EDUCATION MATTERS

• THE CHALLENGE
Our education system is in serious crisis. Out of a 100 of our children that start kindergarten, only 71 end up in primary school, only 65 will go up to junior high school. Out of that, only 35 progress to senior high school and only 3 will end up in university. At all stages, many of our children fall out either because they cannot afford to go on or they drop out for other reasons.
 
• WHAT WE WILL DO
The aim at the pre-tertiary levels is to get all our children to be functionally literate, numerate, ICT competent, and equipped for the job market and/or further education with greater sense of civic responsibility. At the higher level, we aim to equip our youth with analytical and competency based skills that will be needed for the transformation of the economy. In this regard an emphasis on science and technology is also critical as we transform our economy.
Our specific initiatives in the education transformation agenda will include the following:
1. A Teachers First Policy focused on raising the support and quality of our teachers through monitored and evaluated training and professional development, and improved incentives.
3. Redefinition of Basic Education to extend free Senior High School education to every child. Basic education will be redefined as from kindergarten up to and including SHS.
4. Free Universal Secondary Education fully committed to making secondary education free for every Ghanaian child. By free SHS we mean free tuition, admission, textbook, library, science center, computer, examination, utilities, boarding and meals.
5. The 3 Rs (Reading, Writing & Arithmetic) and ICT Proficiency in concert with our teachers through monitored programs and assessments. This will ensure that basic education provides every Ghanaian with adequate literacy, numeracy and basic ICT skills acer six years of schooling.
6. Vocational, Technical Skills Training and Apprenticeship to introduce and improve upon existing skills training programmes to give our young people the practical skills they need to get a job as well as to drive a new industrialized economy.
7. Infrastructure Expansion and Improvement to undertake a major expansion and overhaul of educational facilitates and support provision of innovate forms of education delivery and teaching aids, including modern laboratories and libraries.
8. Science, Technology and Innovation to enable us train more scientists and technologies.