Some 308 girls who got pregnant in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Bono Region have returned to school after delivery, Mrs Ivy Asantewa Owusu, the Bono Regional Director of Education said on Wednesday.
Also 800 girls who were dropped out of school due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease had also returned to the classroom, she added.
Mrs Owusu said this when she gave highlights of the state of education in the region at the inauguration of the re-constituted Bono Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in Sunyani.
She explained the directorate was poised to enhance retention rate particularly, in basic schools and asked the RCC to support in that regard.
Mrs Owusu expressed concern about examination malpractices in the West Africa Senior High School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in the region, saying results of some Senior High Schools (SHSs) in the region had been withheld due malpractices.
That notwithstanding, the Regional Director said many of the SHSs whose result had been released by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) performed excellently, and called for broader discussions among stakeholders to help control examination malpractices in the region.
Mrs Owusu explained the directorate had so far distributed 2,953 laptop computers to SHS teachers in the region, saying validation had also been completed and teachers in Junior High Schools in the region would also receive the computers very soon.
She however expressed concern about poor attitudes of some basic school teachers towards work, and called on the various District and Municipal Assemblies to motivate teachers, particularly those in hard-to-reach communities to enhance their performance.
Mrs Owusu mentioned inadequate logistics and infrastructure as some of the pertinent challenges confronting the growth of education in the region, and entreated the RCC Council to intervene in ensuring that deprived schools were provided with school buses and classroom blocks.
“Some of the Municipal and District Directorates of Education in the region urgently need pick-up vehicles to improve on their supervisory roles”, she said.
Mad Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister indicated quality education remained the bedrock of the economy and development, and assured the RCC’s commitment to ensure an enabling environment was created in schools for improved education in the region.
