Education in U/E is still low

STORY: KORYEKPOR AWLESU FREEMAN

A Diplomat and Educationalist, Mr. K. B Asante, has lamented over the increasing rate of falling standards in teaching and learning in public basic schools in the Upper East Region and called for contingency measures to avert the situation.

He bemoaned that the situation is so pervasive to the extent that the pupils in deprived communities in the region are lagging behind their counterparts in the southern part of the country.

Mr. K.B Asante expressed this sentiment during the official launch of Intelekt Ghana, a non-governmental organization.

Presenting a white paper on the state of education in the region, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Intelekt Ghana, Mr. Kenneth Kpodo, revealed that research in the region shows that only 8.9 per cent of the population of 15 years old are literate in the English language.

He noted that the regional level of illiteracy rate of 71.8 per cent is much higher than the national average of 45.9 per cent.

According to him, the overall levels of educational attainment are much lower in the region, compared to other regions in the country.

He said when educational attainment is restricted to the population aged 6 years and over, the proportion in the region which has never attended school is 71.8 percent

This proportion, according to Mr. Kpodo, is higher for females than for males.

He indicated that for the population of aged 6 years who have attended school before, almost one in two of the rate of 48.1 percent attained primary level

Against this background Mr. Kpodo stressed the need to expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, particularly for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children in the region.

He called on government to ensure that the learning needs of students and pupils in the region are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes.