Exam Week

To really bring home the fact that my time in Ghana is coming to an end, this week all the kids had their year-end exams. The academic year is just about over here at Manye – they all had their last exams yesterday so there is no more work for them. Although, they still have to come to school today and Monday through Thursday of next week, for reasons I can't quite understand. The teachers are all marking the exams and writing reports for each student to bring home. And then I guess decisions have to be made about whether students have to be held back. I think all those reports have to be completed by next Thursday and that’s when the school year officially ends.

Exam week was pretty low-key for me. I spent time with the kids during before and after school and during their breaks between exams. But there wasn’t a whole lot for me to do, so I’ve been reading a lot. I’m not complaining.

One thing that really struck me and I think is worth noting is the marking system here in Ghana. I got this directly from the syllabus for First and Second Grade English classes, distributed directly from the Ghanaian government. Otherwise I wouldn’t have believed it. I'm not sure if expectations rise in the upper primary or junior high years, but this is what I found about the marking for the lower grades:

            A:   80-100%            Excellent

            B:   70-79%              Very good

            C:   60-69%              Good

            D:   45-59%              Satisfactory

            E:   35-44%              Pass

            F:   34% or below     Fail

So that was pretty striking. If a child knows only 35% of the material on their exam, they pass and go on to the next grade. After I got over the shock, I sort of went ‘Ohhhh’ because this explains how kids who struggle to read end up in Class 3 and 4. I’m still not sure how Daniel got to Class 2 without being able to recognize the letter ‘L,’ but at least we’ve been working on that issue. But the education system here is certainly not setting the bar very high, and that goes for both the students and the teachers.

So I thought that was timely for me and worth noting. I hope everything is well with you. I will be home in just 11 days (!). I’ll keep you posted on more events in my last week and a half here, but I’m also looking forward to talking to you all stateside. Stay well.