In four months, Grade 8 learners will automatically proceed to Grade 9. Firm and reasonable decision on where the learners will be domiciled is yet to be reached. Insistence by the government that 1.3 million learners should stay in primary school, in line with the recommendations by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms, might sound logical. The truth, however, is anything but. The situation is that most primary schools have few classrooms to absorb the large number of learners.
The government, through the minister, had promised to put up extra classrooms in all public schools; to date, it has not achieved that. Though the Education Ministry is claiming to have started building 9,000 Grade 9 classrooms, it is not known whether they will be ready by December. Even if completed on time, another 7,000 classrooms would still be required to accommodate all learners. The goal seems increasingly unattainable, given reduced capitation by the government and its struggle to hire enough Junior Secondary School teachers.
Ironically, as the government rushes to construct these classrooms using meager resources, it’s actually due to a lack of Form 1 admissions next year that this secondary school will have enough space to absorb all of the 1.3 million learners. And when a similar number of vacant classrooms already exist in the secondary school, building 16,000 new classrooms is like a misuse of the scarcest of public resources. Why does the government think it is so important to keep Grade 9 students in primary school? Indeed, some insiders revealed that the decision might have to do with reluctance from some officials to bring the president face-to-face with harsh realities.
The new system appears to be heading towards irritating JSS learners who have been undergoing overwhelming predicaments. The most practical and effective solution in the short-run will be to allow the students to get enrolled into the high schools. While money allocated for constructing new classrooms can also be utilized to recruit more teachers as most of the schools are even devoid of the required teaching staff.
The Case for Hosting Grade 9 Students in High Schools
Under the circumstances, high schools are best suited to accommodate Grade 9 students for reasons such as:
1. Availability of Space
There are adequate classrooms in secondary schools as Form 1 intake will not take place in time. This ready infrastructure would obviate the opening strain on primary schools and also save avoidable expense on construction in the latter.
2. Better Resources and Facilities
High schools are generally better equipped with facilities that would accommodate the demand for education of older students. Laboratories and libraries, as well as extracurricular facilities for students, could be more easily found in secondary schools than in elementary schools, which would give them greater exposure to facilities when studying in Grade 9.
3. Qualified Teachers
Secondary schools have more specialized and qualified teachers in the different subjects to be offered, thus guaranteeing that Grade 9 learners will get quality education. Money to be used in hiring more JSS teachers will give dwindling quality since there will be no need to build more classrooms immediately.
4. Smoother Transition
This can easily facilitate students in Grade 9 to have an easier transition to higher levels of education. Students will be able to get used to the environment in the secondary school earlier, and therefore shifting to the senior grades will also not be a problem.
5. Cost-Effectiveness
Using the already existing infrastructure at the secondary school level proves to be less expensive. The resources that are not used in establishing new classrooms will be reshuffled to enhance the quality of education, such as increasing the number of teachers and also learning materials.