The Technical Working Group of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) has engaged the Governing Council, Management, and Regional Directors of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the development of the secondary education curriculum. The purpose of the engagement session was to inform them on the development process so far and collate their suggested inputs to help with the streamlining and finalisation of the curriculum. The event took place at the Alisa Hotel on December 21, 2022.
In a welcome address, Prof. Edward Appiah, the Director-General of NaCCA, thanked the boards of the two institutions for their continuous support and commitments towards the government’s curriculum reform agenda. He stated that the development of the secondary education curriculum was a continuum, as spelled out in the National Pre-Tertiary Education Curriculum Framework (NPTECF), as approved by Cabinet in 2018.
Mr. Divine Ayidzoe, the Acting Chief Director for the Ministry of Education, as part of his opening remarks, stressed the need for the SHS curriculum to focus on the building of relevant 21st century skills and competencies in the Ghanaian learner. In addition, he emphasized the need for NaCCA to concentrate on developing a curriculum that promotes practical education and hinges on the integration of ICT into teaching and learning. To him, climate change, energy conservation, and waste management should be the cross-cutting themes manifestly reflected in the SHS Curriculum.
In addition, Prof. Kwame Osei Kwarteng and Mr. Michael Nsowah, Board Chairs for NaCCA and GES, respectively, remarked that a functional education system remains pivotal for the nation’s transformation. And in that regard, curriculum and instruction play an important role in the education ecosystem.
Prof. Eric Ananga, the Curriculum Advisor for NaCCA, made a presentation on the journey so far. He revealed that NPTECF and the Secondary Education Curriculum, as well as the critical voices of major stakeholders, were the major determining factors in the review and development of the SHS Curriculum. To this end, the vision for secondary education is to create a new generation of learners capable of contributing meaningfully to the global knowledge economy.
Deliberations among participants were unanimous that Ghana’s curriculum required systemic changes to reflect rapid global changes, trends, and complexities. It was also agreed that the SHS curriculum should reflect practical education, competencies and skills acquisition, Ghanaian-based values inculcation, and a clear departure from rote learning.
