The PRO Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies, Professor Seidu Al-Hassan, has indicated that since free education is a constitutional requirement, the process for attaining free quality pre-tertiary education should be initiated, accomplished and owned by Ghanaians themselves.
He said it is only Ghanaians who can shape, and implement the policy for the betterment of the country.
Speaking at the 25th Annual Conference of Directors of Education in Tamale, Professor Al-Hassan commended government under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, for taking the bold imitative to expand the frontiers of free education to cover Senior High School level under the Free Senior High School flagship program.
The Conference of Directors of Education (CODE) is a professional group with the Ghana Education Service.
Its membership comprises of Metropolitan, Municipal and Districts Directors of Education and some others appointed at the regions and headquarters with the rank of Director Two.
The objective of the conference is to strengthen the ability and capacity of its members to perform their task effectively.
The PRO Vice Chancellor, Professor Al-Hassan, asserted that though free quality pre-tertiary education is needed for national development, there are however, challenges that if not addressed, the country cannot attain its vision.
He said it will be erroneous to assume that the Free SHS education is a panacea to the country’s numerous challenges adding that though it can improve access and equality, there is no guarantee that there will be equity.
Professor Al-hassan said governments over the years have failed to invest heavily in education adding that without funds the sustainability of the free education and for that matter the free senior high school policy is questionable.
Professor Al-Hassan recommended that the country’s educational system should be functional to meet the needs of beneficiaries stressing that government must prioritize vocational and technical education to benefit the fallouts in the educational ladder.
Touching on the double track system, Professor Al-Hassan said the system is not a solution to the free SHS program but a coping strategy and therefore the solution lies in the provision of quality basic school infrastructure and facilities.
He government should not voluntarily subject itself to a situation whereby it will be overstretched in terms of mobilizing resources for this important agenda.
The Paramount Chief of Sagnarigu Traditional Area, Ambassador Yakubu Abdulai in a statement urged stakeholders to support the double track educational system and the semester system which according to him is a paradigm shift in the education sector.
He said the quality component of the policy will not be realized if government fails to resource public institutions to make them more productive.
He said governments needed to provide the additional teachers, a developmental curriculum, teaching and learning materials, laboratories classrooms and other infrastructure to maximize teaching and learning outputs in schools.
Ambassador Yakubu Abdulai mentioned timely remittances to schools, fuel and vehicle maintenance allowance, effective supervisory and monitoring roles, school feeding programme, as some panacea to achieving quality education.
He called on stakeholders, parents, teachers, policy makers to play their respective roles in the pursuit of quality education.
The President of CODE, Mrs. Margaret Frempong-Kore, commended government for taking the bold initiative of expanding the frontiers of free education at the senior high level to cover not only tuition but admissions, boarding, feeding, textbooks among others.
She however, said quality secondary education can only emerge from quality basic schools therefore the provision of free education at the senior high level will be, meaningless if basic school education, which is the foundation, is weak.
Mrs. Frempong-Kore said CODE is repositioning itself to cater for the changing needs of education in the country and it is focused on tuning itself to the provision of quality education delivery to its numerous stakeholders across the country.
The 25th Annual Conference of Directors of Education was on the theme, “Free Quality Pre-Tertiary Education in Ghana: The Panacea to National Development”.
This year’s theme is among other things to open a debate about key issues that confront and influence quality pre-tertiary education, share experiences and disseminate information on current trends in education, discuss issues related to policy directions and discuss the involvement of other stakeholders, policy makers and the community in programs aimed at improving education delivery.
