Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama has vowed to prioritise resolving issues surrounding the implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy should the NDC come into power in the future.
This announcement follows growing concerns over the execution and funding of the Akufo-Addo-led government’s policy.
Addressing a gathering comprising representatives from various teacher unions, including the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Mr Mahama outlined plans to strengthen the education sector.
Mr Mahama explained: “Within the first 100 days of me becoming president, we will hold a stakeholder dialogue on education. It will have as part of its focus the implementational bottlenecks of the Free SHS, but it is also going to deal with how we can improve financing and teaching and learning at the basic school level and so at that stakeholder’s engagement, NAGRAT, GNAT, parents, students, educational experts, everybody is going to be there and we are going to have a discussion on access, on equity, on affordability, and on financing our educational system.”
Below is the full statement by John Mahama
I had the pleasure of meeting with representatives of our Teacher Unions at the NAGRAT head office in Accra. We had a healthy policy dialogue in preparation for finalising our (NDC) manifesto. Here are some key points I shared during the meeting:
1. I emphasised the importance of conducting an educational reform in my first 100 days in office and the integral role of teachers in national policy reforms.
2. My administration will focus on adopting ‘first language’ as a medium of instruction from KG to Basic 3 and training more teachers in major local languages to facilitate teaching and learning at the basic levels.
3. To encourage reading at the basic level, we plan to build more libraries and resume providing reading and textbooks for all basic schools.
4. Timely disbursement of the capitation grant to education directorates and schools will be a priority, as well as removing the capping and collateralisation of the GETFUND and resuming the free sanitary pad distribution policy.
5. I will prioritise the revival of abandoned TVET and E-blocks in our education infrastructure drive to decongest schools and improve the quality of education.
6. We also plan to review and improve the implementation of the Free SHS policy, resolve its associated challenges, and mainstream TVET and STEM in all secondary schools.
These are just a few highlights from the productive dialogue we had. I look forward to further collaboration with teacher unions and other stakeholders to develop effective policies for the education sector.
Together, we can build a better and more inclusive education system for our children and the future of our nation. Thank you to all the teacher unions who participated and shared their valuable insights.