A New Understanding of "Public" Education

Since we've been in Ghana we've had the opportunity to observe a few schools of various types.  There are "basic"  schools PK-9th and these can either be public or private.  Then there are the private and public secondary schools as well--Forms 1-3 (10-12).  Below are some of the schools of today's visit
                      GSTS a public day school.

St Johns Methodist all boys public boarding

Archbishop Porter Girls Secondary 

My school.  An endowed Catholic Mission public School

Liberty American School, Accra.  Private Christian where Dr Brandt's brother works.

In Ghana, most schools were started as Mission schools by Catholics, Methodists, or Presbyterian to teach people to read.  To make a very long story short, these are now govt schools even though may be religious.

There is a national curriculum for all public schools and exit testing at the end of Form 3 (and you think exams are hard).  Scores on these exams determine your college opportunities.  But wait.... there is so much more behind the scenes before you even get to secondary school.  The"basic" schools are not very good in many places because many are rural and teachers are diploma teachers.  Parents will work very hard to send their children to private school to have a better start.  Some of these are even boarding schools for as young as 9.  Watch out MLS! It is interesting that tuition is more expensive k-8 than for secondary school.  No, Dr Brandt I'm not suggesting anything.

Because public secondary schools are competitive and very good, private schools frequently lower tuition yo try to retain students.  Students are placed in secondary schools based in part on a computer lottery system and one might end up 100s of miles from home, hopefully at a boarding school, but that isn't always the case.  You might have to contract out with someone for your 14 year old daughter to stay.  Kind of s scary thought.  The public schools we visited have religious instruction, mealtime prayer and mandatory chapel on Sunday at boarding school.

The schools are big 1700 students or so and class size is between 50-60.  Students stay in the room with the same group of students and the teachers move.  No worry about tar dies, Steve.  Think how much roomier the halls would be and easier access to lockers if they had either.

Worked hard today, need to take a break.  I know the suspense will be killing you, but To Be Continued