Minister of Education under the erstwhile Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), Professor Ama Ata Aidoo has set the stage for a national debate by calling for the scrapping of the boarding component in state-as-assisted senior high schools (SHSs).
"Ghana has never been able to afford boarding as a major component of its state-owned education system. We cannot afford it, and not wanting to admit this puts us in some danger," the educationist said.
According to her, since state-owned education was introduced over a 1,000 years ago in some countries, no nation on earth has considered boarding as a necessary component of it.
"That fact covers the most populous, the richest, and the most powerful nations on our planet, like China, Japan, US, and Russia (former USSR). In those countries and almost everywhere else, secondary education covers between 90% and 95% of the population; it is day, and it is free.
“Apart from the confusion they have created around the issue by calling boarding secondaries 'public schools' while they run them as private institutions, the British, who introduced the model to us, never attempted to use it for their state-owned system. Even for us, the British had meant boarding as a temporary measure to create a local nucleus to help them run the Gold Coast as a colonial space," she added.
Prof Ama Ata Aidoo noted that it was quite unfortunate that after independence, the country not only kept boarding as part of the national educational system but also allowed it to expand to its current unmanageable levels.
"We can be bold enough to say that until the current government rolled out the free SHS programme, state assistance covered less than 30% of Ghana children. The remaining 70% or so were just abandoned in the rural and urban poor areas.
"It was reckless of this country's professional and mercantile elite to insist that the Ghanaian state undertook to board and feed their children when they are most ably placed to take care of the physical needs of their children.
"It is also to be noted that at this stage in their lives, young people eat like rabbits. That was the original African state capture.
"In some or most of the co-ed institutions, the girls are shared among the headmasters and the male teaching staff as special stables for their own private use" the educationist said.
Prof Ama Ata Aidoo observed that over the last several weeks, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has been struggling to get Ghanaians to see that the boarding schools are now also sites that threaten the health of students.
According to her, in any group of healthy boys and girls, the SHS years are about personal biology and the exploration of different sexualities, especially where the environment is encouraging.
“So boarding schools have always been spaces for the growth of homosexuality. It is to be noted that I’m not against any sexual preferences because I don’t consider myself competent or knowledgeable enough to judge.
“But it is evident of the most dangerous form of hypocrisy to insist that being gay is evil, irreligious, untraditional etc., while at the same time, we worship boarding schools as they only spaces where we can get our own and other people’s children educated properly. Worse, we may try and hold all our governments, past and present, to ransom over this issue,” Ama Ata Aidoo said.
Source: myjoyonline.com
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Skewed argument by Ama. The citizens decide what is beneficial to them. Is she saying there are no boarding schools at all in china, etc? Is she saying all parents can afford taking care of their children? china, japan, usa russia ALL USE THEIR OWN LANGUAGES TO EDUCATE, MANUFACTURE AND GOVERN THEMSELVES...so a balanced comparison is needed. she failed to compare the literacy, technological and cultural advancement in these socities...she even omitted their history...We shall continue running this system until 80% of the population is properly literate...then will we not need day schools, since e-learning alone will save us so much time, cost and teaching resources.
On point Prof. I live in the US for some time now and I've understood their educational systems quite well. Indeed there is nothing like a senior high school boarding system. The reason is simple: every county or school distrcit is endowed with amazing schools to the extent that one does not need to travel to a different city or county for a high school. Moreover, there are buses that pick students to and fro schools daily, all at the expense of the federal or state government. Ghana could adopt such a syatem but it will take a brave leader to do so... Whichever government may introduce that will become unpopular because their political opponents may incite the citizenry against the move. However, it could be one of the best moves if managed properly. First and foremost, every city, town, or village must have a descent high school to attract the local residents. Secondly, teachers must be given good insentives to be interested in serving rural areas. With these measures, Ghana would save a lot of money for other thing s rather than producing mass graduate s who at the end of their education have no jobs.
..or let them pay for their boarding fees
Right on piont prof,this the system of free education practised in all the advanced rich world
I agree with the Prof. If you want to enjoy the free SHS programme, be a day student. Simple! I think the State is just wasting money.
This is very good advice and wishes policymakers will give time to think about it.
I think the government should give ear to this. We don't need boarding schools. This will even make parents more responsible.