TVET and ways to teach, learn and pass BDT at the BECE
Making TVET attractive by introducing new ways to teach, learn and pass BDT at the BECE.
There is no doubt that there are simple but effective new ways to teach, learn and pass BDT at the BECE for teachers and students yet the Basic Design and Technology (BDT) subject remains a challenge for many students.
Students and teachers do not always find the subject easy to handle, and this often contributes to poor performance in the subject. Doing the right things the simple way, BECE candidates should not score a grade below grade 2 in BDT.
In this post, we will reveal some of the less-used tips and strategies to help teachers and students alike.
The Basic Design and Technology (BDT) subject has three options, thus Pre Technical Skills, Home Economics, and Visual Arts. The poor grades obtained by students in BDT can be attributed to the following.
#1. Poor preparation and Student-Teacher commitment to excellence.
Very often students place less value on the BDT subject when preparing for the BECE because it is not a core subject like Integrated Science. This mindset makes students feel reluctant to learn it well and to dedicate enough time to the subject. T
Teachers who handle the subject may not be readily available to teach the subject, especially in private schools, hence any teacher who shows interest may be given the opportunity to do some trial and error with the subject. Once the teacher struggles to teach it, it affects the interest of the students and their results in the long run.
#2 Poor question-answering skills
Knowing the answers to a question in BDT and answering it as required by the examinable are two different things. Students often fail to understand the requirements of questions and how to go about them. Students often provide very poor sketches because they do not practice well enough how to sketch. Others fail to label land and end up listing the parts instead.
Often, students exhibit poor control understanding of concepts and lack the necessary vocabulary on a topic by topic basis, and this makes attempts to provide answers more challenging in the examination.
#3 Poor teaching and low knowledge of core skills concepts and topics
Every BDT examination organized by WAEC has about 30 to 40 of the core skills topics in sections A and B combined.
If teachers rush students through the Core Skills topics or fail to teach them very well, the student will have a weaker foundation, and this may show up in their answering of related questions later.
Now the question that needs to be answered is “What are the ways to teach, learn and pass BDT at the BECE?
#1. First of all, the above bottlenecks need to be removed for the teacher and the student through continuous improvement efforts, student counselling, and teacher development.
2. Students must be encouraged to give the BED subject equal attention, especially when many of them are likely to opt for TVET schools during the school selection and placement. This subject has become more critical and must be treated with all the seriousness it deserves.
#3. Students should be given more assignments that aim at developing their interest in the subject, mastering the sketching of tools etc. Students need to be guided to learn to sketch in isometric and oblique.
#4. Students should be put in groups to discuss given topics and to do presentations on them. This will not only boost their interest in the subject but also their confidence. The lecturing approach and teaching of abstracts need to be shelved.
#5. Teachers are encouraged to teach students how to answer questions based on marking schemes, examiner’s reports etc.
Nearly all schools in Ghana do not have workshops for practicals, they have little or no tools for the course and every tool is seen for the first time by many students through the textbooks. Again, teachers are forced to teach practical lessons using explanations instead of being on the field or in the school workshop to demonstrate processes and practicals for better re-enforcement of knowledge.
If the government is to make TVET schools attractive and an option to consider, a lot more needed to be done to ensure that BDT is given a facelift.
READ: Nana Addo’s education sector failures caused by mismanagement- Mahama
We cannot get the best from our students and lay the necessary foundation for effective and smooth integration of Junior High School students into TEVT programmes without first giving them a solid foundation in Pre Technical Skills, Home Economics, and Visual Arts.
The government needs to revamp and resource schools with the requisite tools for the teaching of the subject as a way of getting more students ready and interested in TVET programmes at the secondary school. Currently, Free SHS is not enticing enough to encourage the numbers to venture into technical and vocation education at the secondary school level.
READ: BECE Mock Performance Monitoring Downloadable Excel Software
If we really want to encourage Junior High School graduates to go into TEVET, let us improve on the BDT subject and make it more practical than asking students to rearrange processes in examinations. While we look forward to a strong TVET foundation, let us find new ways to teach, learn and pass BDT at the BECE.
Source: GhanaWebNews
