Falling Standard In Education: Priotise Quality Education -Lecturer Asserts

A lecturer at the University of Education (UE,) Winneba, Dr. Theophilus Richardson, has asserted that in the face of the recent falling standard in education, there was the need for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to prioritise quality education in the country. Though he did not discount the importance of Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) as a means of helping in solving the sharp decline in education, he noted that the quality aspect of education was equally crucial. According to the UE lecturer, there should be a national consensus on how the country wants to run its education. �The rate at which the country�s education is going down if nothing is done about it now its repercussions will be disastrous,� he cautioned. Dr. Richardson made these observations on Ghana, Great and Strong, a non-partisan programme broadcast every Saturday from 7:00 P.M., -8:00 P.M., on Ghana�s premier internet -based radio, www.hedjorleonlineradio.com. He blamed successive governments for failing to ensure quality education in the country. And their failure, he explained, was due to the �unnecessary politicization of education.� Recounting the campaign messages of the various political parties in the run-up to the 2012 elections where education became a topical issue, Dr. Richardson opined that all that went on were mere political gimmicks. �None of those political parties was indeed prepared to execute the FCUBE policy, let alone ensuring its quality aspect,� he said. He, however, cannot understand why the government of NDC cannot find money and the needed infrastructures to enhance education. �If the (NDC) government can find money to purchase expensive cars for chiefs, why can�t the same government do same in an area like education where everything is collapsing?� he quizzed. The university lecturer therefore called on political leaders in the country to, as a matter of urgency, add the quality aspect of education to the implementation of the FCUBE. Contributing on the show, founder of Great Institute, Anis Haffer, also expressed doubt about how feasible the implementation of FCUBE could be. What the country needs to do to ensure excellent performance in education, according to him, is not about the implementation of the FCUBE policy. He chastised the framers of the 1992 Constitution for not including the quality aspect in the FCUBE policy. �It would have been proper to have had, for instance, �Free Universal Compulsory quality Basic Education� instead of just FCUBE,� he intoned. He contended that until any government makes it a priority to add the quality aspect to education, the country�s educational system will continue to deteriorate. But in a quick response to his assertion, National Secretary of the Progressive People�s Party (PPP,) Kofi Asamoah-Siaw, said though quality education was important, if the compulsory aspect was not enforced the whole policy would lose its value. He explained that the reason why the PPP has gone to the Supreme Court is to seek clarification, interpretation and as well as to ensure that the Supreme Court compels government to implement the compulsory aspect of the FCUBE.