since they correspond to the SfL mandate for the provision of literacy and numeracy. The curriculum provides the overall rationale for an education programme, which includes all the learning that goes on in school whether planned, accidental or as a by-product of the planning process (Kelly, 2009). It is also important to distinguish between the planned or intended curriculum and the received curriculum, which introduces the issues of theory or policy, and practice. There is always what is laid out in the syllabus, which in most cases differs from the lessons pupils actually receive. The difference between theory and practice “may be conscious or unconscious, and the cause of the mismatch being either a deliberate attempt by the teacher to deceive” (Kelly, 2009: p11) or just part of the natural order of things whereby in most cases, the actualization of any venture does not necessarily meet the planner’s vision. The difference may also

18 determine how children actually perform in schools and how parents and other stakeholders perceive the education system as meeting its core goals.

In Ghana, various stakeholders in education, including parents, teachers, the GES/MOE, and employers, have persistently expressed their concern in the local media about the poor performance of both teachers and pupils in English at all levels of the Ghanaian education system. Results of external examinations such as those conducted by the West Africa Examinations Council, as well as chief examiners’ reports, confirm the stakeholders’ concerns. Moreover, different assessment tests introduced by the MOE since 1992 in order to monitor achievement in English and Mathematics in public schools indicate low levels of pupil achievement. In Criterion Reference Tests (CRTs) administered, for example, progress in performance was found to be very slow, achievement levels in English improving from a baseline of 2% to only 12.7% in 2002 (USAID, 2003; MOE, 2006).

Reports on the administration of the National Education Assessment (NEA) tests in English and Mathematics for Primary 3 and Primary 6 paint a similar gloomy picture. Since 2004, the GES has implemented National Education Assessment tests, which replaced the previous Criterion Reference Tests and Performance Monitoring Test (PMT). The NEA gives an indicator of the national quality of education at the basic level. It is based on a random, stratified sample of pupils in Primary 3 and Primary 6, utilizing multiple choice test items to assess competency and proficiency at their respective levels. The English assessment consists of subtests in listening, grammar, reading and writing; and the Mathematics assessment investigates pupils’ competency with numbers, shapes and space, measurement, and collecting and handling data. The minimum level of competency necessitates a score of 35%, and a score of 55% is required to designate proficiency. The table below outlines the scores from 2005–2011.

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Table 2.2: Overall Distribution of Minimum Competency and Proficiency, NEA by Year

Grades, subjects and percentage of pupils reaching Minimum Competency (MC) and Proficiency (Prof)

PRIMARY 3 PRIMARY 6

ENGLISH MATHEMATICS ENGLISH MATHEMATICS

MC Prof. M-C Prof. MC Prof. M-C Prof.

2005 50.6 16.4 47.2 18.6 63.9 23.6 47.2 9.8

2007 50.2 15.0 42.6 14.6 69.7 26.1 46.2 10.8

2009 57.6 20.0 61.2 25.2 76.9 35.6 61.9 13.8

2011 66.3 24.2 52.6 18.2 78.9 35.3 56.9 16.1

Source: MOE 2009 National Education Assessment Report.

Reading the NEA report shows that the percentages of pupils meeting the minimum competency level are higher than those reaching the proficiency level in English and Mathematics in both primary 3 and Primary 6. The percentages of pupils reaching both the minimum competency and proficiency levels increased in 2009, while lower percentages were recorded in 2007 and 2005. Despite the improvements in the 2009 assessment, the MOE conceded that there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that targets are met. Also noticeable is the fact that the percentage of P3 students achieving minimum competency and proficiency scores in English increased between 2009 and 2011. Similarly, the percentage of P6 students achieving minimum competency in English saw a slight increase between 2009 and 2011, while those achieving proficiency remained stable. Conversely, the percentage of P3 students achieving minimum competency and proficiency in maths decreased. Among P6 students, the percentage achieving minimum competency also decreased while, surprisingly, those achieving proficiency increased slightly (MOE, 2011).

The NEA report also provides a breakdown of results by region. In all four assessments to date, the highest mean scores were achieved by pupils from the Greater Accra Region, which includes the national capital, Accra, while Northern and Upper East regions consistently returned the lowest scores in both Mathematics and English (MOE, 2009). Table 2.2 below gives a regional breakdown of the results for the 2009 Primary 6 English assessment.

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Table 2.3: Performance of Pupils in Primary 6 English by Region, NEA, 2009

Source: MOE 2009 National Education Assessment Report.

These data on pupil achievement in the formal school system show that pupil achievement in the formal school system is low over all, and that calls into question the design and implementation of the primary school curriculum, as well as teaching and learning. This situation coupled with the inadequate provision of textbooks, materials and teacher contact time conspires to prevent the creation of an environment conducive to effective teaching and learning in the primary school, as is indicated by NEA results whereby a quarter of Primary 6 pupils do not achieve minimum competency, and less than 40% achieve proficiency in English, which happens to be the medium in which the curriculum is taught.

These results and their implications are grounds for a more critical examination of formal school programmes, but they also invite scrutiny of other programmes that are touted as providing real opportunities for children to learn. Indeed, Complementary Education Programmes, while providing an access route for marginalized and deprived communities, are also seen as providing real opportunities for children to acquire literacy and numeracy,

REGION NUMBER OF PUPILS OVERALL MEAN % STANDARD DEVIATION % REACHING MC % REACHING PROF. ASHANTI 4,256 48.9 16.33 79.6 37.3 BRONG AHAFO 2,361 46.3 15.61 75.9 28.8 CENTRAL 2,477 43.6 15.60 69.3 24.1 EASTERN 2,468 50.3 17.15 80.5 40.2 GTR. ACCRA 2,756 57.4 17.16 90.0 58.2 NORTHERN 2,280 39.4 15.11 60.4 16.1 UPPER EAST 1,104 39.8 14.20 60.0 15.6 UPPER WEST 917 47.9 16.85 76.3 34.8 VOLTA 2,799 51.4 17.54 81.1 44.7 WESTERN 2,825 49.4 16.76 79.7 37.1 TOTAL 2,4243 48.2 17.11 76.8 35.6

21 and integrate into the formal school system (DeStefano et al., 2007; Hartwell, 2007). Are these programmes, which use untrained teachers, any more effective than the formal school in supporting pupils’ learning?

2.4. The Context of School for Life’s Complementary Education Programme in