One D and you’re out!

Ghana’s educational system is one of the world’s worst. The majority of children do not have access to education. Among those who do, only a small portion ever make it to university. In fact, only 6% of Ghana’s 23 million are in the tertiary institutions. A new policy threatens to reduce that number even further.
Unbeknownst to many, Ghana’s National Accreditation Board and the Ghana Education Service have passed a new policy which denies students with a grade of D in any subject in the national exam access to university. This does not mean an average of a D throughout the student’s academic career. According to the Daily Graphic, such students, as well as mature students who did not obtain a high school degree will be kept from entering the university.
The problem is even worse than what was reported. The majority of the students tend to fail or obtain Ds in English, math and science. They do so because Ghana does not have enough trained teachers or relevant materials to prepare the students in those subjects. Why should students be penalized when they are victimized?
This policy will make education in Ghana even more elitist. Elitist here does not mean better, but rather limiting the majority. Only a very small group of parents will be able to afford expensive tutoring services which may or may not make any difference. An even smaller number will be able to export their children to other countries for tertiary education. It is clear how this policy will further increase the brain drain.
Why would Ghanaian policy makers adopt such a policy when the education system is already stuck between a rock and a hard place? Because educating your children is not their top priority; it’s yours.