54,800 children enrolled under free education – Mahama

The President John Dramani Mahama has stated that over 54, 000 children from four different regions have been enrolled into various schools under the Compulsory Education program.

The President delivering his last State of the Nation Address under his first term to Ghana’s Parliament, said in June 2015, over 10,000 'Made in Ghana' sandals were distributed as part of his social intervention program.

He added as a result of a directive he gave last year that school textbooks should be printed in Ghana, 1,400 new direct jobs have been created as a result of that directive.

Mahama also revealed that the Education Ministry has also introduced two new programs in that sector, Teacher Professional Development where the aim is to train 95% of teachers in Basic level by 2020.

Under the Provision of Teaching and Learning Materials, about 10,000 school supplies have been distributed and over 30,000 teachers trained in ICT.

President Mahama who promised to construct 200 Day Schools in four years said over 200,000 jobs when the schools are completed.

According to him, this is the biggest expansion of education in the history of Ghana. He added that enrollment in tertiary education has been 6.3% and 8.9 for polytechnics.

He said 816 direct jobs have been created from the University of Health and Allied Science in Ho which government has set up and has admitted over 800 students.