We Don't Need Schools.

In light of the recent public school teachers’ strike in Ghana—a phenomena that has become far too regular in our country (practically annually), I wanted to discuss a couple of points that I feel are relevant and pressing in regards to our government’s ineffectiveness at dealing with the education of our future generations:

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• There are only enough jobs in the formal sector for 40% of our university graduates.  80% of our university graduates will turn to teaching in the public school system, despite the fact that they are often discouraged from doing so by Ghana Education Services; and even though they have no formal training in education. 

• The majority of Ghana’s public schools are staffed by unqualified teachers from the communities where the schools have been built.  Most of these teachers only have secondary school certificates and did not qualify for any tertiary institutions.  We often fondly refer to these people as ‘pupil teachers.’

•  A larger number of schools ‘operate’ without a single teacher.  Children actually put on their school uniforms, sit in their respective class rooms each day, and never once see a teacher. 

Now, I’m not claiming to know the exact solution that will save our public school system, but I do have a few questions that could lead us in a better direction than we are going now.

• If 80% of our university graduates are becoming teachers due to lack of employment opportunity, why aren’t we offering training for such work in our university programs?

• What are the teachers who were not able to pass the national exams themselves teaching to their students who are currently working to pass those same exams?

•   How can we spend resources on the construction of so many schools when there is not anyway these schools could possibly operate?

And, I have to wonder if government officials have ever asked these questions.  And if they have, how did they answer them, and what did they do about it?  I don’t want a government official, when he or she is running for re-election, to tell me how many school have been opened or constructed during his or her term.  I want to be told how many trained teachers were hired during their term.  I want to hear about how the teacher’s salaries have increased, how literacy has increased, or how admittances to tertiary institutions have gone up.  We don’t need schools.  We need effective educators.