It's all about Quality and Standards
Published in The Mirror, My Turn October 5, 2013
Dinah Amankwah (Educationist)
Admission requirements for tertiary institutions have caused a furor among a cross-section of Ghanaians. This time, the Ministry of Education insisted that the minimum entry grade is C6. D7 does not qualify entry into tertiary institutions. This stand has antagonized a lot of Ghanaians, teachers included. Opponents of C6 argue that D7 is a pass by West African Examinations Council ratings and as such should be accepted by tertiary institutions.
Minimum entry requirements have always been a rule in the Ghanaian educational system. Many are conveniently forgetting that standards require limits and when such limits are maintained, they ensure quality. When the nation ran the ordinary and advanced level systems, one needed, at least, grade six to progress from secondary to post-secondary and tertiary institutions. Then, grade 7 was a pass but grade six was credit and one needed credit to progress. Secondary schools stuck to that rule when doing sixth-form admissions and the universities abided by it. The difference between products of the educational system then and now is glaring. Yet students of both systems who have actually made good grades understand a sense of achievement in life. There was no tension regarding tertiary admission requirements. The entire nation appreciated quality then.
One finds it difficult to understand the argument for D7, which in this case, is equivalent to grade7. It is a pass not a credit. Its mark equivalent proves that. Ideally, secondary school graduates should possess a certain depth of knowledge in literacy, numeracy and science to facilitate a smooth advancement of such knowledge to the desired sophistication through tertiary education. Currently, students enter tertiary institutions with barely any appreciable knowledge in fundamental courses. English language needs a special mention here. Ghana has decided to use that language as its official medium of communication. Students across school levels are taught and assessed in that language. Textbooks are written mainly in standard English, not abridged for even students with learning disabilities. Ironically, an appreciable number of students who enter tertiary institutions cannot construct simple sentences in English; they possess barely oral skills.
Currently, among an appreciable number of Ghanaian tertiary students, English concord is on the brink of extinction. The perfect aspect of tenses is an endangered species. The difference between the possessive and plural /’s/s/ is a huge blur. Punctuation, especially, the comma is seriously under serious persecution, to mention these. Such communication handicaps manifest themselves as soon as students attempt to communicate. Their limitations make reading and research undesirable, their comprehension skills painfully and woefully inadequate. For such handicapped students, every academic transaction in English is an enormous burden. They cannot even be motivated to push themselves towards English proficiency, because it is a difficult language. Even a cursory survey reveals that majority of the students enter tertiary institutions with a minimum pass in English language. That mathematics and English language have been major learning obstacle for most Ghanaian students is not contested.
That might be one of the reasons the grades have been reviewed downwards in recent years. Has that helped the students and community? Again, I use English as a reference point. Tertiary students are taught and assessed in English language. They research utilizing English literature. Their textbooks are documented in Standard English. They are required to read and satisfy all course requirements through the English medium. The urgent question then arises: When the pass marks is reduced at the entry stage to enable students to gain admission, how are they expected to cope with regular tertiary work? The honest answer is that an appreciable number cannot.
So these students struggle through courses and graduate, at best, as functional literates. They enter the job market, across industries and sectors and perform shoddily—consequences of shallow learning, poor knowledge, a myopic worldview. Such have no appreciation for quality work. Yet one cannot fully blame them; such handicapped ones are sometimes victims of the systems. Teachers who do not teach well, oversight institutions which compromise standards and officials who endorse mediocrity create avenues for non-performers. In the end, non-performers are social liabilities. Yes, the entire nation suffers when it produces educated illiterates.
For some of these reasons, the decision to admit students who have a minimum of grade C.6 was hailed by a cross-section of educationists. Admittedly, some institutions are going to experience reduced numbers, which would in turn affect income generation. However, quality education must be the focus. If students are impressed upon to strive for better results through proper studies, they would actually study and enter tertiary institutions better prepared for advanced work. To get quality academic materials into tertiary institutions, however, basic and secondary school must be properly resourced and strictly monitored so that they would offer the desired foundation. Maintaining standards should not start at the tertiary level. It must be the foundation of education. If qualified teachers would be placed at the foundational level, if the Inspectorate Division would live up to its mandate and ensure that teachers actually teach at the basic and secondary levels, there would be adequate depth to knowledge imparted to learners at those levels. The legitimacy of such a system would be manifested in products who would learn and pass very well. When that happens, there would be no friction about minimum entry requirement because there would be adequate numbers of applicants with excellent passes. Yes, the insistence on C6 is all about quality. Compromise standards, sacrifice quality!
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