Former Ministers of Education share ideas with Yaw Adutwum

Eight former Education Ministers of Ghana say their collective and individual knowledge and experience can be tapped for the nation’s education development.

The former Ministers who spoke in turns, said, bringing people with diverse expertise to bear on issues would go a long way in getting the best strategies and ideas to push the nation’s development agenda forward.

The former Ministers made the call at a meeting with Dr Yaw Adutwum, the current Education Minister, at his request in Accra on Monday.

Present at the meeting were Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Ms Betty Mould Iddrissu, Prof. Dominic Fobih, Dr Ekow Spio-Garbrah, Ms Joyce Aryee, Prof. Ameyaw Ekumfi, Paapa Owusu Ankomah and Dr Mrs Christiana Amoako Nuamah, who joined the discussion through zoom.

Apart from the fact that it was the first time a sitting minister in the country had brought almost all former sector ministers alive together, the occasion also created an opportunity for them to interact and share ideas on how to support the growth of education.

The former Ministers lauded Dr Adutwum for creating such an opportunity for them to discuss issues relating to the proper development of education in the country.

Among the issues raised by the former ministers were discipline on the part of teachers as well as the need for improvement in the supervision in schools to ensure that teachers stayed in school and taught.

They also raised issues with the lack of interest on the part of parents in the education of their children, leading to some of the children not taking their education seriously.

Some of the former ministers also raised concern with over-centralization which made it very difficult for teachers to be disciplined by their immediate superiors.

They said it led to some recalcitrant teachers undermining teaching and learning in their schools.

Dr Adutwum commended the former ministers for the roles played in the past in the development of education in the country.

He assured them of his readiness to engage them regularly to share more ideas with the view to continuing some of the good ideas which were not executed due to lack of time, change of leadership, and change of policy although they were very necessary to support the development of the country.

The Education Minister announced that plans were far advanced towards making it public at every point in time the status of education in the country at a glance.

He called for the deepening of the ties between the Ministry and the former ministers for them to share their experiences and plans with those in charge.

Ms Joyce Aryee, the senior-most former Education Minister among those present, promised on their behalf, to contribute their quota towards the transformation of the nation’s economy through education.

She called for more of such engagements to share ideas and the benefit of hindsight.