News:
October 22, 2010
Member of Parliament for Sekondi Papa Owusu-Ankomah is advocating for autonomy for Grade “A” Senior High Schools in the country.
This he says will enable the government to concentrate more on the less endowed schools and commit more funds to upgrade them.
The former Education Minister and Attorney General’s comments come in the wake of crisis at most Senior High Schools in the country following the implementation of a four-year education policy.
Heads of Senior High Schools have been directed by the Ghana Education Service to improvise and get first-year students dormitories and lecture halls. But the situation in most of the schools is quite chaotic as the heads race against time to make the infrastructure available.
Speaking to Joy News’ Sammy Darko, the Sekondi MP said the problems being encountered at the schools are self inflicted.
He accused the government of dabbling in petty politics to have the four-year term reverted to three years at all cost and in the process failed to put in place the necessary infrastructure.
He said the government must have some innovative ways of funding second cycle institutions and believes that grading the schools will ease pressure on the government.
“Is it not possible that for some schools they could be made semi-autonomous so that even in terms of the fee level they can charge fees commensurate with the expectations that the parents have of the schools?” he quizzed.
He dismissed assertions that such a system is elitist and unfair, saying “when we are faced with a crisis you try to adopt bold and innovative ways to solve the problem.”
He said such a system is seamlessly practised in South Africa.
But a retired educationist I.K. Gyasi told Joy News’ Dzifa Bampoh such a policy will be divisive.
“We must be very careful not to create a situation where certain schools are regarded as superior schools and their headmasters are superior headmasters and other schools described as inferior schools with inferior headmasters.
According to him, such an unfortunate situation occurred in the early 1980s and should not be allowed to recur.
He said such a policy might lead to the creation of elitist schools and make it virtually impossible for brilliant but poor students to have access to those schools.
Source: joy news