Gov’t to affiliate newly built schools with ‘Category A’ SHSs – MoE

Plans are underway to affiliate newly built government schools with existing high-performing ones to ensure a levelled quality of education across the country, the Minister in Charge of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has said.

Speaking at a stakeholder dialogue with Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), Adutwum said the new strategy aims to expedite the progress of freshly established second-cycle institutions to fast rise to become top-performing schools.

The Minister for Education also said the initiative will eliminate the overwhelming inclination towards schools recognized as top-performing and the neglect of other equally good schools in the country.

“We want to make sure they don’t stay there for more than 59 years before they become top-performing schools like Opoku Ware or Wesley Girls.

Parents want the best for their wards so they will choose the best. These efforts make sure that there are many top schools available to choose from,” the Education Minister told stakeholders at the MMDCEs dialogue meeting.

The second cycle schools described as high performing by the Minister to be affiliated with the new schools will share knowledge, expertise and resources to elevate and level the education standards in all corners of the country.

In a related development, the Ministry of Education (MoE) as part of an effort to rebrand public education has introduced a a new set of uniforms for basic school students in the country

 “You see, you don’t see brown and yellow, we are rebranding public schools. No brown and yellow, blue and white, and we are changing the uniforms too. This is President Akufo-Addo and Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia’s Ghana.

We have begun the transformation. There’s no reason why we should not. Ghana deserves better, and we’re going to give them better, something that we can all be proud of.

Contrary to critics who say he has abandoned basic schools, Dr Adutwum insists this isn’t the case. He envisions a day when parents will beg to enrol their children in basic public schools because he is setting things right.

So they will say, we will give you credit, you have done well with Senior High School, but you have abandoned basic schools, children are sitting under trees and you talking about drones.

To them, I have a response, I look forward to a day when parents will line up in front of the school and beg to enrol their children, that is the day and it will soon come and it has begun under Nana Akufo Addo,” he said at an event.