Chief Executives of the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies across the nation are astonished on how education has been transformed in Ghana, within a relatively short period of time.
The MMDCEs, after attentively listening and understanding a comprehensive presentation on the progress the Akufo-Addo government had made in the education sector were amazed and demanded a comprehensive publication for Ghanaians to also know what is happening in the sector
The Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, engaged the MMDCEs in Kumasi recently. The MMDCEs applauded the massive transformation of the education sector in the last seven years.
PURPOSE
The goal of the engagement between the Minister for Education and the MMDCEs was to enlighten the representatives of the president at the local level on the achievements of the government in the education sector.
Providing the MMDCEs with such information is to enable them to tell the success stories of the government. It is also to explain the innovative policies being pursued by the ministry to improve education in Ghana.
PRESENTATION
The minister’s presentation touched on investments made at all levels of the educational structure, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), as well as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.
The Bosomtwe Member of Parliament, Dr Adutwum, used PowerPoint to do his presentation. He walked the MMDCEs through what the ministry has been doing across the country with pictorial and video evidence to bring them up to speed with the paradigm shift in the sector.
The minister showed the participants both figures and statistics, which put the NPP miles ahead of its predecessors.
He also spoke about deliberate policy interventions that target the holistic training of students to be relevant in the global community as the world shifts towards the fourth industrial revolution.
APPLAUSE
The MMDCEs, who were amazed at the massive achievements and the vision to transform education in the country, applauded the minister and his team for a great job done.
The appointees were convinced that Ghana’s education was on the path of progress with the level of investments made in the sector since 2017.
The MMDCEs paid glowing tribute to Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum for changing the mind-set of stakeholders to embrace 21st-century education as a tool for accelerated development.
Some of them who spoke to the media after the engagement attested to the fact that, despite being part of the government, they are not privy to a lot of the information shared by the minister.
They said that, as much as they are aware of the strides being made by the government in the education sector, the engagement with the minister has made them appreciate the direction Ghana is heading even better.
“I am overwhelmed by what the minister and his team have been doing at the ministry, having listened to the presentation he made,” Mr. Francis Oti Boateng, the District Chief Executive for Asante-Akim North, stated.
He added that STEM education was one of the most brilliant policies ever introduced in Ghana by the government and urged Ghanaians to embrace it to change the face of education in the country.
“Our quest to break the eight largely depends on the works of the likes of Dr. Adutwum, and so if we really want to achieve that target, he should be considered for the running mate slot,” Mr. Eric Tetteh, Municipal Chief Executive for Yilo Krobo, submitted.
UP TO SPEED
Dr Adutwum said the engagement was to keep the MMDCEs updated with the giant accomplishments of the government in the education sector so that they bring the same to the attention of people within their jurisdictions since, as key actors, they directly deal with citizens at the local level.
“Inasmuch as we think they know what is going on, it is also important to bring them together and show them what the government has done elsewhere so they appreciate the development beyond their jurisdictions,” the minister explained.
He said that in addition to creating access and equity for Ghanaian children, the ministry was also working towards the creation of more high-performing schools to eliminate the phenomenon where every parent wants their wards to attend schools they perceive to be better than the ones they are placed to learn in.
“We are affiliating new schools with existing high-performing schools, and our goal is to make sure that high-performing schools will be able to mentor the new schools so that in no time, they will also become high-performing schools,” he noted.
Agencies under the ministry, as part of the engagement, took turns presenting their activities and how they are contributing to the transformation agenda of the government.
