Mahama would be leading if quality education was all about building classrooms - Fmr education minister

Former Education Minister Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang has stated that the previous administration would have counted a lot of rooms if improving education in the country was all about building classrooms.

This, she said, is because each one of the E-blocks built during the tenure of Mr John Dramani Mahama, can build four average schools.

“Each E-block can build four of the average basic schools. Oh yes! Because the classrooms alone were 24 with four science labs. A lot of the basic schools don’t have four science labs. Go to one and take inventory of what is there. You have your assembly hall indoors, you have your library, you have your computer lab, you have four science labs, you have the headmaster’s office, you have an office for staff and then also, very importantly, office for the subject heads.”

The former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast in an interview with Kwabena Bobie Ansah on Accra100.5FM’s Citizen Show challenged the Akufo-Addo government to take the education of the future leaders of the country very seriously.

She further noted that the E-blocks were built for a purpose and should be used as such.

“It wasn’t for nothing that we built the Community Day Schools. It wasn’t for nothing that we didn’t build them like the average public schools in this country – the nine-unit classroom, the headmaster’s office and everything else left out. No.” she pointed out.

She added that “So, for example, if I teach English with four staff and we want to meet to set questions or take stock of teaching activities during the mid-terms, we must not sit under trees as I have been seeing all around. They must have an office. We created that for them.”

“So, today, if we are to count rooms, then we would’ve counted a lot. But this is not a joke. This is a very serious matter because you’re looking at the future of the country”, she added.

Prof Opoku Agyemang also mentioned that providing free senior high school education is just abiding by the law as “the Constitution itself enjoins progressively free education… it’s very clear there”.

She said to provide quality education for the future leaders, the focus should be on “what strategies am I bringing on board to ensure that it works,” and not just making it free.