Govt is not gambling with future of students; we know exactly what to do – Dr. Adutwum

Education minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum has said the government is not gambling with the future of students contrary to the assertion of education watchers and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The minister who doubles as M.P. for the Bosomtwe Constituency, contends critics pointing to a deterioration in the quality of education as a result of the implementation of government's Free Senior High School Policy have their facts wrong.

“Ghana has done something that is not seen in many places around the world by increasing enrollment and increasing learning outcomes at the same time. This project has been implemented very well and I want to assure you that we are not gambling with the future of your children because we know exactly what to do and we are executing it very well,” he argued.

According to the minister, the country achieved the best learning outcomes in the 2022 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination; making nonsense of the claims of diminishing education quality.

Speaking at the 60th anniversary launch of the Kumasi High School in the Ashanti Region, he admitted that quality of education is documented to suffer when there's an enrollment increase, which burdens teachers handling larger class sizes.

He however indicated that Ghana has rewritten the rule with deliberate programs and projects undertaken to beef up the resource capacities of schools to meet the enrollment swell from some 830 thousand students to over 1.4 million students.

Outlining the headline decisions that has defied the odds, Dr. Osei Yaw Adutwum reiterated how an incentive grant program has motivated teachers to provide extra support to students.

“In addition to that, we ensured that all SHS students have core text books which was not the case before senior high school

Science students have been given biology, chemistry, physics and elective math text books and that was not the case before Free Senior High School. We hired additional teachers and that was not the case before Free Senior High School,” he recounted.

The 60th Anniversary launch of the school saw in attendance past students of the school who have esteemed themselves as chiefs, professionals in various fields, academia, public officers and captains of industry.

The theme “60 years of holistic education in a safe school environment, what next?” mirrored an aspiration of the Senior High School to chat a new path of educational excellence that builds on the historic achievements of the school.

A legacy project, an ultramodern sports complex estimated to cost 11.2 million cedis was launched in a fund raiser, to support the school’s athletic and sporting activities.

Speaking to reporter Ivan Heathcote – Fumador, chairman of the planning committee Rev. Peter Owusu Mensah explained that the project had become necessary as students were compelled to travel to the Paa Joe Stadium on the KNUST campus to train for sporting and athletic competitions.

The project which is expected to be largely funded by old students of the school, comprises a field, tracks, a dressing room and spectator stands.

The colorful anniversary launch was chaired by the Chairman of Governments Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC); a Finance, Accounting, Insurance and Governance Consultant and old student of the school, Prof Kwame Adom Frimpong.

Consultant surgeon at the Ear Nose and Throat Department of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Prof Joseph Opoku Buabeng who is also an old student of Kumasi High School, was guest of honor for the event.