JHS is the most critical link in our education system – Dr Adutwum

The Minister for Education and Member of Parliament for the Bosomtwe constituency, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has described the Junior High School (JHS) system as the most critical link in the country’s education system.

Speaking to journalists he said it is for this reason the central government is committed to bridging the gap between Junior High and Senior High Schools by providing essential infrastructure and facilities.

“Under the distinguished leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the government is investing in basic education to enhance the attractiveness of our schools, meet the educational needs of Ghanaians, and build a strong foundation for student’s future success,” he told the media.

The Education Minister made the comments after he inspected the progress of one of the Model Junior High Schools under construction as part of the Akufo-Addo government’s efforts to transform basic education in the country.

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum’s visit to the construction site was to ensure the construction adheres to specified standards and to remind contractors to complete the projects by September, to be ready for the next academic year.

These new model schools according to the Minister of Education will consolidate all Junior High Schools in their localities equipped with biology, physics, chemistry, and computer laboratories for students in the surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, the Minister in Charge of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum recently said the Junior High School (JHS) system lacks the desired quality to produce competitive students and graduates for the country.

Speaking at a press briefing the Bosomtwe lawmaker noted that the current JHS system does not favour ‘weak’ or underprivileged students, adding that there are no advanced facilities that build students for their career paths.

“I think the weakest link in the education system is the junior high school because others will go the junior high school and do the quality secondary work; if you meet those students at Wesley Girls, they are ahead of the curve, and they are going to do much better than you.”

We borrowed a concept from the United States…three plus three but we decided that the first three [JHS] is not something that we’re going to be very concerned about. Something needs to be done about the week middle which happens to be the junior high school,” he said.

Hinting at plans being put in place to review and revamp JHS he said ‘We have Junior High Schools that under construction now and the facilities in there will be just like high schools; everything that is in the high school will be there

It’s a pilot programme, and students who go through it would have had three years of quality junior high school, move on to the high school to do another three years, giving me six years making them competitive and making us compete with the rest of the world.”