4-years SHS duration must be debated – NHIA Boss

The CEO of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Dr. Samuel Yaw Annor is calling for a renewed debate on the duration for Senior High School.

According to him, the current education system of Ghana needs a paradigm shift to ensure that SHS students get practical skills to prepare them for the job market.

“The formula needs to change, should we extend the education to probably a year or two purely for practical training? Like we’ve been doing for Doctors and Nurses because Doctors even after six years that they are churned out, they still spend about a year or two to go through apprenticeship practically on the field, practically left with the patients with a little bit of guidance. Should we employ the same techniques to train our science, masons, our welders, or should we just give them theory with minimal practical training and then throw them out to the job markek,” Dr. Annor noted.

“These are the hard teething questions that face our education system, that face our politicians. Let us open the debate. The debate will help on whether our Senior High schools should run for three years or run for four years. Let’s have a hard debate and see why the students we are churning out are all roaming about looking for job,” the NHIA boss said at the 50th anniversary, Speech and Prize Giving Day of Koforidua Senior Technical School (SECTEC).

He questioned the impact of the current education system in Ghana juxtaposing it with that of Europe and other parts of the world which train students to equip them with practical science, technical and vocation abilities to meet job specifications.

Dr. Annor wants the system to be overhauled.