Accra, March 27, GNA – The Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has urged calm among Ghanaians as they discuss Achimota School’s conditional admission of two Rastafarian students.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, in response to a Statement and subsequent contributions by Members of Parliament, Dr. Adutwum disclosed that over the years, Achimota School had carved a niche as a school of inclusion, and a beacon of hope for many young men and women.
The Minister stated that the Ghana Education Service (GES) provided opportunities for all students to blossom and to have quality education as well as give off their best.
He said he understood the ongoing debate in connection with the Achimota school, adding that “irrespective of emotions, let us all calm down”.
The Minister indicated that his Ministry had been facilitating meetings between the GES, Achimota School, and the Parents of the two Students to help find a lasting solution to the issue so that the students could start their academic work immediately.
Again, he assured the country that the Ghana Education Service will soon lay out specific guidelines for Heads of Schools on how to proceed in such situations in future.
The Minister announced that the President had directed great investment in education, adding that government was committed to using education as a vehicle for socio-economic development.
This included the Free Senior High School, which was an access issue but now focusing on quality, hence the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) centers being built across the country.
He stated that the curriculum change was to ensure that the nation’s education matched up with her 21st century education needs, indicating that the inclusion of computing and other important aspects of work in school was to reflect the current state of global education.
The Ministry of Education was focusing on achieving the President’s vision of transforming the nation’s education to promote total development of the various facets of the economy, he stressed.
GNA