The presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has proposed to move the free senior high school secretariat to the Ghana Education Services if he is elected president.
The former president noted that he will move the Secretariat under the direct supervision of the GES.
He explained that the decision to move the Secretariat of the Free SHS under the supervision of GES is to track the challenges that have been faced by the Free SHS policy.
He reaffirmed his resolve to address the numerous challenges confronting the policy under a new NDC administration.
Mr. Mahama said technical and vocational education and the free SHS will no longer stand alone in his administration.
He made the remarks while responding to concerns raised by the President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) when he interacted with them and explained his policies for the education sector.
Angel Carbonu, the President of NAGRAT, stated that there was a need to review the policy and take a look at the TVET and SHS divisions proper.
He said we need to come up with the most workable approach that is satisfactory to all.
He said when they were making the policy to separate the TVET from SHS, the teacher unions opposed it since they saw no need for it.
Mr. Mahama responded that his administration will mainstream TVET and STEM into all secondary schools.
He said the NDC does not believe that TVET and STEM should stand alone in special secondary schools.
He stressed, “We must mainstream them through all the secondary schools. In this regard, we will revamp the science resource centres so that clusters of schools can use them.
He emphasised that the GES, which is an implementing agency, has the capacity to implement the free SHS policy.
He described his engagement with NAGRAT as healthy policy dialogue in preparation for finalising the NDC manifesto.
Here are some key points he shared during the meeting:
- I emphasised the importance of conducting an educational reform in my first 100 days in office and the integral role of teachers in national policy reforms.
- My administration will focus on adopting ‘first language’ as a medium of instruction from KG to Basic 3 and training more teachers in major local languages to facilitate teaching and learning at the basic levels.
- To encourage reading at the basic level, we plan to build more libraries and resume providing reading and textbooks for all basic schools.
- Timely disbursement of the capitation grant to education directorates and schools will be a priority, as well as removing the capping and collateralisation of the GETFUND and resuming the free sanitary pad distribution policy.
- I will prioritise the revival of abandoned TVET and E-blocks in our education infrastructure drive to decongest schools and improve the quality of education.
- We also plan to review and improve the implementation of the Free SHS policy, resolve its associated challenges, and mainstream TVET and STEM in all secondary schools.
These are just a few highlights from the productive dialogue we had. I look forward to further collaboration with teacher unions and other stakeholders to develop effective policies for the education sector.
Together, we can build a better and more inclusive education system for our children and the future of our nation. Thank you to all the teacher unions who participated and shared their valuable insights.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
