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A group calling itself Students For Mahama (SFM) has downplayed the importance of the flag-bearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s, appreciation of the country’s educational challenges.

At a press conference organised recently in Accra, SFM mentioned a number of areas in the educational sector that the three-time flag-bearer of the NPP erred in assessing the educational programmes of the country.

Key amongst the issues raised was his recent campaign promise on the conversion of polytechnics to technical universities when he wins the November 7 presidential election.

While explaining the mechanisms involved in the conversion process, the group claimed that the policy was included in the NDC’s 2012 manifesto.

SFM also used the occasion to defend government’s decision to cancel allowances for students at the Colleges of Education.

It contended that the development since then has witnessed a surge in enrolment as well as infrastructural development at that level.

SFM, consequently, described as a “rush rhetoric,” the promise by Nana Addo to bring back the teacher trainee allowance.

In the estimation of SFM, the re-introduction of that policy will hamper progress made so far in closing the teacher-student deficit and bring back the quota system of admission in Colleges of Education.

In an interview with Today, a member of the group, Benjamin Alpha, urged Ghanaian students to subject promises made by presidential candidates who seek the highest office of the land to critical scrutiny.

According to him, Nana Addo’s evaluation on the country’s educational system was a clear indication of his inability to run the country when given the nod in the November 7 polls.

“At a critical stage in our national life where the biggest problem facing the educational sector is accessed, we find it misdirected that a presidential candidate will focus on giving populist promises to students. What he usually proposes or speak of are not the answers to the existing challenges. We the students must know that, we play a critical role in contributing meaningfully to educational discourse in the country.

…We have bigger challenges. We need a president who understands these challenges and also has solutions which are of contemporary relevance. Nana Addo has failed to show both and we cannot gamble with our future,” he stated.