The government’s proposed National Education Forum has drawn criticism from former Deputy Minister of Education Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, who has described it as a waste of Ghana’s limited resources.
Opening on Tuesday, February 18, the National Education Forum activities will culminate in a two-day validation conference in Accra starting on Thursday, February 27.
The first zonal engagement for the Volta and Oti regions will begin at Ho, the capital of the Volta region, before the engagements proceed to other regions.
Fordjour stressed the need of the Mahama government putting its promised education reforms into effect and questioned the forum’s necessity in an interview on Channel One Newsroom on Monday, February 17.
“I must say that we do not need a national education forum to be able to set a vision for President Mahama because, as a president having ample time to campaign, having set out a team to draft your manifesto, it is supposed that within that period your vision is cut out,” Fordjour stated.
He added that the president made specific promises to voters regarding the education sector, and what is now expected is the translation of those manifesto promises into actionable policies.
Key public expectations were outlined by Fordjour, including the elimination of the double-track system, reimbursement of first-year tuition for tertiary students attending public institutions, and the maintenance and expansion of the Free SHS program to private schools.
“They (Ghanaians) want to see how that finds expression in the budget statement that is going to be presented,” he noted.
The former deputy minister also argued that the forum would be redundant, given the existence of a comprehensive education strategic plan put in place since 2018, which spans from 2018 to 2030.
“What they are going to do is nothing new. It is going to be a waste of time and waste of Ghana’s precious resources,” he asserted.
According to Fordjour, a number of stakeholders, including prominent education experts, academics, civil society organisations (CSOs), and both domestic and foreign development partners, contributed to the creation of the strategy plan, which is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Therefore, instead of calling a new forum, he urged the Mahama administration to concentrate on carrying out the current strategic plan and keeping the pledges made during the campaign.
Source: Citinewsroom