CPP Makes A Case On Education

A government of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) would introduce an international distance learning scheme that would allow Ghanaian lecturers abroad to teach some classes in Ghana by the internet or satellite.

To meet the expanded education needs of a growing population, the CPP, in collaboration with the non-state sector, including religious organisations, would invest heavily in infrastructure and most importantly, the provision of equipment for science and technology teaching and in the quality of tutorship.

The flagbearer of the CPP, Ivor Greenstreet in an interview said this would improve access and quality at all levels of education throughout the country.

According to Mr. Greenstreet, the CPP seeks to ensure gender and social inclusion in national politics and to provide a voice for the youth, vulnerable groups, opinion leaders and the broader spectrum of the society to contribute their quota to the achievement of a peaceful poll in December.

According to the CPP flagbearer, the system was to create a platform to dissect the manifestos of all political parties and provide in-depth analysis of each thematic area to the electorate to enable them to make an informed judgement.

“We will raise the school leaving age to 18 years; secondary school will become part of basic education and will be made free, and boarding schools will be actively promoted as a way of reducing the cost of education,” the flagbearer stated.

“We will make vocational and technical education, mostly post-secondary, to ensure that those going to vocational and technical schools are adequately prepared academically.

“We will establish new industrial training boards in every region tasked to increase the range of training opportunities for school leavers. They will not just be concerned with the traditional craft skills, but also deal with the office, the shop, and the farm, as well as the factory.”

On tertiary Institutions, the CPP said the government under Mr. Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, would set up regional campuses for all state universities and other tertiary institutions to improve access and reduce the cost of higher education to households.

It would introduce professional managers, for example, with experience in managing large private or public organisations, to head state universities.

This, he said, would free academicians to concentrate on teaching and research and improve the quality of leadership at these institutions.

The CPP said it would give students the opportunity to assess and rate their lecturers regularly in order to improve the quality of tertiary education.

It would enhance governance through quarterly publication of financial and management reports of tertiary institutions and the establishment of more transparent and pro-active mechanism to handle both staff and student grievances.

A CPP government would also regulate the quality of private tertiary institutions and encourage them to collaborate with the state and the private sector to provide the manpower needs of the country.

For the CPP, the poverty gap was a technology gap.

“The richest nations in the world are also the most technologically advanced, the poorest nations have the lowest level of technological development.”

It would therefore, upgrade science and technology facilities at all educational institutions and complete the science and technology museum, which had been under construction for years.

It would adequately resource the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to play a more active role in national development and set up the Ghana Global Science and Technology Consortium (GGSTC) to foster cooperation between Ghanaian scientists at home and abroad.

It would provide tax incentives to businesses to apply scientific and technological knowledge to industry and the larger society as well as expand and improve the quality of the University of Mines and Technology to attract a bigger share of the international student market, while offering first class education to Ghanaians.

A CPP government would organise annual science and technology awards for students and practitioners, both at home and abroad, in addition to promoting pre-tertiary and tertiary science education.