The Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Gunu has called for a conscious effort at addressing the poor performance of public schools in the north in the basic and senior high school certificate examinations (WASSCE/BECE).

According to him, northern public schools always finding themselves at the bottom of the WASSCE/BECE rankings cannot be accidental or attributed to bad luck.

He noted that such continuous poor performance of the students in the five northern regions calls for a strategy to address the worrying challenge.

Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Gunu said at the BECE level, the Upper West region in 2018 scored 49.7%, 48.3% in 2019 and 48% in 2020 while the Upper East region scored 52.9% both in 2018 and 2019 and scored 48.6% in 2020.

He said in the Northern region, out of the 26 senior high schools that were presented for the final examination, 17 schools scored less than 5% and 4 schools scored 0%.

He said in 2019 also, 26 schools were presented for the final examination and 15 schools scored less than 5% with 1 school scoring 0%.

He also added that in 2020, 27 schools were presented for the final examination and 15 schools scored less than 5%.

This he said, translates to over 50% of schools in the Northern region scoring less than 5%.

The Dean made these known at the 2022 UDS Center for Educational Innovation and Leadership (CEIL) Northern Education Stakeholders Dialogue.

The Northern Education Dialogue on Low Educational Outcomes in Northern Schools is a non-partisan forum organised by the CEIL of UDS in partnership with NORSAAC and Oxfam to highlight challenges facing the education sector.

The forum will serve as a platform to dialogue on establishing a citizen-led barometer for tracking the progress of public schools annually and for holding public authorities accountable to their commitments towards improving education in the five regions of the North.

Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Gunu said the main objectives of the dialogue is to increase awareness on the poor learning outcomes among children in public schools in the five regions of the North.

He said it is also to identify the reasons for the poor performance of children in these schools and to profess realistic stakeholder commitments towards addressing the challenges.

The Director for Tertiary Education at the Ministry of Education Dr Yayra Dzakadzie, delivering a speech on behalf of the Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, outlined some interventions government has put in place to revive the falling standards in education.

The Paramount Chief of Pishigu, Alhassan Andani attributed the poor performance of the students to the lack of concern by government, communities, families and individuals towards the children's education.

He appealed for ownership of education in communities, this he believes can help in addressing the challenges.

The Upper East Regional Director of Education, representing various Regional Directors in the five northern regions, Anne Estella Kye-eebo also appealed to the Education Ministry to give them the power to execute their duties as directors of education.

The theme for the occasion was 'Northern Education Dialogue on Low Educational Outcomes in Northern Schools: The Role of Gender Transformative Education.'