GES set to appoint district school dropout prevention coordinators
The Ghana Education Service management has agreed to appoint school dropout prevention coordinators in all districts of the Ghana Education Service to curb school dropout, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has said.
The prevention coordinators, the Education Minister said at the earlier signs of school dropout will visit families and communities where cases of school dropouts are on the rise and make sure students stay in school and do not drop out.
“The Ghana Education Service has agreed to appoint dropout prevention coordinators in all districts of GES to ensure that when we see the early signs of school dropout the prevention coordinators will visit families and communities to make sure students don’t drop out,” Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum said in his State of Education in Ghana address.
The Ministry of Education’s decision to appoint school dropout coordinators comes after education think tank – Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) disclosed that about 76 pupils drop out daily in the country’s basic schools.
In a report sighted by Thisterm.com, the Education Watch said in 2012, of 906,942 pupils who entered Kindergarten 1 in Ghana, only 600,714 completed JHS in 2023, suggesting some 33 per cent may have dropped out of basic education.
“According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), only 5 out of 10 basic school students complete Primary school in the traditional Northern Region.
The factors are socio-economic. Infrastructural deficits prolong the distance commuted to school or make schools unattractive. Hunger and lack of teachers are contributory factors,” Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) stated.
Reacting to the Education Ministry’s decision, the EduWatch Director said “We welcome the announcement by the Ministry of Education of the creation of a District School Dropout Coordinator’s desk by the Ghana Education Service.
Beyond the announcement, a framework for its operationalisation, taking into cognisance the cross-sectoral, multi-level actors in dropout prevention and remediation, from government, and civil society must be prioritised
In addition, a robust dropout mitigation infrastructural plan must be rolled out to reduce the distance commuted to school
Eduwatch will continue to provide technical support while demanding accountability towards the full operationalisation of a comprehensive system to curb dropouts in Ghana’s basic schools.”