THE Chairman of the National Service Board, Mr W. Nkunu Akyea, has lauded the return to the three-year senior high school (SHS) system, and called for resources to ensure its success.
“The debate should go beyond the government going back to three years and to rather look at the fulfilment of the basic needs of today’s educational system,” he said.
Mr Akyea told the Daily Graphic in Takoradi that the brouhaha over changing from four to three years had clouded the real issues that undermined the system’s efficient and effective delivery.
He said problems with the country’s educational system were not with the three or four years or the number of years spent, but investing in the system to ensure its success was what mattered.
According to him, “The new educational system requires more classrooms and a strong basic level, investing in teachers, training facilities at training colleges and accommodations to help the system work.”
Mr Akyea said one of the cardinal points that the debate should focus on was the need for stronger foundation of schools.
He said while the debate was good and healthy, nobody thought of what was recommended in the Anamuah-Mensah report and the main aim of establishing the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).
Mr Akyea said the good foundation recommended by the Anamuah-Mensah report would ensure the sterling performance of students at higher levels of education.
He said the objective of the GETFund was to provide finance to supplement the government’s efforts of ensuring quality education in the country.
Mr Akyea said the GETFund was to create the enabling environment for academic work as it had resulted in the building of residential and academic facilities for teachers and schools.
He said change in the educational system should not be seen as something new and that since the world was a dynamic place, change was inevitable.
Mr Akyea said the debate had provided the platform for people to ask questions as to how to do the right thing by providing the basic needs that would create the perfect environment for education to triumph.
He said “if we fail to embrace constant change to conform to the rest of the world, we would realise that before the student graduates, he or she is abreast of technology and time.”
He expressed the hope that the GETFund and the stronger government support would provide the basic teaching materials and facilities for the teacher to have a place to stay and have a peace of mind to work.
“The problem is lack of more classrooms and academic facilities so we should not be thinking about only the years,” Mr Akyea said.
“I will therefore stress that we take a look at the GETFund and the recommendation of the Ampomah-Mensah report instead of focusing on the number of years,” he said.
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