Portrait of the President, Education Minister must be in offices of all Headmasters – Adutwum

Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has said that pictures of the president and the Minister in charge of Education must be fixed in the offices of all headmasters in the country.

He stated in an interview with Dzifa Bampoh on the First Take Show on 3FM Thursday, April 22 that this will enable the students and pupils across the country to familiarise themselves with the faces of the sector minister and the President.

Dr Adutwum explained that when he was the Deputy Minister of Education, he toured some schools in the country and interacted with the students.

The students, he said, were so fascinated and overly excited for coming into direct contact with him.

Sharing his experience as Deputy Minister in President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's first term, the Bosomtwe lawmaker told Dzifa that “I just want to, first of all, thank God for this opportunity and thank the president for the confidence reposed in me to put me in this unique situation to be able to spearhead the attainment of his vision for education transformation in Ghana.

“Four years was great, it was an exciting time for me, very busy schedule visiting classrooms unannounced and teaching some classes. It was exciting that you could interact with the children, you see the joy in their faces when they get to know at that time, the deputy minister for education and then you had to explain to them. Because when you enter the campus, invariably you don’t see the picture of the president, something that I am going to be working on, at least in the headmaster’s office the picture of the Minister for Education is not there.

“So we had to break it down for them to appreciate ministers before you introduce yourself as a Deputy Minister.

“Once they get to know, they get excited and the excitement rubs off on you in a very positive way that the children are happy to see somebody in government in their classroom so I enjoyed the first four years.”

Asked what the picture of the President and the Minister will do to the students, he answered “They could not understand who you are so you have to start and ask who the President of Ghana is. Some of them will get it right, some will get it wrong and then you drill it down to the point where they will appreciate who you are.

“Once they get to know who you are they get excited. If you go to most public offices you the see the president picture, the Coat of Arms, civics, it gets you to appreciate the country that you are growing up in. as a child…It is very important to let them know that the picture they see, one day it will be their picture.