The State of Science Practical Work in some Ghanaian Senior Secondary Schools

Abstract

The study investigated how schools organise science practical activities for students, and the constraints under which they were organised. Completed questionnaires were received from 50 science teachers in 9 out of the 18 senior secondary schools in the Central Region of Ghana offering elective science subjects. Twenty students and Heads of Science Departments were also interviewed in four case study schools. The information obtained suggests that there are inadequate exposure of students to laboratory training and practice in the schools as a result of time constraints, overloaded curricula and inadequate equipment.
Hence West African Examinations Council must emphasise science process skills which do not require extensive use of the laboratory with its attendant constraints