NPP govt making education fit for purpose – Adutwum

Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Second Cycle Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has said the Akufo-Addo administration is making education in the country fit for purpose.

He said the education under this present government is directly responding to the socio-economic needs of the nation and its people.

Speaking on The Key Points on TV3 Saturday, August 29, Dr Adutwum noted the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration only tackled the symptoms of the problems in the sector and left the actual problem unattended to.

The Bosomtwi lawmaker said: “If you solve teacher absenteeism and not take a look at the school leadership and accountability you are not going to get anywhere.

“When it comes to education, you have to be mindful of what you are doing. You may end up solving the symptoms of the problem and not the real problem itself.

“So NPP looks at education in the holistic fashion. When we talk about the challenges, we also look at the opportunities. The opportunity that we have in this country is young men and women who are ready to learn. I have worked in the American education system, you literally had to beg the children to study and have to find some ways of getting them excited. But you walk into a Ghanaian classroom and the children stand up for you.

“We also have to understand that the architecture must be right, the system must be done in such a way that it is responding to the needs of the country.

“So yes, we have to look at access, you have to look at quality, we have to look at the relevance of the education system to the socio-economic fortunes and transformation of this country. That is why the President of the republic is transforming the education system so that it can be fit for purpose.”

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has revealed that the Mahama administration was able to reduce teacher absenteeism at the basic and second cycle levels from the 27 per cent they inherited to 7 per cent.

He told host Abena Tabi that the administration also managed to remove 65 per cent of the schools that were under trees.

This, according the former Deputy Minister of Education, was as result of the remarkable investment Mr Mahama and the NDC made in the educational sector.