NAPO touts education sector achievements to Parliament; silent on resumption of schools

The Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, has touted the government’s achievement in his sector outlining various policies instituted to enhance teaching and learning outcomes.

He, however, did not give an indication as to the plan for schools, which have been closed since March 2020 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Opoku-Prempeh was heavy on the actions of the government like the implementation of the abolition of the three months pay policy, the reversal of the cancellation of the teacher training allowance among others.

He was also keen to note these achievements trumped that of the Mahama administration. Key to the Akufo-Addo administration’s record on education has been the implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme.

Beyond the metrics of access, the Minister also said the government had an eye on quality. Dr. Opoku-Prempeh also spoke about the teaching interventions at the basic level.

He further said since the current government took office in January 2017, it has employed a total of 66,357 teaching and non-teaching staff in the pre-tertiary sector as of the end of 2019.

But a Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, chided the Minister for shying away from pressing issues in the education sector in favour of politics.

The legislator insisted that the Minister should have spoken directly to the status of schools and outlined a plan “so Ghanaians will know if children will go to school or not go to school”.

Source:Fiilafmonline/CitiNews