THE RURAL TEACHER AND EDUCATION IN GHANA
THE RURAL TEACHER AND EDUCATION IN GHANA
The knowledge gap between the rural and urban areas is widening and rural children are fallen behind their urban counterparts.
Research has it that there is an uneven distribution of resources between the rural and urban communities and for that matter the school and the ultimate outcomes require a review.
A survey conducted by AEWG revealed that more than 42,000 teachers left the profession in 2021 of which more are rural teachers.
Data from social education research also indicate that at least 10,000 teachers leave the classroom every year to seek other job opportunities.
This situation continues to impact negatively on the teacher and the learner, especially in rural communities.
Teaching and learning are important to the development of any educational system.
Any socio-economic strategy , aimed at improving school and human development must, of necessary emphasize the advancement and working conditions of teachers.
The status of teachers as well as the environment in which they operate have been deteriorating over the years.
There is the need to provide workable strategies that will improve rural education .
This article is geared towards raising the alarming poor state of rural education in the BEKWAI MUNICIPALITY.
As a professionally trained teacher, I was very happy to accept my first appointment to KOKOTRO METHODIST PRIMARY SCHOOL in the BEKWAI MUNICIPAL until my arrival in the community.
The dusty nature of the road and the poor network here gave me a second thought about my stay here and my passionate job as a teacher.
I am by this article drawing the attention of authorities, stakeholders and non-governmental organizations to realize the real state of the rural teacher and education in Ghana.
One could read clearly from the faces of the rural teachers that they have no hope for themselves nor for the learners they teach.
To most of them I interviewed, teaching in the rural area is a punishment than a job.
Kokotro is a mining community with a very high cost of living aside the poor network and poor road connection to the Bekwai township.
Teachers here spend a lot of money on rent and food due to the mining activities here. The situation has made several teachers left here for other towns with favourable conditions of service.
Some teachers also stay in town and comes here on daily bases at a cost of not less than GH100 a week.
This has it’s own implications on academic works as more contact hours are lost.
During my National Service days at ASAMANKAMA STATE B JHS (OFFINSO MUNICIPAL) I really had interest in the teaching profession since the conditions over there was quite good.
Currently I am gradually loosing interest in the profession and I know I am not alone in this condition but a lot out there who cannot open up but down in their hearts, they have zero percent love for the job they are doing out here.
The situation is very dangerous since it has direct effects on the learners we are raising. What kind of learners do you think a teacher in this terrible condition will raise?
sometimes I wake up with much pain when I realize there are hundreds of learners here who need quality education but are not getting.
The teachers out here are trying their possible best outside their hopeless situation to give hope to students, what a situation it is.
The situation becomes worse when you decide to inquire from colleague teachers who are fortunate to teach in the urban centers comparing their state to yours will maker you feel less important.
Teachers in the urban centers have access to teachers motivation fees, extra classes, among others. Comparing the two situations one could easily predict the outcomes of these two types of teachers.
I am very sure the Education Office does not have different expectations for learners in the urban areas and that of the rural areas.
If that is the case then an urgent consideration must be made to improve education in the rural areas.
People like myself cannot sit and watch our upcoming learners to go through this hardship. At least there should be hope for these innocent children. A lot is been done unnoticed but I think is high time the authorities gets to know the real state of the situation here.
I remember one faithful Monday morning when I rushed to school around 5:50am, a learner asked ‘’ sir. Sampson what is good about this school that you always want us to be here early and learn? Almost all our senior brothers and sisters after completing JHS do not proceed with education again.’’ I became speechless and told her there was hope. You hardly see students moving up to the SHS after completing JHS. The girls among them gets pregnant and the boys also becomes drug addicts. The situation is alarming as it has been a persistent problem.
The situation in the rural areas will make you a lazy teacher even if you use to be a hardworking one. I stand for the betterment of learners in the rural areas. Children here also need quality education . lets give these children hope.it is late but not past. Something can be done to help normalize the situation.
Rural education is very central to achieving national priorities for economic growth and development. If provided with quality, it will build people for a strong rural economy. The state of rural education as presented in the this article should be to promote the creation of strong communities through improved working conditions of teachers and teaching. However, as a result of the poor environment under which teachers work, especially in the rural areas, quality education has adversely been affected.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- MUNICIPAL DIRECTORATE
The Directorate as a matter of urgency should come in and address the dying and hopeless situation of the rural teacher. The rural teacher needs to be inspired and motivated. Policies should be formulated to accord priority to adequate funding for the failing rural schools in order to keep them on the same level as the urban schools.
Also, a comprehensive and consistent comparative data on status of rural teachers should be generated so as to promote informed dialogue on pertinent education reform strategies. Adequate time, human and material resources need to be mobilized to collect and analyse quantitative data. This will allow reliable conclusions to be drawn and comparisons made for improving teachers education and training.
- STAKEHOLDERS
There is the need for a spirit and philosophy of realism and optimisism for all stakeholders interested in rural education development to provide rural people with good education based on informed dialogue on educational reform strategies . this can be accompanied by creating an awareness of the critical needs to promote rural education.
- GOVERNMENT
Government should also give strong support for rural education by providing adequate materials, finance and resources consistently over a long time for the development and improvement of rural schools. The success of rural education will depend largely on the monitoring and evaluation process of the educational system. Hence government should employ utilization focused evaluation of rural education programmes through collaborative teams involving both professionals in education and interested rural stakeholders.
- OTHERS
Another strategy of improving teaching in rural schools is through performance based pay, usually called merit pay. Experiences from many countries have however, shown that if students performance bonus is paid to different teachers , it reduces overall performance in the schools. It is therefore proposed that such performance bonus be given to schools that significantly improve the performance of the graduating students. In this wise, it should be the across board payment to all the teachers in that school. This will serve as an impetus for different schools to find better ways of improving the teaching and learning activities in their schools.
By Abankwah Sampson –tel. 0548647310)
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It’s a clear indication of what teachers in rural communities are going through