The Country Director for the International Child Development Program, Joyce Larnyoh has requested that the revised academic calendar be structured in a way that will benefit all stakeholders.

This will help everyone, including parents, teachers, and others, adjust properly to the changes.

Speaking in an interview with KMJ on Prime Morning on Wednesday, the Country Director stated that the fact that parents were neglected in the preparation of the calendar is appalling, as they also need to make ready, provisions and other necessities for their wards amid the economic hardship.

"Education is to be made available for children to benefit from and come out with all that they wish to achieve in the future. So it should be structured in a way that will benefit all the stakeholders. In a way that parents will be comfortable, pupils or students will be comfortable, and those of us within the ecosystem will also be comfortable," she demanded.

Additionally, she said, "Parents will have to be part of these decisions and then prepare themselves, their kids, and especially under these very difficult economic circumstances that we find ourselves, to also prepare the resources needed for the students to be comfortable and achieve whatever it is that they are doing in school."

Mrs. Larnyoh further asserted that the reporting date for the just-graduated JHS students in SHS is a major challenge, as the schools' placements have yet to be released.

"Now let’s pick it from this angle as well. JHS graduates who are preparing to go to the SHS. The placement, is it out there? Are they ready? Yet we’re told they’re going next week Monday on the 20th. It’s a major challenge," she said.

She pleaded with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to always consider parents who are illiterate with "stubborn children who wouldn’t want to follow the norm" when dealing with such situations.

She revealed how parents have been complaining to her office that it may have a huge negative effect on their livelihood.

The Country Director also disagreed with the assertion that everyone, including parents and teachers, were informed after the calendar’s publication on social media.

Mrs. Larnyoh called on the education authorities to clarify the reasons and timelines in the previous calendar rather than the swift changes "that throw the budget off gear."

She is advocating that there should be a systematic strategy involving parents, teachers, and other stakeholders within the education sector to be well-informed on how to operate with the academic calendar.