The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, feels vindicated for rolling out the Free Senior High School policy, which also birthed the double-track system.
His justification stems from the results of the 2021 and 2022 West African Examination Council, which showed impressive performance by the candidates, who went through the double-track system under the free SHS.
“Surely, there can no longer be any controversy about the validity of the free SHS policy and its consequential measures,” he remarked.
President Akufo-Addo was speaking on Thursday, October 5, 2023 at the Global Teacher Prize held in Takoradi, Western Region.
He ceased the opportunity to thank teachers, especially those at the SHS level, for the impressive results seen at the WASSCE, since the commencement of the free SHS policy in September 2017.
RESULTS
He said that the 2022 WASSCE results of the third batch of people, which he likes to call the ‘Akufo-Addo graduates’, show 60.39% of students recording A1 to C6 in English, as opposed to 51.6% in 2016.
He also said that 62.45% recorded A1 to C6 in Integrated Science in 2022, as opposed to 48.35% in 2016 and 61.39% recorded A1 to C6 in Mathematics, compared to 33.12% in 2016.
He added that 71.51% recorded A1 to C6 in Social Studies as compared to 54.5% in 2016.
DOUBLE TRACK
“Lest we forget, the 2021 batch of students who have also obtained very commendable results were the pioneers of the double-track system, which elicited a lot of unmerited vilification and unfounded criticisms on its introduction.
The 2022 results are the best of the last eight years. Indeed, the WASSCE results of each of the ‘Akufo-Addo graduates’ have been excellent and better than the results of 2016.
Surely, there can no longer be any controversy about the validity of the free SHS policy and its consequential measures,” the president stated.
TAKING A SWIPE
The president, who spoke to an auditorium filled with teachers, educationists, traditional authorities and others, jabbed his opponent, John Dramani Mahama, for indicating his desire to extend the free SHS to private schools.
According to the president, the same group of people, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), who opposed the policy, are promising to extend it.
“So, today, those who opposed and derided the policy are now going to extend it to private schools, if, and it is a very big if, they get your chance to return to office in Ghana. The very people who at the beginning said that the free SHS policy was a disaster for the country are now committing to extending it to private schools if they come to office,” he took a punch at the NDC.
He touted the achievements of his government in the education sector and assured the gathering that he would not rest on his laurels to make education in Ghana the best.
COMMENDATION
Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister for Education, was full of praise for the President for his commitment and interest in the development of education in the country.
He assured the President of his readiness to continue working very hard towards the attainment of the best education for the nation, since education is the driving force behind the development of every country.
The Minister for Education appealed to all stakeholders in the education space to continue working very hard towards the transformation of the country through education.
Dr. Adutwum stated that, “we are not just providing education for the nation’s youth, but we are positioning the nation to become a giant in various facets, with the training of people with critical thinking skills and knowledge that is required towards the development of the nation’s economy.
The Registrar of the NTC, Dr. Christian Addai-Poku, pledged to continue working very hard to ensure that the quality of teaching in schools was improved by putting in place the right initiatives to ensure that the quality of instruction in schools was maintained.
Meanwhile, Dr. Addai-Poku called for remedies to help reduce the high teacher attrition situation in the country, which posed a great danger to the nation’s development.
AWARDS
Madam Faith Aku Dzakpasu, a teacher at GRETA ‘D’ Shepherd Two Basic School, in the Greater Accra region, was adjudged the most outstanding teacher for the year 2023.
For her prize, she was presented with a prototype of a three-bedroom apartment to be built at a place of her choice, in any part of the country, one million cedis (GHC1,000,000) worth of insurance from the State Insurance Company (SIC), and 1000 exercise books.
Other awards presented were Best Junior High School Teacher, Best Primary School Teacher, Best Primary Teacher, Best Senior High, and Best Technical Teacher, among others.
