The Flag-bearer hopeful of the opposition People’s National Convention Dr. Edmund Ayesu is demanding significant restructuring in Ghana’s second – cycle school education to ensure a brighter future for students and Ghana as a whole.
In a statement copied A1 Radio titled, “Embracing Change: Transitioning to Day-Schools in Ghana’s Secondary Education” Dr. Edmund Ayesu said as Ghana is into a new era of educational reform which emphasises on inclusivity, continuity, and decentralisation, it is time to challenge the status quo and embrace change that will shape a brighter future for students and the nation.
Dr. Ayesu stated that the boarding system that was seen as a unifying force, has unintentionally created barriers to the holistic development of the country’s human resource needs. In the spirit of inclusivity and continuity, he insisted that it was time to welcome a day-school model that connects seamlessly with the lower levels in preferably the same cluster.
According to Dr. Ayesu, abolishing the boarding system will align with the core principles of decentralising education to enhance inclusiveness, continuity, and family participation. Dr. Ayesu argues that resorting to the day schools system will help address the current happenings in Senior High Schools in the country which include, overcrowding, bullying, drug abuse, hooliganism, and falling standards of education thereby the existing architecture have to be changed.
“The deepening challenges of limited resource allocations, overcrowding, bullying, drug abuse, hooliganism, and falling standards of education facing our schools today are a wake-up call for a disruptive policy to change the existing architecture. The boarding system, while once seen as a unifying force, has unintentionally created barriers to the holistic development of the country’s human resource needs. In the spirit of inclusivity and continuity, it is time to bid farewell to these barriers and welcome a day-school model that connects seamlessly with the lower levels in preferably the same cluster”
“Abolishing the boarding system aligns with our core principles of decentralising education to enhance inclusiveness, continuity, and family participation. The current educational system emphasises a continuous twelve-level basic education structure that terminates at the Senior High School (SHS) level within a common-core curriculum framework.”
Dr. Ayesu questioned why Ghana still continues to practise a system of education which was introduced to the country by the colonial masters who are not practising the same system in their countries.
“To ensure access to standard education for millions of Ghanaian children, we must redesign our educational system in a way that does not financially burden the state or households. It is noteworthy that the colonial masters who introduced the boarding system in Ghana do not practise the same system in their countries. Therefore, we must question why we are so attached to this system in our own country”
The PNC Flag-bearer hopeful Dr. Ayesu stated that he believes in free education but it should not be costly and run on a boarding system. He said the existing boarding schools can be transformed into colleges of technology, arts, education and sports for a greater value in entrepreneurship and enterprise development training schools in the country.
“I believe in free basic education to the level of SHS as a right for every Ghanaian, but it should not be run on the costly boarding system. The proposed school model should have all the infrastructure for the twelve-level education in one place within the community, offering day education. Most of the existing boarding schools can be transformed into colleges of technology, the arts, education and sports for a greater value in entrepreneurship and enterprise development training. With a concentrated effort over the next decade, we can redesign our educational system to encompass the values of family, community, and state, where all actors play their part in enhancing returns on education for society”
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHZ|David Azure |Bolgatanga|
