The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has indicated that the global school rankings which placed Ghana at the bottom has vindicated its flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo’s advocacy for a free Senior High School (SHS) education.
[contextly_sidebar id=”NDRejUMV1mBPSjUoMxwaniddHlD5uIhH”]“This vindicates the message that our Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, has been consistently preaching since 2008 that ‘no Ghanaian should be denied education to the secondary level’ and that education must be free from kindergarten to Senior High School,” said a statement from the party.
According to the party, Ghana’s position was “not by accident because investment in education has slumped under President John Mahama and standards are feared to even fall further this year, with Government refusing to release funds for schools and Dumsor affecting studies.”
The OECD’s global school ranking which is considered the biggest in the world analyzed 76 countries and put Asian countries in the top five spots and African countries at the bottom.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Communications Director of the NPP, Nana Akomea said the party’s flagbearer “is clear in his conviction that basic education has to be set at secondary level and made accessible and compulsory for all.”
According to him, the “comprehensive survey” which was conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has “reaffirmed the point consistently made by the NPP, that there is an intrinsic link between investment in education and the correspondent growth in the economy.”
Nana Akomea mentioned that the educational policy the government is about to roll out this academic year is not the same as the policy of the NPP.
“What the government has proposed to do is to remove school fees for Ghanaian children in day secondary schools from the next academic year. What Akufo-Addo has put before the Ghanaian people is to extend basic school to secondary school level so that if you are going to drop out, you will drop out after secondary school and by then you will be 18, you will be mature in body and mind and that is exactly what is being reflected in this OECD report.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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