It is about more than school buildings, Nana Akomea

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

Garden City, New York

March 11, 2016

E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net

When it comes to education-talk, or education-speak, perhaps somebody ought to inform the key operatives of the country’s two major parties that the problem with the inadequate provision of education to Ghanaian youths far transcends the patently fundamental construction of school buildings (See “NPP Will Build 350 SHS If We Win 2016 – Akomea” MyJoyOnline.com / Ghanaweb.com 3/7/16). Don’t get me wrong; the construction of school buildings is very important and beyond dispute. But, of course, it is not the whole story.

What matters here more than anything else, is the development of progressive curricula that will equip our school-going children and grandchildren with the creative imagination and initiative to facilitate the rapid and massive development of the country at all levels. First of all, our leaders need to take stock of the kind and quality of education being presently afforded Ghanaian youths, what its impact on our society has been over the past generation, and what it ought to have been, to begin with. And then we can begin to seriously find ways and means of making up for whatever practical, intellectual and vocational inadequacies may exist within both our present educational system and the nation at large.

Merely complaining about schools under trees would amount to naught, for curricular content is as important as the material circumstances under which our youths are instructed and/or tutored. Indeed, in terms of priority, the qualitative content of our instructional curricula trumps the facilities in which these pupils study. If, indeed, it is accurate, as Nana Akomea claims, that of the 200 Senior High School building facilities promised by the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the lead-up to Election 2012 only four (4) have been successfully constructed, then it stands to reason for the New Patriotic Party’s Communications Director to fully appreciate the fact that his promise of 350 school buildings being constructed by an Akufo-Addo-led NPP government, within its first four-year term, may well be a vacuous electioneering campaign gimmickry.

This is not to necessarily to imply that the creative and energy levels of the leaderships of the country’s two major parties are exactly the same. The relatively sterling achievements of the Kufuor-led government of the New Patriotic Party are there for all to see. The preceding notwithstanding, however, the fact still remains that building 350 Senior High Schools within the highly limited span of four years is a nigh impossibility for any present-day Ghanaian government. And by the way, precisely what kind and quality of buildings are we talking about here? Prefabricated plywood structures or well-laid concrete buildings? And then also, what quality of furnishings will be provided these schools, as well as learning tools and technologies? Even more important is the need to highlight the level and quality of maintenance of our already existing building facilities and structures. It goes without saying that a critical part of the presently poor quality of the country’s educational system has to do with the abjectly poor maintenance of learning tools and physical plant facilities.

Where there is a lot of highfalutin talk about building more architectural landmarks, the most pragmatically appropriate solution may well be the need to simply expand existent facilities as well as upgrading the same. Then also, we need to constructively discuss the distribution of the projected number of schools to be built across all ten regions of the country, as well as the number and caliber of teachers to be recruited to staff these schools and their conditions of service. Merely putting up massive physical plant facilities for schools, when a remarkable percentage of the nation’s public schoolteachers are owed salary arrears going back months is inexcusably absurd. It is unmistakably akin to the proverbial putting of the cart before, rather than behind, the horse. It ought to be clear to smug and pontifical politicians like Nana Akomea that what is direly and promptly needed presently is serious thinking about the academic and cultural development of the country, not more cheap political talk.

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