Highlights of major educational news that made headlines in 2023

As the 2023 academic year ends, Thisterm.com has compiled a list of educational news that made headlines in the country for good or bad reasons. The events have been arranged from the start of the academic year to the end.

The 2023 academic year started with the management of the University of Ghana (UG) announcing a controversial increment of fees for the 2022/2023 academic year.

The University in a statement shared with Thisterm.com said the new fees were based on rates approved by Parliament and communicated through the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).

But, following public outcry over the increment, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, directed the University of Ghana to comply with the Government’s proposed 15 per cent increase in public universities’ academic fees.

The Minister upon further engagement with stakeholders in the education sector also directed other public universities, which initially charged above the 15 per cent fee increment threshold, to make refunds to affected students.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) later, released the 2023 academic calendar for all schools, Kindergarten, Primary, Junior High and Senior High and Senior Technical High Schools in the country.

In May, Caterers of the National School Feeding Programme commenced a nationwide strike to demand payment of their arrears.

Madam Juliana Cudjoe, President of the Greater Accra School Feeding Caterers Association, said they would only return when their arrears for the previous academic year were paid.

The second half of the year commenced with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) together with the European Union Delegation to Ghana (EU Ghana) launching 16 million Euros in support of Ghana’s Technical and Vocational Educational and Training (TVET) sector.  

The programme, dubbed: “Support to the Transformation of the TVET System in Ghana (STTSG),” was to expand structures and develop skills to improve TVET education rollout in the country.

After the strike of Caterers in May, Madam Lariba Zuweira Abudu, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, said the Caterers would receive payments of their arrears for the third term of the 2022 academic year by June 12.  

She said her Ministry and the Ministry of Finance as of April 2023 had paid all areas for the first and second terms for the 2022 academic year.

In July, members of the National Food Suppliers Association commenced a weeklong picketing of the National Food Buffer Stock Company to demand debts owed to them by the government.   

The Group said it would not end the picketing until the government paid the GH¢270 million owed to members.  

Later in the month, an Adisadel College student who was captured in a viral video choking his colleague was arrested by the Police in Cape Coast.

The Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana began a nationwide strike on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, over the government’s refusal to implement negotiated allowances and payment of basic salary based on their salary grade.  

The Association, however, called off the strike on Tuesday, September 05, 2023, following a directive from the National Labour Commission.

The 2023 edition of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) was held from Monday, August 7, 2023, to Friday, August 11, 2023.

A total of 600,714 prospective candidates, comprising 300,323 males and 300,391 females, from 18,993 participating private and public Junior High Schools (JHSs) across the country registered for the examination.

The management of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) on Thursday, November 09, 2023, released provisional results for both school and private candidates who sat for the 2023 national examination.

The GES in the last quarter of the year released the 2023 Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) into Senior High Schools and Technical and Vocational Education and Training Schools (TVET).

Out of the total number of 598,839 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results received from the West African Examination Council, 585,797 candidates qualified to be placed.

In December, the Ministry of Education announced that First-Year Senior High School students were to report to school on Monday, December 4, 2023. The schedule affected both students on single and double-track systems as stated in the 2023/2024 academic calendar.

Fast forward to December 19, 2023, the not-for-profit-making organization (WAEC) released the provisional results of students who sat for the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination from July 31, to September 26, 2023.

A total number of 448,674 candidates made up of 212,453 males and 236,221 females from 975 schools entered the examination. WAEC in a blog post sighted by Thisterm.com said 3,404 (0.75%) were absent from the examination.