The Ghana Education Service (GES) is set to deploy guidance and counselling personnel to Junior High and Senior High Schools to prepare and educate students ahead of the full rollout of the new curriculum for secondary education in the country.

The new standard-based curriculum is expected to be implemented in the next academic year and will provide SHS students with a more flexible and personalised learning experience.

Speaking to JoyNews' Emefa Apawu on The Probe, the Director General of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), Prof Edward Appiah said plans are far advanced.

"GES is moving all their guidance and counselling staff who are in the classroom. Now they will be focusing on these activities and they will be having their offices in the schools to guide the children. Of course, the teachers will also help with that.

"We want to even start from JHS 3 so that the children going to SHS 1 will at least have an idea," he said.

Speaking on the availability of teaching and learning materials for the curriculum, Prof. Appiah assured the materials would be made available before full implementation.

"NaCCA, our mandate is to assess and approve textbooks, we don't develop textbooks. However, knowing that this is a new curriculum, we had to develop resource materials for the schools and the learners.

"For the teachers, we are done. I have told you about the teacher manual. So each manual for each subject," he explained.

Background

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) recently launched a manual for teachers in Ghana in preparation for the rollout of the new standard-based curriculum for Senior High Schools.

The manual was unveiled by the Director General of NaCCA, Professor Edward Appiah, at the Yaa Asantewaa Girls Senior High School in the Kwadaso Municipality of the Ashanti Region on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.

Before the manual's launch, NaCCA revealed that the new curriculum for Senior High School students will allow learners to study both science and arts-related courses simultaneously. This development is intended to enable students to pursue any course of their choice at the tertiary level without limitations.

According to NaCCA, unlike the old curriculum, where arts students were not permitted to learn major aspects of science, the new curriculum removes such barriers, providing SHS students with more comprehensive educational opportunities.

The Acting Director in Charge of Curriculum at NaCCA, Mr Reginald Quartey, discussed this during an engagement session with journalists from across the country. The event, held from Tuesday, May 14 to Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at the Volta Serene Hotel in Ho, Volta Region, brought together numerous top journalists from all regions.

During the engagement, resource persons from NaCCA guided the media through all aspects of the new curriculum for SHS students. Mr Reginald Quartey emphasised that the new Senior High School Curriculum will focus on social, emotional, and behavioural issues as well as values. He stated that education should empower individuals to positively contribute to society.

Subject combination

NaCCA also disclosed that the new curriculum will allow students to choose a minimum of seven and a maximum of nine subjects, depending on their strengths. Talented students, however, can choose to take more than nine subjects. The curriculum has been designed for grammar, STEM, and technical schools across the country.