Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum, has stated the future of education in Ghana in the next ten years has never been brighter.
He expressed shock at claims the future of education in the country is gloomy and questioned the kind of planet those making these claims are living on.
According to him, the transformation agenda that has been started by the Akufo-Addo-led government will create a space where education can play its rightful role as the most important lever for socio-economic transformation.
“I’ll tell you this, I’m not bragging but I always say I’m the luckiest education Minister in the world. Lucky because I know how to create an education system that can transform the economy and transform a community.”
“But I cannot do it all and the Ministry cannot do it all; we need the input ideas from different people and to come together and create the most robust education system that the world has ever known.”
“We have the youth of this nation and they are so talented. If only we will focus and create the right environment, we can nurture them to become the best in the world,” he said.
Addressing a group of NGOs and CSOs during a visit to his office on
Friday 21st January, 2021, Hon. Yaw Adutwum noted there is something about destiny to the Ghanaian almost like something created exclusively for Ghana.
He averred that Ghanaians can truly use this unique gift to transform the country.
He disclosed that in the schools that he built in the United States; Ghanaian students have turned out the brightest for the first three years even though their population was an insignificant 2%-3%.
People, he said, kept asking what is so unique about Ghana and why the Ghanaian students are very few but every year they top the school and “I told them there is something unique about Ghana,” he said.
The Minister stated if Ghanaians can focus on the major rather than major on the minors and spending energies on the most trivial things that will not add value to the country, Ghana’s education system will be comparable to the best in the world.
The Minister lamented that Ghanaians have created a culture of mediocrity where they don’t see a sense of urgency because they compare their achievements with less endowed states.
He said, “I want us all to look at things with a sense of urgency so that we will not major on the minors. If there is something trivial I am willing to leave it and say ‘why should I waste time on it.”
“If I have to reverse it, I will, because to me I don’t want to waste time and precious energy on things that are so minor and will not add value to what we are supposed to do.”
Commenting on the National Standardized Test (NST), Mr. Adutwum pledged the timetable will come out early this year to prepare both students and parents.
According to him, the standardized test has transformed the education system in other countries because the entire country knows how school children are doing and whether things are going well or not.
“Every parent will get a report card on the NST, which will show the breakdown in reading, writing and arithmetic and how the children are doing.”
“The whole idea is that when the report gets to parents, they can look at it and know their child is not doing well in one subject or another, therefore they need to help the school support the child.”
He disclosed that the government is getting funding from the Arab Development Bank to construct STEM schools across all the regions to ensure all parts of the country will see development.
He praised former Major of Accra, Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije for the construction of the Millennium Schools and indicated this has provided very good school infrastructure for the capital compared to other regions.
The Education Minister disclosed the Ministry is determined to create an education eco-system that will enable agencies to do what the Ghana Education Service (GES) is doing to have TVET Service at all schools.
Source: Mypublisher24.com
