Education think tank, Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), has emphasized that the effectiveness of Ghana’s curriculum relies not only on teaching in schools but also on the support and acceptance of communities.
The organization observed that although teachers play a crucial role in promoting values such as respect, empathy, and self-discipline, these virtues are unlikely to be sustained if they are not reinforced within communities.
This message was delivered during the presentation of Eduwatch’s research findings from its Gender Transformative Review of the Standards-Based Curriculum, conducted as the government prepares for a curriculum review.
The study examines how Ghana’s basic school curriculum addresses gender issues in its content, pedagogy, textbooks, and classroom practices.
Executive Director of Eduwatch, Kofi Asare, urged the government, through the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), to prioritize extensive community consultations — especially involving traditional and cultural leaders — to ensure that the values embedded in the curriculum are effectively upheld.
“It’s important that the positive things we want to promote, we must begin to mirror whatever we want to see at the community level. Our recommendation to the government is that if it’s really intentional in promoting value education through this ongoing curriculum review at the basic level government will have to invest through NACCA in having extensive community engagement, especially with cultural securities.”
According to Eduwatch, although the current curriculum, introduced in 2019 to replace the Objective-Based Curriculum, aims to equip learners with 21st-century skills, it still falls short in advancing true gender equality.
The review revealed that while the curriculum is largely inclusive, it does not sufficiently challenge harmful gender stereotypes or actively promote fairness between boys and girls.
It also identified weak monitoring systems that hinder the evaluation of progress toward gender transformation in schools.
To address these gaps, Eduwatch recommended that the Ministry of Education and its agencies create practical, classroom-focused gender-transformative resources such as inclusive storybooks and activity guides.
It also called for the integration of gender-responsive teaching methods in teacher training, with an emphasis on equal participation, stereotype-challenging techniques, and embedding leadership and assertiveness activities for girls across all subjects.
Source : Adomonline
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