Our Educational System

This is our way out of our problems relating to the Ghanaian and African educational system, namely nursery, kindergarten, primary, junior/senior high schools and mainly Tertiary/University institutions. We say “The essence of educating is making sure it translates into productivity that affects humanity” and it is so clear our educational system is not in accordance with this statement.

Ghana is enriched with great leaders, scholars, lecturers, philosophers, theorists, analysts and many educationists who can propound great theories, philosophies, concepts in solving our problems in our side of the world. Africans must be our own theorists and philosophers, which is the only way forward. We cannot rely on Western theories and philosophies which we spend years learning in our tertiary institutions and educational institute as a whole. These foreign literatures originate from different cultures and societies all together especially in the field of political science, administration and economics which plays significant roles in the development of our country.

I believe Nkrumahism which offered and has further great contribution to offer our progress through visionary development plans, theories, philosophies and concepts is the way out of this mess we created by going against our pillars. Nkrumah stated that “there is undoubtedly considerable evidence of much that is noble and glorious in our African past, there is no need to gild the lily nor to try to hide that which ignoble. But here again it is a question of whose standards and values you are applying in assessing something as noble or ignoble, and I maintain (we) must reject non-African value judgments of things African.” I say it is so inexplicable and shocking when we throw ours away and resort to the Whiteman’s efforts which are not in tandem with our problems at hand.

Let us encourage African consciousness, choosing African literature ahead of Western literature. I ask again, How can Africans have their own and go against it? Let us realize the light in us which have been overshadowed by white people all these years of failure, let us welcome African excellence. There must be constitutional laws governing the inter-legibility of knowledge and preconditions laying down law and orders for knowledge in Africa in the educational system.

Knowledge must not have free flow without limitations because it gets violent when it gets to the wrong recipient especially the youth in Africa. The environment you live in must determine the knowledge imparted on you, which calls for laws and constitutions restricting the bad impact of knowledge on the people it governs. The Ghanaian culture must be the producer of knowledge for our educational institutions to accelerate the development in the country. We build on our knowledge originating from our environment. Example is Nkrumahism as the foundation of the country must be instilled in programs of knowledge in our educational system delivered by teachers being in accordance with our African literature on history, matters arising and future developments.

On the side of students, we must study the problems, get the solutions through deliberation and as Ghanaian as we are go to the real world and patriotically eradicate the problem which can be is well nurtured by our beloved teachers operating on our African literature. And I ask how can we do this when the courses we offer at the tertiary level have no relation to the jobs and vocations in the country? We graduate from the high schools with great foundational courses and end up in the tertiary institutions doing courses with no connection with our pillar knowledge. The university/tertiary level must create courses which would equip students to go to the civil and public sector and solve the problems prevailing and courses that will help create long-term jobs for graduates.

Students spend years at the tertiary level learning courses which are not in any relation to jobs and vocations available in the society. The Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana’s 2012 Ghana Social Development Outlook Report said labour markets absorb only 20 percent of young school leavers with tertiary education.

The educational system in the country must help in the preservation and popularization of the Ghanaian culture in the likes of the national anthem, the pledge, Arise Ghana Youth, yen ara asaase ni, adinkra symbols and many more. These carry great messages of inspiration, patriotism and nationalism to be instilled in the life of Ghanaians.

Students spend all these years of hard work chasing excellent grades coming out of learning courses which do not play any role to the development of the Ghanaian immediate environment. Also the style of teaching and lecturing in the educational system is very complicated as we do here which is completely different from the Whiteman we learnt and are still learning from. Keep the message simple and rationally students will break it down as humane as we are, please stop overburdening us because we all know simplicity is excellence.

The young, capable and vibrant youth of the country suffer so many forms of hardships and discouragements in all our educational build-up but still leading to difficulty in employment opportunities. The right systems and institutions is required for educationists to make them effective and efficient, meaning the structural arrangement in the educational institutions are not in their proper form that is why we are finding it very hard to exploit or tap into the higher potentials of Ghanaian students. Example is the University system of examination and grading, students in the tertiary level get awarded with grades without their works and performances shown to them in the form of the examination papers. Lecturers hoard the examination papers and present students with letter A, B, C, D, E and F without proof showing the legitimacy of the results, leading to numerous students resiting papers without knowing where and how they failed in the courses they offered in the semester.

Also education overseas is one major problem hampering the growth of our educational institute. Education overseas which many Africans are striving for is a form of fishing out and disarmament of the intellectual prowess of young and upcoming scholars and brainwash them with their Western education especially through their scholarships. Realization of African Scholarship without Western scholarship awards to fish out all our talents to the Whiteman’s World which is clearly “Neo-slavery”. The evil exploitation of our “precious and valuable” scholars from our country using scholarship awards as bait.

Formal education in Ghana and Africa as a whole has suffered failures due to traces of missionary structures of our past colonial regimes which must be eradicated and restructure our formal education basing it on our African literature and also strengthening our science and technology education. The bad effects of sophisticational training and education have hampered our national development and the fire must be quenched as soon we can.

Finally preceding all changes to our educational system, we must ensure the enhancement of morality through religious moral education. I hope my writings breathe life into my fellow Africans, AWAKENING AFRICA!

MR. EMMANUEL OSEI-POKU POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON.