What is Adutwum afraid of? – Dr Apaak reacts refual of access to SHS placement information

The Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak, has praised the Right to Information (RTI) Commission for fining the Ministry of Education for refusing access to information requested by the educational think tank, Africa Education Watch (EduWatch).

In a tweet shared on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, the MP, who is also the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Select Committee on Education, also commend the RTI commission for ordering the ministry to grant access to information on Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) which was requested by EduWatch.

He asked what the Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, was trying to hide by denying access to data on Senior High School placement.

“What is the Ministry of Education afraid of? I'm happy the RTI commission has fined the Ministry and is compelling the Ministry to make SHS placement data for 2022 available to EduWatch!” parts of the tweet the MP shared read.

The Right to Information (RTI) Commission fined the Minister of Education GHC50,000 for denying the education think tank Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) access to information on the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

According to EduWatch, the RTI commission also ordered the Ministry to immediately make the information it requested available.

In a tweet shared on March 1, 2023, the think tank urged the Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum, to release the information requested for the sake of transparency and accountability.

It is unclear what specific Senior High School placement information the Education Ministry denied EduWatch, but the Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has been accused of protecting staff at his Ministry who took GHC7000 for a school placement.

According to the Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak, a report by a committee set up by the Education Ministry to investigate the incident showed that someone used the minister's PIN code to illegally place a student in a grade A Senior High School.

Dr Apaak, who made these remarks in a Neat FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb, added that Adutwum admitted to sharing his pin with some of his staff for the placement but failed to disclose the identity of the person who made the said placement.

View the tweet by MP below:

What is the Ministry of Education afraid of? I'm happy the RTI commission has fined the Ministry and is compelling the Ministry to make SHS placement data for 2022 available to EduWatch! pic.twitter.com/rY1AKpVLHG

— Dr. Clement Abas Apaak (@DrApaak) March 1, 2023

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