Public basic schools still without textbooks – Concerned teachers lament

The Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana (CCT- Ghana) in the Upper East Region claims that more than four years after the implementation of a standards-based curriculum at the basic school level (primary and junior high schools), public basic schools in the region are still without textbooks, forcing teachers to improvise and rely on the internet to teach students.

Richard Sunday Yinbil, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the CCT-Ghana, bemoaned the difficulty teachers have in carrying out their duties in the absence of textbooks and other teaching and learning resources in a recent interview with Bolgatanga Dreamz FM.

“We don’t have textbooks. As far as this curriculum[ the Standards-Based curriculum] is concerned, we don’t have…I go onto the internet, and download books that are there. I buy data, go onto the internet, and ask my colleagues. So if go to our platform, people are asking ‘Can you help me with this or that’. Because some go onto the internet and don’t get the right information,” Richard Sunday Yinbil lamented.

He continued by saying that although educators go to tremendous lengths to instruct students without the use of textbooks, the government does not acknowledge or commend their efforts.

The government started implementing a standards-based curriculum at the pretertiary level in September 2019, starting with elementary and junior high schools. However, there have been several difficulties with implementation, particularly in the absence of the necessary teaching resources, including textbooks, for both instructors and students.

The Minister of Education and other government officials have made several pledges and guarantees, yet the government has not provided textbooks to all schools.