The two-day national forum to decide on the duration of the senior high school (SHS) programme ended in deadlock in Accra yesterday, with participants unable to reach a consensus on whether SHS education should be three or four years. The participants, therefore, urged the government to critically review the deliberations of the forum and take an early decision on the duration of the SHS programme. "While government is considering the issue of the duration of the SHS programme, note should be taken of the technical schools where a mandatory extra year is required for internship," they said. The forum asked the government to commit itself to accelerated action regarding the review and implementation of a harmonised educational policy and a well-articulated national framework for the educational sector. These were. contained in a six-point communiqué issued at the end of the two-day forum organised by the, Ministry of Education on "Reaching a National Consensus on the Duration of the SHS Programme for Affordable Quality Education in Ghana". The communiqué, which was read on behalf of the participants by Professor Paul S. N. Buatsi, Dean, GIMPA Graduate School of Business, said in terms of access to and quality of secondary education, the lack of physical facilities was a known constraint and, therefore, the government should proceed with the mobilisation of resources to accelerate infrastructural development in SHSs. The forum said the attainment of the strategic objectives of the SHS programme was time bound, "but the duration is not as much an issue as the efficiency of the curriculum, the adequate provision and efficient use of resources, including the use of time", It said secondary education must be inclusive, with special focus on gender, as well as disadvantaged groups in rural, poor and deprived areas. Teacher development should be a key factor for sufficient supply and deployment of teachers to SHSs. The forum called on the government to establish, without delay, the National Inspectorate Board to set and enforce standards in first and second-cycle institutions. The communiqué called for the establishment of a national teaching council to license and regulate the teaching profession and 'a national council for curriculum and assessment to undertake curriculum development and revision, assessment, and the setting of standards on the quality of textbooks and other educational materials. Source: Daily Graphic