The Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has challenged the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) and Principals of Technical and Vocational Education and Training TVET Institutions to improve their educational outcomes or stand the risk of having their institutions closed down.

Dr Adutwum announced this when he addressed members of CHASS and Principals of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in Kumasi on Saturday and Sunday.

He explained that a school with a consistent zero to 10 per cent pass rate should put together intervention programmes.

This he said, will ensure that the majority of their students find opportunities for further studies rather than becoming a liability to their parents and society due to their inability to pass their exams.

He said that closing down the schools would help save the nation from the huge financial losses being incurred by the government as a result of the existence of the schools.

Dr Adutwum explained that in cases where schools are closed down, the affected students would be redistributed to other nearby schools so they could continue their education.

The meeting with CHASS, which is an annual event was to share with them the current state of education in the country, discuss new development in the sector and answer questions on issues affecting them.

The meeting, which was in two batches, saw all SHS heads attending on Saturday while Principals of TVET institutions across the country attended on Sunday.

He lauded the heads for their roles in the transformation of education in the country and pledged to continue providing the needed resources. He also urged them to work very hard to ensure that they attained the right results.

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Don’t be a barrier

Dr Adutwum also cautioned the heads to desist from preventing first-year students from enrolling due to the fact that some items on their prospectus had not been procured.

He indicated that “there is no way any student should be turned away from school because the parents have not been able to procure some items on the school’s prospectus, at least, let them come to the school and the rest could be procured with some time."

The Education Minister lamented the addition of many other unapproved items on the school’s prospectus which in the long run led to the bloating of the prospectus for first-year students.

He advised the heads not to do anything that would discourage or prevent any student from having access to education.

Dr Adutwum urged the heads to let it be their goal to do everything possible to create an enabling environment for students to study and not to disturb them from their studies.

The Deputy Minister for Education, in-charge of TVET sector, Ms Gifty Twum-Ampofo, reminded the Principals to ensure that students were well equipped for the job market and also let the schools pass through them and not the students passing through the school.

She also urged the Principals to spend time enhancing their capacity through reading relevant courses and books to support their effort at getting the best training for their students.

Presentations were made by the leadership of the Ghana Education Service (GES), National Education Leadership Institute (NELI), Free Senior High School Secretariat, Funds and Procurement Management Unit (FPMU), and Ghana TVET Service.