CHANGE FATIGUE: Florence Laast Says Ghana’s Education Reforms Are Coming Too Fast

From changes to the length of senior high school to curriculum revisions, Ghana’s education sector has experienced repeated adjustments over the years. But Florence Laast believes the pace and frequency of those changes have become a problem for teachers and pupils.

The veteran educationist says schools need enough time to understand and implement reforms, particularly because children’s development can be affected when the direction of education keeps changing.

“The changes are too many,” she told Kafui Dey.

Mrs Laast said the frequent introduction of new policies leaves educators uncertain about what they are expected to do.

“We get to a point one doesn’t know exactly what we are supposed to do as people in education,” she said.

Her concern is not necessarily that every change is wrong. Rather, she questioned the number of changes and how quickly they are introduced, arguing that schools need time to adjust.

“We need time, especially we are handling children,” she said.

Mrs Laast warned that when several changes are introduced in quick succession, pupils can become confused about what is expected of them.

“The child doesn’t know where to go,” she said.

She believes the resulting uncertainty can contribute to unacceptable behaviour in schools because children may struggle to understand the expectations placed on them.

For Mrs Laast, reforms should not be measured only by the decision to introduce a new policy. The time and support given to schools to implement it also matter.

She argues that consistency is important in education because teachers need clear direction and pupils need a stable environment in which to learn.

The challenge, as she sees it, is to ensure that changes intended to improve education do not become so frequent that they disrupt the very children they are meant to benefit.