Without a doubt, public senior high schools were generally considered to be much better than private senior high schools in Ghana unless you attended a private international senior high school. Category A schools were especially regarded as the best senior high schools in Ghana and it was the dream of every student to be accepted into these public category A schools. Has this changed?
With the introduction of free senior high education in Ghana in 2017, the educational landscape in Ghana is beginning to change. Parents and students are beginning to wonder if private education is better than public education not just in primary school but in senior high school.
I do not support any political party in Ghana, so this article is not a political piece. It is simply to report the facts on the ground to help parents and students figure out whether to attend public or private senior high school in Ghana by considering the positive and negative sides of both.
- Let’s begin by looking at the quality of tuition
Three factors that greatly influence the quality of tuition are teacher-to-student ratio, the qualifications of the teachers and performance/teacher’s class attendance. The teacher-to-student ratio refers to the number of students for every teacher in a school. A lower teacher-to-student ratio typically indicates that teachers can devote more personalized attention and time to each student, enhancing the overall quality of education. The Ghana Education Service recommends a teacher-to-student ratio of 1:40 for effective teaching and learning. Meaning for a class with one teacher, the number of students should ideally be not more than 40.
In most private senior high schools in Ghana, the teacher-to-student ratio is usually very low, for every teacher, student enrolment in a class is between 5 to 30 students on average. For example, at Preset Pacesetters Senior High School student enrolment is about 1,500 with a teaching faculty of 65 members. This means the teacher-to-student ratio is 1:23. Ghana Christian International High School also has a teacher-to-student ratio of 1:10. Galaxy International has a student-to-teacher ratio of 1:6.
Supervision is also very effective in private schools. This ensures that teachers rarely miss class as this usually affects their remuneration. Salaries and incentives are usually tied to teacher’s class attendance and effective teaching practices, which makes most teachers put in their best. What about public schools?
One would think that with the influx of students in senior high schools, the teacher-to-student ratio would be high right? However, the government recruited many teachers, thus maintaining a good teacher-to-student ratio. The total number of students enrolled in free senior high schools in Ghana as of 2020 was a total of 404,856 with a total number of teachers of 32,884. The teacher-to-student ratio is very good, with about 1:12 teacher to student ratio in 2020. This may come as a surprise, but it is worth noting that this is not necessarily a reflection of the facts on the ground. Some public senior high schools have as many as 100 students in a class. Many schools have overcrowded classrooms and teachers may struggle to give individual attention to students leading to a decline in the effectiveness of teaching and learning. (If you are in a free shs can you tell us how many students are in your class?)
For teacher’s attendance, the story is wildly different. Most students complain that some teachers rarely come to class, a situation that has always existed to be fair but has become more pronounced with the advent of free shs. After personally speaking to several students from several senior high schools including St. John Grammar at Achimota in Accra, it is clear that some teachers barely come to class and students are behind in many subjects. This is as a result of poor supervision in most of these schools. Teachers in public schools also lack commitment due to poor working conditions and lack of incentives. The situation is better in category A schools but more pronounced in schools in all other categories.
- The second point to look at is Facilities
Public schools are underfunded and this has led to the poor condition of their facilities. Some schools even lack some necessary facilities such as an ICT lab. Most public schools in Ghana do not have an ICT program and those who do need more resources like computers, computer labs, internet, and even qualified teachers.
Due to poor planning and implementation of the free shs policy, many senior high schools have limited facilities to support the increased enrolment of students. Before the implementation of the policy, facilities such as new classroom blocks, science labs, ICT labs, and boarding houses were not built to accommodate extra new students as a result of the free shs policy.
Boarding houses are overcrowded which can lead to the spread of diseases easily. This overcrowding affects all schools including top schools like Wesley Girls, where hundreds of students have to sleep on the floor as a result of no beds and plastic chairs have to be used by students in class as a result of no desks. Students of Bolgatanga also complain of severe overcrowding as students sleep outside on the floor as a result of poor ventilation and students share a bed as a result of inadequate beds.
In Kpando Senior High School, classes are sometimes conducted in the dining hall due to inadequate infrastructure. This has caused the school to run a shift system which has a negative impact on the student’s academics. Several other public senior high schools also run the shift system where students have to stay home for a few months. This has become an expense for parents who do not want to see their wards idle at home and so resort to enrolling them in private senior high schools during the break.
Facilities in Private schools on the other hand are mostly in excellent condition. Granted, not every private senior high school has good facilities, most however do. Another distinguishing feature is that there is no overcrowding in their boarding houses or classrooms due to the relatively few number of students admitted to private schools. Also, because the fees of private senior high schools are relatively high, the schools can provide state-of-the-art facilities including well-equipped ICT labs, science labs, modern classroom blocks, and adequate teaching and learning materials.
- The third point to look at is the Quality of Food
Children will mostly eat anything you give them but parents on the other hand are concerned about the quality of food given to their wards as this impacts their health. Let’s compare the two.
Students of PRESEC, Legon, Mawuko Girls, and Labone shs all attest to the poor quality of food in public schools and these are top schools. The condition is much worse in other schools. Breakfast is sometimes served with no sugar, no bread, and no milk, kenkey is served without fish, waakye without egg, rice and stew with no protein (fish, egg, etc) and there are sometimes weevils in the food. The quantity of food is also quite small, leaving students going to bed sometimes quite hungry and with constipation as a result of a lack of a balanced diet.
What about their counterparts in private schools? They are being served quality food, a balanced diet with snacks and fruits no less. Schools like Preset Pacesetters offer affordable yet nutritious food to both boarders and day students. Other schools like Galaxy International also serve good and adequate food to satisfy and nourish students.
CONCLUSION
The sudden increase in enrolment has overwhelmed schools, leading to overcrowded classrooms, insufficient teaching materials, poor quality of food and inadequate infrastructure. This compromises the quality of education and hampers effective learning in public schools.
Private schools on the other hand, have small class sizes, sufficient teaching and learning materials, adequate infrastructure and quality food. We can conclusively say that if you can afford private school, then private senior high school is a better choice in Ghana.