Education think tank, Africa Education Watch, has raised concerns over the introduction of a semester-based system for pupils at the kindergarten and primary levels.
The transitional calendar shows that pupils at those levels are to spend 40 weeks in school per semester.
This, according to the Education think tank, is likely to cause fatigue amongst the students.
In an interview with Citi News, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare urged the government to review the calendar.
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“The primary and kindergarten calendar is now being aligned to the semester system being run by the Senior High Schools. The challenge here is that is the semester system appropriate for all classes? Obviously, that might not be the case. You ask yourself how realistic it is for a child to be in school for five months. It is not the best. It is stressful, so I am not too sure what informed the decision to adopt the system for early grades.”
He also called on the Ministry of Finance to ensure it releases and distributes funds on time to ensure smooth implementation.
“There are stakeholders who have to play key responsibilities to ensure that the academic calendar sees the light of day. One key stakeholder is the Ministry of Finance. They must release funds to Senior High Schools on time.”
