By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The President of the Association of International Certification Schools (AICS) and co-founder of Alpha Beta Educational Centre, Mrs. Florence Agyapong has appealed to managers of the country’s educational sector to implement the Educational Curriculum Reforms to catch up with the rest of the world.
She urged the management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to muster courage to complete and fully implement the education curriculum reforms before many more privately owned basic and secondary schools drop off the GES program to run foreign programs.
The President of AICS made the appeal at the official commissioning of the New Nation School (NNS) Beautiful Campus, which runs a British school curriculum located at the Adentan Municipality in the Greater Accra region.
Mrs. Agyapong revealed that many private schools with standard facilities are resorting to running international programs in recent times since owners of these facilities believe, it is rather easy to run the international programs even at the basic level than the GES programmes.
The uncertainty about the academic curriculum has also become a key factor for those leaving the GES programmes.
According to her, the revised curriculum initiated by the GES meets international standards and was of the view that the latest reforms will bring solutions to Ghana’s academic challenges.
The President of AICS explained that most of the international schools operating in the country have found means on their own to infuse the GES system into the international curriculums for their students to have a blend of education.
The new curriculum, she maintained has a blend of both local and foreign systems. Mrs. Agyapong thus called on parents to support the implementation of the revised curriculum.
“The current reform meets international standards and must be fully implemented to solve the challenges facing the education sector” she reiterated.
Meanwhile, the founder and Director of New Nation School, NNS, Rev. Dr. John Kpikpi, in an exclusive interview with Gbcghanaonline.com on the sidelines of the event shared his bitter encounter with officials from the Ministry of Education and GES.
According to him, all his efforts to run a GES program in his mission school were frustrated until he opted for a British school curriculum.
“Initially our intent was to run a GES but after going back and forth with the officials of the education ministry, we gave up on the idea.
“I went on the internet afterward and with just a click of a bottom every piece of information about running a British School Curriculum, and syllabus was made available to me.
“The rest of the story is what we are witnessing today. The school, which began with 34 students in seven classes, has grown to the present number of 1,073 students in 42 classes. These classes are organized into 4 schools namely: the Nursery School (the Sunflower and Welcome Classes, Nursery One and Two), Primary School (Classes One to Six), Lower Secondary (Forms One to Three), and Upper Secondary (Forms Four and Five and the Lower and Upper Sixth Forms).
Eight years on, he said the school has achieved several academic successes and the GES has not given school owners like himself and others running international programs any reason to regret.
The NNS Campus is located 3.6 km North-East of the First Campus and lies just beyond the Lakeside Estates.
According to the Director of the school, the Beautiful Campus Project has transformed six acres of its eight-acre land in East Lakeside Estates into a modern campus.
An elegant Gate House with two broad wings and a modern gate. A dual carriageway runs through the middle of the campus.
The main four-story building, which has been named Harvest House, has 21 classrooms, two (2) Information Communication Technology labs, two (2) Science labs, an Art Room, a School Chapel, a Clinic, two (2) large Dining Rooms and 8 Offices.
