Infrastructural expansion needed to enhance abolishing of shift system
The elimination of the school shift system in most public schools in Accra has resulted in the build-up of pressure on the limited school infrastructure in the country.
Despite its demerits, the abolition has enhanced school attendance among pupils who on previous occasions would give various excuses for their absence.
Circuit Supervisor at the Liberty Primary School, Alexander Koduah says the abolishment has reduced truancy in the sense that children no longer have an excuse to tell whomsoever questions them about their attendance.
However, the new system has given rise to further challenges such as the lack of infrastructure and teaching logistics leading to a build-up of pressure on the limited resources.
At the liberty primary school for instance; a class of twenty five has now received additional 55 pupils - more than double the original size.
A teacher at the school, Anita Sam Arthur, tells e.tv Ghana news that the class congestion is seriously affecting the quality of teaching and learning.
She explains that the initial plan of the class room was to admit only about 30 pupils, but due to the abolishment of the school shift system, they have had to do with two separate classes in one classroom.
“The children are now many and going through the rows to check behaviors are very difficult. When it gets to the afternoon especially on hot days the ventilation is so poor that teaching becomes very difficult and the children become very difficult to control,” she says.
Government is embarking on the expansion of school infrastructure to deal with the problem.
This is however slow and many children would have recorded zero percent at the BECE before infrastructure expansion is completed.
By: Naadi Bitlegma, e.tv Ghana
