Professor Stephen Adei has called for an overhaul of the senior high school management in Ghana, saying heads should have the authority to discipline or dismiss teachers who fail to teach during official school hours for ‘extra classes’.
Speaking in a radio interview with Accra based Joy FM on Monday [December 1, 2025]: Prof. Adei reacted to the drop in performance in mathematics in the 2025 WASSCE math pass rate. Prof Adei said the public should not be surprised by the results because many teachers in public senior high schools now put their efforts into paid extra classes, often charging students about GH¢400 per subject per term.
He said some teachers avoid completing the syllabus during regular class hours, which puts students from low-income homes at a disadvantage.
“What is happening is not accidental. Many headmasters are accomplices,” he said. “They know the teachers are not covering the syllabus, but they cannot act because the system does not give them the authority.”
Prof Adei said the current centralised system, where disciplinary powers sit above the school level, weakens accountability and allows poor classroom practices to continue. He said nothing will change until the system is decentralised and teachers are held directly responsible for classroom results.
He also noted that class sizes of up to 80 students in some well-known schools make effective teaching difficult and place more pressure on students.
Prof Adei said free senior high school risks losing its purpose if unofficial paid tuition continues. “Those who cannot afford the extra classes are simply not being educated,” he said.
He urged the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to address what he described as a problem of weak discipline in classrooms and poor teacher conduct and said Ghana’s long-term education outcomes depend on firm action now.
