Accra August 3, GNA - Parliament on Monday passed the Education
Amendment Bill, 2010, thus reversing the four-year Senior Secondary
School education to three years.
The bill which is to amend education Act 778 was at the consideration
stage had members debating on it as if it was at the second reading with
the minority against an amendment proposed by the majority to delete a
clause in the bill which said that the system should run for ' not less than '' three years. To reach an agreement on the clause the First Deputy Speaker, Mr
Doe Adjaho called for voting with members queuing to sign their names
in the chamber.
Mr Sampson Ahi, member for Juaboso and Mrs Gifty Eugenia Kusi,
member for Tarkwa-Nsuaem were the polling agents for the minority
side whilst Mr Benjamin Kofi Ayeh, member for Upper Denkyira West and
Mr Gershon Gbediame, Majority Chief Whip and member for Nkwanta
South, were on the majority side.
But at the end of the vote the majority who were in-favour obtained
106 and the minority who said no had 79 votes.
It all began when Papa Owusu Ankomah member for Sekondi was
against the amendment arguing that the education bill should not be
made partisan by legislation with Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyemang,
member for New Juaben North saying the clause did not merit an
amendment.
Mr Cletus Avoka, the Majority Leader, said the bill was precise and
clear and thus if the clause was not amended it would make the law
ambiguous to have some schools running three years whilst others have
four or even six to ten years.
Mr Baladu Manu, member for Ahafo Ano South, said the senior
secondary schools did not have the needed infrastructure, motivated
teachers and text books and so should be allowed to got through the
four years to enable students go through the course outline.
There were two other clauses for which amendments were proposed
by Prof Christopher Ameyaw Ekumfi and Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh for
an addition of new sub clauses to the effect that "any second cycle
institution in which 75 per cent or more of its candidates could not obtain
a minimum of entrance grades for public tertiary institutions shall be
considered as a weak school and shall run for a four-year second cycle
programme until there was improvement in its achievement.
The second proposed by Dr Prempeh noted that an institution which
is running programme and improves its level of achievement and hence
qualifies to run a three year programme shall conclude the original
duration before a change."
All these were opposed by the majority with Mr Haruna Iddrisu,
Minister of Communications arguing that tertiary education goes beyond
university education and the only thing was to challenge the Minister of
Education to apply an administrative amendment to address the
significant differences in performance.
Mr Joe Gidisu, Minister of Roads and Highways, said the proposed
clauses would introduce a class system which would make some schools
feel they were backward and others were experts and called for a
rejection of the amendment.
This resulted into another vote by head count which ended with the
majority obtaining 108 of the votes counted and the minority 78 votes.
Mr Adjaho, therefore announced the end of the amendment of the
bill at the consideration stage and made the Minister of Education, Mr
Alex Tetey Enyo to move for the bill to be read the third time and was
seconded by Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Minister for Local government
after which it was passed.
