As part of efforts to improve and imbibe child self directed learning and critical thinking into pupils in the Kwahu West municipality of the Eastern Region, the director of education in the area, Mr. Daniel Yeboah Hienoo has introduced a novel learning puzzle for final year Junior High School pupils amidst the COVID-19 era to help the pupils learn by themselves in their homes.
Speaking to heads of some basic schools in the area on the significant impact of the new learning material on their pupils, per their feed back so far, it has been established that, parents of most children who are committed to the material have now abandoned their previous playing and gallivanting attitudes and are now addicted to reading all sorts of books in order to find answers to solve their puzzle challenges in the material.
Mr. Fareed Kolevi, the head master of the Nkawkaw Ahmediya basic school, in an interview with our news team indicated that, the puzzle learning material is specially made on all eight subjects the children are learning in the schools, including English language,mathematic, science, ICT, social studies and others and is actually helping the children to learn and read by themselves.
He again called on stakeholders to help in funding the mass production of the material for children in the area, once the material is being given to the pupils at no fee.
“The funding issue is a problem because the document has a voluminous page nature which comes with high cost. Most children in this area are living with guardians who themselves can’t afford to buy the material and therefore we are calling on philanthropist, religious bodies, politicians in our enclave and worthy individuals to help support and sustain this novel initiative of the education director to improve the knowledge base of children in Nkawkaw” he said.
Mr. Kontor Yeboah Festus, the head teacher for the Nkawkaw Amanfrom basic school on his part, acknowledged the potency of the material to improve critical thinking in the children.
“I have one of the material myself and i can admit that because it is in a puzzle form, it engages the child and challenges them to be resourceful by reading wide from books to get answers to the problems in it. I am by this interview challenging my colleague head teachers and parents to ensure that their wards have copies of them because the material will be very helpful in this COVID-19 era. Funding of the material is very difficult, especially because of the free school policy by government, parents don’t want to spend on education. But I am pleading with parents and all stakeholders to support the education directorate to produce more of the material for children in the municipality” he said.
Information gathered by our team indicates that, the novel learning puzzle material is an initiative of the current municipal education director for the Kwahu West Municipality and intended to provide a significant learning opportunity for the children, especially in this period of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Mr. Michael Sekyi, the director of the Nkawkaw Okwahuman preparatory school in an interview with our news team revealed that, aside the fact that the material offers the children a unique personal learning opportunity in critical thinking, the puzzle further offers the children the opportunity to be problem solving by themselves, thereby allowing the children to rise above seeking help and becoming pupils who can think and do everything by themselves.
“I must commend our new education director for the novelty because he has proven to be very resourceful to us. Let me also say that aside the critical thinking abilities the children can imbibe from the new material, it also affords them to the potential to be problem solvers in all situation, thereby creating future leaders who will not depend on pastors for counselling and directions, not with impunity but rather to build future leaders who have the capacity to think outside the boxes to solve pertinent issues that confronts us in future” he said.
Mr. Daniel Yeboah Hienoo, the municipal education director in an interview indicated that, holistic education is an intertwined situation where teachers will teach and students will learn what they are thought.
“The new learning puzzle material has been developed to improve teaching and learning in the municipality, especially in this time where we are in a global pandemic state. Again it comes on the back of the vision of the Municipal Chief Executive of our municipality who wants children in the municipality to be admitted into their senior high schools and not placed. We want to have a situation where at least a hundred children will attain aggregate six in the upcoming exams in order for them to attend schools of their choice. Therefore all we are doing is to get the children to learn by themselves ” he said.
According to the director of education, parents whose children have received copies of the new learning material have called their teachers to express their appreciation to the education directorate for providing an innovation that is keeping the children busy with their books all the time, an attitude which hitherto was exchanged with movie watching, bicycle ridding and unnecessary gallivanting.
” A Major issue I want to touch is funding to produce mass quantities of the document for the next final year students and the lower classes. I will also thank the people of Kwahu for their support for the first production and appeal to all stakeholders including the assembly, who has done massively well towards the production of the first 3500 copies, religious bodies, philanthropist, parents businessmen and women and all education lovers in Nkawkaw to assist in pitching quality education a notch higher in the area because the success story of Nkawkaw from this novelty can eventually be replicated in the regional level and by far the entire nation” he added.