Educations is the most important vehicle of change in any society and for this reason the Curriculum Research and Development Division (CRDD) of the Ghana Education Service (GES) under the Ministry of Education is responsible to ensure that the right instructional materials are made available to facilitate teaching and learning at the right time. This time it seems CRDD is doing more harm than good for failing to approve or disapprove a number of books written by some hardworking and dedicated Ghanaians who want to promote education in the country. Authors have sent a number of books to GES for approval but for years the CRDD have not been able to approve or disapprove them and this is unfortunate and unacceptable.
I teach a very sensitive and an important subject that has no suitable prescribed book. Fortunately, a very dedicated Ghanaian has written a perfect book for the subject and most of my fellow teachers recommend that the book need to benefit all students in the country. However, GES needs to give its approval before this can be possible. According to the author, the book has been sent to CRDD for a very long time but has no idea when the Division will work on the book. The inability of CRDD to do the right thing at the right time may have the following implications;
• It deprives students from having access to instructional materials that may help them.
• The inability to perform its duties undermines government’s efforts to promote education in the country.
• It questions the competency of CRDD. • It discourages creative and dedicated Ghanaian authors from writing books to promote education.
• It is counterproductive and limits the amount of productivity in the country.
• One would wonder how this country will move forward when delays, blame games and excuses are the core of our business culture. G.E.S considers inadequate text books as a problem facing the educational system but it fails to approve the books written by some dedicated Ghanaians on time. It is time we hold people accountable for actions and inactions that hamper development. When we expect the government or the system to work perfectly, we must also do our part right.
I want to use this platform to appeal to the Education Ministry, the GES and the authorities concerned to make sure that the CRDD takes care of business at the right time. When the right thing is done at the right time, Ghanaians will be encouraged to be more creative and innovative in order to move this country forward. We need to set time line on our programs and activities as well as holding people accountable.
God bless Ghana. A VERY CONCERNED GHANAIAN TEACHER