A Reform Our Country Needs

Source: www.myjoyonline.com

Perhaps we owe thanks to Dr. Papa Kwesi Ndoum for making the proposal to scrap the Basic Education Certificate Examination and extend basic education to cover Senior High School a major campaign pledge in the run up to the 2016 elections. Or maybe we owe thanks to H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo for his "free SHS" policy which has compelled his government to figure out the right way to structure our education system. Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh and Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum probably also deserve their share of thanks for what appears to be their bold leadership of the Education sector of our dear country, Ghana. In my opinion, those two as Minister and deputy, have presided over the best performing Ministry in the Nana Addo-Bawumia government so far.

As someone who has been of the opinion that the National Science and Maths Quiz has over the years exposed a weakness in our education system through how consistently predictable the best performing schools have been, I have found reason to be pleased with the idea of scrapping the BECE. I also think the new policy will go a long way in addressing my biggest issue with the "free SHS" policy which has had to do with the fact that we are catering for students whose parents would have had no trouble paying their fees; at the expense of other needs government should be taking care of.

Let's go into what I think about the reform. Personally, I feel the new structure is going to,

1. Reduce a lot of the pressure on our public SHS schools. I am saying this for the obvious reason that a lot of the private schools will just expand to have SHSs of their own with hopes of retaining clients and their wards.

2. Answer to a considerable extent, the question about how to keep "rich" people from "partaking" in the "freeness" of the public schools. This is likely to happen because of the private school expansions which to me would mean the number of children government has to cater for will reduce, as children whose guardians can afford to take them through private school education at the Junior High School level are less likely to transfer their wards after JHS.

3. Relieve government of a lot of the pressure to provide education infrastructure to accommodate more students. So again, government saves money because private schools expectedly will expand.

4. Go a long way in reducing the prestige of the so-called "class A" public schools. What I think this restructuring will do in the long term is spread "quality" throughout the country in the sense that "good students" from various parts of the country feel like they'll only be assured of "quality" at GeyHey/Presec/Motown etc. Mind you, I believe it's the students that make those schools what they are. Atmospheres among students in fringe schools will improve in my opinion.

5. Of course the "big schools" won't need to absorb all the teachers in the name of "student-teacher ratios" anymore. This would mean the presence of improved atmospheres among students in fringe schools will more probably be complemented by adequate presence of teaching staff.

6. I expect more teachers to be employed because the demand for them will increase and government would actually be in a position to take more in because a lot of financial responsibility in other areas of the education sector will be lifted off.

So far, it looks to me like everybody "wins". If any other points for/against come to mind I will update my list accordingly.

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