The Northern Regional Coordinating Council has held a stakeholder meeting to proffers measures to tackle the poor performance of students at the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

For the past four years, the region has continued to be ranked amongst the lowest-performing areas at the WASSCE level.

The various assemblies have begun putting in measures to improve upon the performance.

This came to light when the Council held its quarterly review meeting on how the region has fared.

The stakeholders raised concern over the new education policy that does not allow teachers to take any disciplinary action against students without first consulting the education office.

This, they said, has forced teachers to relax on discipline, thereby allowing students to behave freely.

The Northern Regional Minister Shani Alhassan Saibu said it was worrying the level of indiscipline exhibited by the youth in the region.

”It is worrying to see how our youth, especially teenagers, are mostly roaming the streets both day and night aimlessly were as they could have dedicated that time for their books,” he said.

The Minister tasked stakeholders, especially MMDCEs, to consolidate the gains made by government and pro-poor policies, including the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.

The retained Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) nominee for Nanumba North Abdulai Yaquob said the municipality has begun consultations following the poor showing of its students.

He said some of the concerns raised by the stakeholders included the policies of the Free SHS Programme, which does not allow students to be demoted for poor performance.

This, he said, according to some stakeholders, has contributed to the poor performance.

Mr Yaquob said Bimbila Senior High School was one of the worst-performing schools in the northern region.

“Immediately the result was released, we held a meeting with stakeholders and the parents. The parents said there should be some form of discipline and also demotions when the child does not perform well,” he added.

”If you come to Bimbila SHS, they are still teaching students how to identify two-letter words and students in form one how to read; these are the issues that come up,” Mr Yaquob noted.

On her part, another retained MCE, the nominee for Savelugu, Ayishetu Seidu, disclosed that most students of two SHSs in her municipality have abandoned their dormitories and have rented rooms outside the schools.

Hajia Ayishetu said this was contributing to the indiscipline in these schools.

“Students have rented rooms the whole of Savelugu, and the dormitories are standing empty. When the headmaster complains, it becomes another matter, so this stakeholder meeting is very necessary. For me, I believe the students don’t want to learn,” she ended.