She said Ghana’s educational system had improved, citing that the country had topped the West African Secondary School Examination (WASSCE) for the past four years.

She said, “Let us be mindful of the language we use about the education. Let us not use the results of one year to run down the entire education system. Nobody in education should be talking like that because it is our collective responsibility to ensure we have quality education.”

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang was speaking at the 90th anniversary celebration of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) College of Education in Cape Coast on the theme, “Celebrating 90 years of quality teacher education in Ghana”.

She  said that the performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) was improving, stating that in 2014, 11 students got a raw score of 500 and above with the  highest being  507 while  in 2015, two candidates had 500 or more with  the highest being 504.

The minister said this year, 3,994 candidates obtained the raw scores of 500, the highest being 564, which she said was the highest ever.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang commended stakeholders for helping to reduce teacher absenteeism from 27 per cent in 2013 to seven per cent presently.

She asked the Colleges of Education Teachers Association (CETAG) to provide the ministry with teaching methodology and mode of examination they were proposing for the colleges for inclusion in national policy.

The minister advised the college to prioritise stalled projects instead of spreading funds released on all the projects.

She advised teachers to be role models for children pledging that government would continue to improve the education sector.

Revered Sister Elizabeth Amoako Arhen, principal of the college, paid glowing tributes to founders of the educational institution for their vision and praised the Catholic Church for its contribution to the development of education in the country.

She said the college had kept faith with its vision  of producing  outstanding female teachers  and gave the assurance that it would  continue  to nurture  the potentials of trainees  to acquire skills  and professional excellence  needed for national development.

Rev Sister Amoako Arhen thanked government for the infrastructural development in the school and appealed for classroom blocks, dormitories and the completion of a science laboratory and library complex.

From Jonathan Donkor, Cape Coast