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A former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah says government must allow for greater or reasonable level of autonomy and flexibility for heads and governing boards in running their schools.

This, he explained, would promote innovation, initiative and contribute towards improvement of quality, rather than access to senior high schools.

According to him, although the government’s Free SHS policy is one of boldest educational reforms to have been taken in Ghana, the issue of funding pre-tertiary education by government needs to be re-examined to ensure quality and equity.

To that end, he advised government not to put unnecessary restrictions on parents who are able, willing and prepared to contribute to their children’s education in the public schools through their Parents-Teachers Association (PTA).
He explained that when government does that, monies that it would have used to support the children of these parents could be channelled to other areas within the education sector to ensure quality.

Professor Addae-Mensah indicated that experiences since 1951 have shown that whenever government takes on direct finances of education with very little or no support from parents, quality is compromised because governments are unable to meet their financial obligations in good time to sustain the necessary finances required.
“This aspect will need to be critically and dispassionately looked at without any political colourisation so that it becomes permanent and sustainable.

“I think it will only succeed if government will be able and willing to provide all the necessary financial administrative and personnel support”, he stressed.

According to him, a critical examination of the various outcomes of various educational reforms in Ghana rather shows it succeeded in widening the gap between the privileged and the underprivileged, between the rural and middle class urban children, and between the public school and the private school system of pre-tertiary education, but did not provide quality education.

Using the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) as an example, the professor listed a number of schools across Ghana providing the majority of students to top universities. 

He stated that only 52 out of 800 schools in Ghana could meet the KNUST enrolment criteria of an aggregate 6 with 8A-1s. 

He further highlighted the University of Ghana’s School of Engineering, showing that out of 458 students, 10 schools took almost 50% of the places in 2016/2017. 

Professor Addae-Mensah emphasised the general limited mobility in the list of the most academically successful schools in Ghana, with there being little change of the top 10 since 2006. 

The professor was speaking at the launch of the 2018 Global Action Week for Education, organised by the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC).

A report on sustainable funding education from pre-school to tertiary, he continued, was produced by the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) in 2010 at a great financial and human resource cost, but unfortunately the succeeding governments have ignored the report.

He has consequently suggested that the current government revisit and tap into some of the ideas on sustainable quality education beyond the mere facilitation of access.

Dr Esther Offei Aboagye, who was the chairman for the launch, stressed active participation in achieving desired educational goals, stating that the government will require citizens’ support, and it is ultimately a shared responsibility. 

She said the week-long celebration would be used to encourage citizens’ participation and accountability in the management of education in Ghana.

Dr Peter Obeng-Asamoa, Executive Director of the Ghana Blind Union, emphasised on education and equal opportunity for all in Ghana, particularly children with disabilities. 

He said “all really means all”, and added that “let’s not leave anyone behind.”

Dr Obeng-Asamoa used various examples to expand on this point, suggesting children in wheelchairs should have their needs catered for when moving around school, and deaf children should also have their situation taken carefully into account during examinations. 

The Global Action Week for Education (GAWE) is an annual advocacy campaign organised to raise awareness about critical issues in education that require priority attention, and to advocate for urgent action and commitment of targeted resources to address such issues. 
The one-week celebration, which was on the theme ‘Strengthening Citizen Participation and Accountability in Education Management: A milestone for achieving SDG4’.