Joel Nettey Tells Gov't: Grant Autonomy To Capable SHSs To Improve Quality Of Education

Chief Executive Officer of Innova DDB Ghana, Joel Edmund Nettey wants government to grant autonomy to some Senior High Schools [SHS] in the country to improve quality education at the second cycle level. Joel Nettey was speaking as the guest of honour at the 87th anniversary Speech and Prize-giving Day of Achimota School in Accra on Saturday. The ceremony held on the theme, �Educating the Child the 360 degree Way� was organized by the Board of Governors, management and members of the 1989 year group. According to Joel Nettey, granting autonomy to selected schools which have demonstrated the capacity to manage their own affairs will help complement effort of the Ghana Education Service (GES) for quality education. �Let�s not play the ostrich with what is happening to our educational system. To put it simply, it is dying if not dead. 360-degree education is not only critical but non-negotiable,� he stated. Joel Edmund Nettey, among other things, suggested that the �autonomous� schools be allowed to charge fees that will enable them to offer competitive remuneration to their staff and attract best teachers, provide adequate modern infrastructure to ensure the students get the best tuition. �This will result in what I call the highest common denominator effect as opposed to the current system that feels like a concerted effort to drop the quality of education in some schools so as to create equity in sub-standard education across the country,� he noted. Adding that, �Education is everyone�s business and I do hope this could form the beginning of a serious, non-lip service commitment to a nationwide dialogue and subsequent urgent action�. ��To President John Mahama, Minister of Education, Parliament and Ghanaians, let�s not be said that it was in our time as leaders of this country that our educational system collapsed� However, Headmistress of Achimota School, Mrs. Beatrice Adom applauded her students for an outstanding performance in the 2013 West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. She was unhappy with parents who forcibly want their wards to be admitted into the school in spite of government�s fatwa to heads of school not to do admissions. Mrs. Adom also thanked government, GES, the PTA and members of the Old Achimotan Association for their donations to the school over the years. She however appealed for more infrastructures due to increasing student population, in order to enhance effective teaching and learning.