My millennium school concept should have been used for free SHS – Okoe Vanderpuije

The former Mayor of Accra and currently the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, has warned colleague politicians to stop creating problems for Ghanaians, under the pretext of helping them to solve their difficulties.

Speaking at the 2019 Institute of Project Management Professionals Annual Conference in Accra, last Saturday, Dr Vanderpuije contended that some of his colleagues, in an attempt to solve the numerous problems confronting the country, end up creating more problems.

According to him, the Free Senior High School policy introduced by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government is a good idea but regretted that its implementation has created more problems for students and their parents because most of the schools lack infrastructure to accommodate the increasing number of students.

He said the implementation of the free SHS concept has increased the number of students entering SHS every year by over 100,000 but the lack of facilities in the schools had compelled government to introduce the double-track system.

Dr. Okoe Vanderpuije told the conference that many Ghanaians doubted him when he announced that he was ending the shift system in the Primary and Junior High Schools in the Accra Metropolis.

However, he did this successfully without any hitch, because he had built several temporary structures followed by the building of the Millennium Schools to absorb all the students and enable them spend more hours in school.

He stressed that the success of the programme ended the shift system, increased enrolment and school hours from 4 to 8 hours. This, he said, was enough to help the pupils receive more tutorials than ever.

Dr. Okoe Vanderpuije said Ghana is at a stage where management of its natural resources and economy are in critical scrutiny and, therefore, called on Ghanaian professionals to commit to excellent implementations of matters or projects related to Ghana.

He also urged politicians to stand up and commit themselves to the efficient implementation of projects and services, adding that they should do away with mediocrity and demand quality and excellence in everything they do.

“As we travel and evaluate the progress of development, we must strive to do better. Ghana will be better managed if it is handled as a project. If we handle Ghana as a project and perform our duties well as Lawyers, Engineers, Journalists, Projects Managers, and Politicians among other professionals, we will be better off. Project Ghana is necessary.

“It’s important that we do that to move our country forward. Politicians must learn from project managers in order to take critical decisions that will help prevent judgment debts, flooding and demolishing of unauthorised structures.”

Dr. Okoe Vanderpuije said the ‘pull him down’ syndrome, backbiting, immoral attitudes in governance and the political system were the cause of most of the critical problems facing this country.

According to him, it’s time for such acts to be stopped. He then called on professionals to develop good attitude and work in harmony with their colleagues to achieve good results for the country.

“Producing what is best for our people is the mark of good leadership, good governance and project management. Leadership is about solving problems and not just promising to solve problems. You must not create problems when trying to solve a problem that is not leadership."

“As project managers our mandate is to solve problems. So let’s solve problems. We must come together and solve problems. Nobody can do it better than us”, he added.