The Director-General of the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA) at the University of Cape Coast, Dr Michael Boakye-Yiadom, has re-iterated the call for the review the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, to allow parents willing to pay for the tuition of their wards to do so.
He said, parents should be given the opportunity to contribute towards the policy, to enable it to become more sustainable to reduce the financial burden on the government.
Dr Boakye-Yiadom made the call in an interview with Ghanaian Times, in Accra, on Tuesday, on the sidelines of a three-day joint capacity workshop on Global Citizenship Education (GCED).
The workshop, which brought together about 50 players and stakeholders in the education sector, was to discuss the emerging trends and key issues of education around the world and Ghana, particularly concerning GCED.
It was organised by IEPA and the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU), with support from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Dr Boakye-Yiadom said as part of the review, the government should institute mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability on monies to be spent on the country’s education.
He believed that, individual and corporate bodies would be willing to invest significantly into the implementation of the free SHS policy, when satisfied with how funds are spent.
“Even though there is free SHS policy, there are some students, who need more support than their colleagues coming from wealthy homes, and such deprived students should be given some financial support while in school.”
“The problems in our education include, inadequate finance to improved teachers development, infrastructure and logistics, and these are the reasons government must commit enough funds to promote quality of teaching and learning,” Dr Boakye-Yiadom said.
He however, said the outcome of the workshop would be inculcated in the ongoing curriculum, as part of the government’s measures to improve the county’s quality of education
The Director of APCEIU, Dr Hyun Mook Lim, said the workshop would further enhance the capacity of educational leaders in GCED, which would contribute to realising the future of education for APCEIU and IEPA.
BY BERNARD BENGHAN
