Professor Ato Essuman, the chairman of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), has urged for changes to the nation's secondary education policy to provide children with the chance to learn skills that would make them assets for the country's future growth.
He said that the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme was rife with problems with teacher orientation and training, inadequate resources, and delays in the delivery of funding to schools.
In addition, Prof. Essuman said that the budgetary allocation for the Free SHS was excessively "lofty" to the point that it undermined financing for basic education, the nation's educational cornerstone, necessitating change.
"The idea of making education free and available for everyone is a high one, but if all it does is provide possibilities to offer young people access without the skills that will make them great assets for national growth, then such a goal will be meaningless and excessively expensive," he said.
In his keynote talk at a meeting hosted by the Old Achimotan Association (OAA) in Accra on Thursday night, Prof. Essuman stated that "reforming what will be taught and how they are taught is crucial, else the issues are likely to remain."
Forum
Professor Ernest Aryeetey, former vice-chancellor of the University of Ghana and current president of OAA, presided over the event.
The event, which went by the name "Achimota Speaks," was about "The Governance, Management, and Funding of Secondary Education in Ghana."
It included a panel discussion where many parties discussed how to run and finance secondary education.
The five panellists were Yaw Benneh-Amponsah, the managing director of Merson Capital Ltd., who is also an old student, Dr. Eden Welbeck, the president of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Agbe Carbonu, a former global president of Ola Girls Old Students, and Irene Sam, who represented the National Council of Parent Teachers Association (PTA).
Implementation in stages
Prof. Essuman remarked that a gradual deployment of the Free SHS programme would have been preferable, whie taking important lessons from previous initiatives like the Free, Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) and the Capitation Grant (FCUBE).
The three-time Council of State Member stated that if a phased implementation approach had been selected, the policy should have initially prioritised the poor and vulnerable in ordtoss resource shortages and delays in the delivery of funding to schools.
The Chief Director at the Ministry of Education, Prof. Essuman, remarked that "the discussions concerning Free SHS centre on concerns like access and not enough about the contents and outcomes expected."
The conversation places less emphasis on issues like teacher orientation, training, and growth, as well as innovative methodologies, he continued.
Angel Carbonu, the president of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), stated that The public basic schools had been forgotten since the focus was now on SHS.
"Basic schools are the most tragic element. All of our public elementary schools are failing, and since people no longer have faith in public schools, some shabby private schools are drawing more pupils than the ic ones.
To promote equitable and high-quality education, Dr. WelbDr emphasised the necessity for the government to evaluate the governance structures of SHS.
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