CPP calls for policy change in BECE

Accra, April 27, GNA - The Convention Peoples Party (CPP) on

Wednesday called for a policy change in the Basic Education Certificate

Examination (BECE) as a terminal point for basic school leavers. The call was made by Mr Kojo Armah, CPP Shadow Cabinet Minister of

Education, when speaking on the alternative policy vision on Education; at

the 15th in the series of 93How The CPP Will Do It: Education," in Accra= .. "The CPP's view is that the BECE as it stands now prematurely

condemns a large percentage of our youth to the fringes or outer perimeters

of national development as they are categorise as drop-outs because they

could not make the required aggregates to enter secondary schools, yet have

very little other windows open to them," he said. On senior high school education, the CPP intended it to be an integral part

of basic education to which all children should have equal access. According to the CPP, BECE would be abolished as a terminal point but

re-designed to become an integral part of a selection process to determine the

next level of the child's education instead of a pass or fail option. The CPP also outlined its policy for second cycle education, teacher

training colleges, trade, vocational and technical schools, national youth

employment programme, non-formal education, tertiary institutions and

managing the gap between private and public schools. Mr Armah said the CPP was determined to widen the frontiers of

education for girls through increased affirmative action. He pointed out that the party when given the opportunity to rule the

country after Election 2012, would encourage higher institutions to place

more emphasis on research, which must be seen as a necessary support to

the nation's new age of industrialisation especially in the wake of Ghana= 's oil

and gas production.