NRI: Drop in quality of education

THE quality of education in the country is low despite the increased retention of students in the system due to the free education policy, a study has revealed.
The study carried out by the National Research Institute (NRI) on universal basic education (UBE) found that the quality of education in the country had dropped.
Dr Kilala Devette-Chee, in a presentation during a visit by Prime Minister James Marape to NRI on Wednesday, said the government needed to invest in quality education rather than trying to cater for more students – which was what the free education policy had produced.
“Our study has found out that the quality of education has dropped because of many factors including overcrowding in schools,” she said.
“We have seen that access and retention in schools is good because of the tuition fee free policy, but it is sad to say that the quality of education is dropping.
“The teacher-to-pupil ratio is really bad. “What was supposed to be one teacher to 35 or 40 students has seen in schools especially in urban centres, one teacher to 50, 70 or 80 students.
“NCD is the worst with some instances of a teacher to 100 students, according to our recent research.”
Devette-Chee said the statistics for schools throughout the country were as follows: there were 7,298 elementary schools, 3,543 primary schools, 219 secondary schools, 114 technical and vocational education training (Tvet) schools.
She said currently, there were 2.2 million students in the education system which represented an increase of 144 per cent from 2016 and 300 per cent since 1975 in general enrolment rates.
Devette-Chee said post primary education was a concern as there were more students graduating from that level annually.
She said there were simply not enough secondary schools to cater for the growing influx of student who were unwilling to pursue alternate pathways such as Tvet.