By Yussif Ibrahim
Kumasi, March 15, GNA – Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, says his goal was to sow seeds of irreversible transformation for the sector, to leave successive governments no option but to sustain.
He said his quest to change the face of education in Ghana was yielding results, and he was committed to raising the standards to a level that his successors would find it difficult to lower.
“I want to raise the standard of education in Ghana to a level where whoever wants to change the status quo after I have left will have parents to contend with,” he told the media in a briefing in Kumasi.
Giving further insight on the progress made in the implementation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), he said this form of education, could equip Ghanaian students with 21st-centuryst Century skills for accelerated development.
He said the government and its partners were pursuing infrastructural development for STEM and TVET schools which could be a game changer if properly managed.
Dr Adutwum also announced the construction of the Accra STEM Academy, which would focus on STEM education from kindergarten to the senior high school level.
The project, which was expected to be completed in December, would admit students by January 2024, and the expectation was that students of the Academy would have a different experience of education, he said.
The Minister also spoke about the establishment of model STEM Junior High Schools (JHS), indicating that the first one was under construction at Asem in Kumasi with funding from the Arab Development Bank.
Again, plans were underway to build similar schools at Bantama, Juaben and Onwe also in Kumasi, adding that, all the schools would be equipped with physics, chemistry and biology laboratories, computer labs and well-equipped libraries.
Dr Adutwum explained that the new STEM JHS concept would promote efficiency and cut costs if scaled up across the country and argued that with the introduction of the model, STEM schools pupils in other local schools could be absorbed, hence allowances paid to the school heads could be saved.
He said there were about 13,000 JHS across the country and the number could be reduced to about 3,500 nationwide if the model STEM schools concept was successfully implemented.
Dr Adutwum promised to pursue that policy by seeking Cabinet’s approval to inject efficiency and innovation into Ghana’s educational system.
GNA