Ghclassrooms

    Teaching in a public school in Ghana is arduous . The challenges are significant and often overwhelming. Teachers have become so accustomed to the difficulties that they rarely discuss them . This situation has become the accepted norm, so to speak. In this write-up , I will try to identify some of the problems that I believe need urgent attention.   INADEQUATE CAPITATION GRANTS The government of Ghana provides grants to support the operation of basic schools across the country. These grants are referred to as capitation grants. It is an open secret that these funds are grossly inadequate and usually hit the accounts very late. It is very obvious that running a basic school is a serious undertaking that requires substantial funding. Many headteachers are sometimes compelled to find ways to fund the urgent needs of the schools. In some cases, headteachers are compelled to use their personal funds to address pressing issues due to a lack of operational...

  For some teachers, the concept of angles can be very difficult to impart especially at the elementary level. There is a difficulty in relating angular values and concrete objects. For instance while it is not difficult to represent 90 degrees using concrete objects, it could be very daunting doing same for 135 degrees or 207 degrees. The topic ‘Angles’ in mathematics is just an aspect of plane geometry and in this article we’ll talk about 5 ways teachers can help students understand the concept of angles.   USE VISUAL AIDS AND CONCRETE OBJECTS In lesson delivery, it is very important to introduce visual representations such as charts and diagrams very early to assist students to visualize angles and their properties. This can enhance their understanding and make the concept more tangible. Provide concrete objects like cut-out shapes, straws or straight edges to form different shapes and angles. Students can be given the opportunity to manipulate these concrete object...

T eaching in rural communities in Ghana comes with its own problems. The common worry of most teachers in rural communities are the lack of electricity, network connectivity, bad roads, hospitals and many more. The sad truth is that most teachers in rural communities have grown thick skin to these challenges and they do not complain as much. It is as though living without these vital social amenities is not that serious. There is another problem that teachers usually do not talk about but it’s very worrying just as those mentioned earlier. Most people in rural communities live in abject poverty and it can be very serious to the extent that parents are not able to afford the basic necessities of life.   Parents are mostly not able to afford basic items such as pen, pencils, erasers and books that is needed by their wards. How teachers are able to teach without these basic classroom items remains a miracle. The level of poverty I have seen in some rural communities is one that I ...

  Within the past five years or so many nurses and doctors have left Ghana for the United Kingdom to work. This is mainly due to obvious reasons – poor working conditions in Ghana. The effects of this exodus could be very serious if not tackled with the urgency it requires. Nurses and doctors are human and would always want better working conditions especially when their current condition and remuneration is nothing to write home about. Another group of people with very poor working conditions if not the poorest is teachers. Many teachers I know have been looking for ways to leave the country just like the nurses and doctors. Even though some few Ghanaian teachers have been able to migrate to teach in countries like China and Vietnam, the UK has always been the ideal destination for most Ghanaians. One barrier blocking most teachers from migrating to the UK to teach is how to acquire a QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) right here in Ghana. The QTS is the license a teacher needs to...

Entertainment is very important in our schools as it provides the avenue for our future leaders to release stress and take some time off the usual rigourous academic routines. It is very common to see musicians putting up spectacular performances in senior high schools and the universities to the joy of students. These shows doesn't come cheap especially at the university level. Entertainment is not bad in it self but must it be always entertainment when these musicians visit our schools? This article will look at other areas musicians can explore when they visit our schools. Mentoring sessions Mentoring sessions are very important especially at the senior high school level where students are mostly in their youth. Musicians can liase with school authorities to organize mentoring sessions in schools to assist students in diverse ways. This will benefit students who dream of a career in the music industry. These all-important mentoring sessions will expose young ones to the realitie...

I can recall vividly a day when my ICT (Information Communication Technology) lecturer asked "how many of you would like to become teachers after school?" Initially, I thought that was a silly question because everyone in to study if you want to teach in a basic school. So why would we be here in the first place if we do not want to be teachers? I quizzed silently. One might presume that all the students in the lecture hall were aspiring to be teachers but don't be misled. In a class of over 100 students only less than 10 said they wanted be teachers in future. So why do people who do not want to be teachers get themselves trained as professional teachers?  That question would be best answered by the students themselves.  As a teacher myself, I have had the privilege to interact with a lot of teachers and 'teachers'.  Teachers here means those who are trained and want to be teachers. Whereas 'teachers' means those who are trained as teachers but do not wan...

  Why do parents sometimes spend so much in educating their children but later get disappointed? Well, maybe parents could be unconsciously making certain mistakes that needs to be corrected immediately. The wish of every parent is to see children succeed in life. No wonder most parents are willing to spend their hard-earned money in educating their children. Parents in a bid to help children succeed, unconsciously make some serious mistakes that affect childrens' academic progress. In fact most parents have no idea the damage they have done to their children. The following are four Serious mistakes parents make. 1. Choosing Careers For Kids The last thing a parent would want to do is to decide for children what they should become in future. Most parents unfortunately decide for children what to do in terms of career choices. The only role parents can play here, I believe is to give guidance and support. Parents are obviously experienced and their advice on career choi...

  Teacher education in Ghana has seen a lot of changes in recent times. One major change has been the change of diploma awarding colleges of education to degree awarding colleges. This means all teachers coming out of the colleges of education will have a degree as the minimum qualification. This was great news to all teacher trainees in the various colleges as this will mean a marginal increase in their salaries when they are deployed to teach. Many have louded this move by government but my question is, will the degrees automatically result in better outcomes? I am yet see any difference in the skills set of a diploma holder and a degree holder as far as teaching is concerned in this country. A lot of teachers have acquired degrees on the job but pupils in government schools are still struggling to read and write, our children are not doing well in basic arithmetic and they can't think critically. I have enquired from few teachers on why they acquired university degr...

By Edinam Ahiably-kumordjie What a year 2020 has been, who could have predicted this? The COVID-19 pandemic has indeed taught humankind vital lessons in different aspects of our everyday life. Important sectors such as health, banking, aviation, transportation, sports, entertainment and of course education have all alter their operations due to this global pandemic. As  a professional teacher, I will talk about four major issues this pandemic has uncover about teaching and learning. THE WORK OF TEACHERS HAS LONG BEEN UNDERRATED The rate at which the Corona virus was spreading meant that schools be closed down. This was highly unexpected. Never in my 32 years of life have I seen schools being closed down for this long. Teachers like myself had no choice but to peacefully go home and rest as it were. On the other had, parents were reeling under the pressure of having to take care of their wards during this period of school closure. I received calls from parents complaining about thei...

In our quest to achieve better outcomes in our schools, the focus is usually on teaching methods, text books, teaching aids and qualified teachers. However  there are other factors that are very important but usually overlooked, especially here in Ghana. In this post I will talk about three of them. FOOD We all love to eat good food especially when it's our favorite. Food is eaten to satisfy hunger and our personal cravings. Am not sure many people will take in specific foods for academic reasons. Am not a medical doctor or dietician but my little research on the internet has shown that the food we eat can actually affect our cognitive abilities and hence academic work. Nutritional psychiatrist, Drew Ramsey suggests there are foods that can actually improve the functioning of the human brain. This is no rocket science because every organ in the human body requires some essential nutrients to function well. Certainly the brain also require certain  nutrients to function well. I...

The mere mention of mathematics can send shivers down the spine of any student who dislikes mathematics. Many students develop a  sort of fear when it's time to takle a seemingly challenging math question. Lots of literature exist today on the best methods of teaching mathematics and making the subject more friendly to students. As a mathematics teacher myself, assisting my students to understand mathematical concepts is my fundamental goal. I have done a lot of reading and applied many methods just to make the subject I teach less dreadful. Among the numerous methods that I have used are what I prefer to call "The three catalysts". This three methods have worked for me to a large extent. Humour Mathematics should not be too formal, it should be casual and exciting. I have always managed  to make my classroom a sort of theater where you are assured of fun before the lesson ends. In mathematical concepts that involve a level of complexity, I take students through processes...

Anytime I lift up my head to check the time table of my class and I see I.C.T. as part of the subjects, a feeling of guilt runs through me. The sad thing is that my concerns are wide spread across the entire country. I do not know of any institution today that works without computers today. Computers have certainly come to stay. It is sad however to note that most schools in Ghana especially government schools teach ICT without computers and I just don't get it! In rural areas, it is more serious. Some communities do not even have electricity let alone computers. My own community was connected to electricity on 24th November 2020. This means my school can now think of procuring computers after it's 70 years of existence. The urgent need for computers in our schools cannot be overemphasized. Teachers are struggling teach ICT without computers. Students are also struggling to understand how computers work without ever using a computer.  This situation can be likened to a medical ...

 In my first professional job as a teacher, I decided to ask my pupils in basic 5 the kind of profession they would like to pursue. The responses I got wasn't different from the responses I got from other kids I've asked the same question. Most of the pupils wanted to become medical doctors, engineers, lawyers and pilots I have wondered for years why most Ghanaian kids would  always want to become one of the above-mentioned professionals. I remember telling my mum I wanted to become an agriculturist as a young boy but she wouldn't agree. I then decided to become a businessman. This was because my mum had asked me to study business at senior high school instead of the science I preferred. Never did it occurred to me that I could and would become a teacher. After high school, I decided to pursue a career in soccer because I was very good at it but my main attraction was the money soccer players earn, the cars, huge apartments and what not. I somehow ended up at the Kumasi Tec...

Professional learning communities refers to a group of teachers who meet periodically to share ideas to enable them improve their skills in teaching and also improve learner outcomes. Professional learning communities have two main goals: improve the teaching skills of educators and assist students to achieve better outcomes. Today, professional learning communities have become the new normal in Ghanaian schools since its introduction in September 2019. As this (PLC) is new in most schools in Ghana, the big question remains, how do we make our professional learning communities more effective and sustainable?   UNCOVER PLC Uncovering professional learning community is my own description of extensive literature review on professional learning community. While professional learning communities may be new to some teachers, others may have their own understanding about what professional learning communities really is. I think teachers who are really interested in enhancing their...