WESTERN REGION TAKES MEASURES TO RAISE EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS (PAGE 20, OCT 6)

INDEGENES of the Western Region, especially traditional rulers, opinion leaders and assembly members, have complained bitterly for being sidelined as far as employment by the oil companies working on the Jubilee Oil Field offshore West Cape Three Points is concerned.
They argue that people in the region, particularly those who live near the country’s exclusive economic zone where the oil field is located, should benefit from the activities of the oil companies with regard to employment.
They are unhappy that people from other regions and even those from outside the country have been offered employment on the oil rigs while contracts for the supply of equipment, food and other supplies have been given to outsiders.
This development initially dampened the spirit of the people, fearing that they would not derive maximum benefit from the oil find.
However, through regular interaction and public education by the oil companies to educate the people of the region on the activities of the companies, particularly on employment, it seems the people have realised that the oil and gas industry needs a highly skilled workforce, especially work on the oil rigs.
This means that people, including those from the Western Region, who aspire to work on the rigs or to be employed in the oil and gas industry should take education seriously, since expertise and special knowledge is a vital requirement to qualify one to become a core staff of the industry.
The chiefs and people of the region have now realised the need to increase the enrolment of children in schools if they want to derive maximum benefits from the oil industry.
Against this backdrop, it is important to analyse some statistics on education in the Western Region.
According to the 2000 Population and Housing Census, the region’s population is 1,924,577, out of which 42.4 per cent are under 15. The population growth rate is 3.2 per cent.
The projected population for 2009 is 2,566,919, while the projection for 2020 is four million.
Available statistics for the 2007/2008 academic year indicate that there are 1,759 kindergartens in the region, with total enrolment of 164,502. This comprises 1,332 public schools and 427 private ones.
There are 1,826 primary schools in the region, with total enrolment of 390,641 pupils. The schools comprise 1,405 public and 421 private ones.
The region has 1,065 junior high schools (JHS), comprising 806 public and 259 private, with total enrolment of 128,942 pupils.
In all, the region has 4,650 basic schools, with total enrolment of 684,085 pupils. These comprise 3,543 public schools and 1,107 private ones.
It has 41 senior high schools (SHS), out of which 13 are running technical programmes. In addition, there are three colleges of education, three nurses training colleges, a university and a polytechnic.
School enrolment analysis indicates that in the basic schools total enrolment levels increased by 8.4 per cent in the 2007/2008 academic year, while the SHS and tertiary institutions recorded about 41.4 per cent increase.
According to the statistics for the 2007/2008 academic year, there are 16,543 teachers in the basic schools in the region, out of which 7,545, representing 51 per cent, are trained, with 8,107 or 49 per cent untrained.
The region also has 1,542 teachers in the SHS, out of which 1,167 are trained, with 375 untrained ones.
From the above statistics, the indication is that school enrolment in the Western Region leaves much to be desired.
There are many factors preventing parents from taking their children to school or furthering their education, of which poverty is very cardinal.
Inadequate educational infrastructure in some of the rural communities and the pupils walking long distances to attend schools are also a disincentive.
Other challenges facing education in the region are the lack of qualified teachers and basic science laboratories and equipment, as well as dilapidated school buildings.
The metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, realising the problem, have allocated a greater part of their common fund to provide educational infrastructure in the rural areas. They have also instituted scholarship schemes to assist brilliant, needy students.
Besides, the assemblies have intensified their campaigns to educate parents on the need to enrol their children, especially the girls, in schools.
The traditional rulers are also playing positive roles in this direction by establishing scholarship schemes to assist brilliant, needy pupils and students in their communities.