I write this with a heavy heart. A sad and angry citizen who is helpless and disappointed with the current educational system in Ghana particularly our Senior High schools (SHS’s); at the same time blaming myself and the many Ghanaians for not being angry enough.
I discovered something disheartening upon my arrival in Tamale on 19th December 2019. My niece who is a beneficiary of the Free SHS Policy under the Gold track batch stayed home for close to three months. Prior to this vacation, he was home from September 19, 2019 to November 18, 2019. He resumed school on November 18th and just December 20th they went on vacation and will resume on the 1st week of March, 2020 (no specific date).
What this implies is that, for 6 months (half a year), he had contact with her tutors for just one (1) month and few weeks.
1.What did he study?2. How was his knowledge tested? 3. How is this an effective approach?4. Why are Teacher Unions silent? 5. Why are Senior High School Tutors silent? 6. Why is the media silent? 7. Is it by coincidence that every stakeholder who should be questioning this system is silent? 8. Why are we citizens/parents not talking about this?
For a policy to be effective, it needs to be criticised and assessed for effective implementation.
A government that silences its citizens will leave to witness the damage of it’s authocracy. The bitter truth is that, the citizens will in the long run feel the impact and pay for their own silence.
Do we realise what our silence is causing us? Do we realise how politics has eroded our thinking? Most importantly, do we realise that our children, the future leaders of this country are under utilising their skills and potentials?
This is sad indeed!
I’m asking all these questions for us to assess the damage of this approach (Free Double Track System).
The inequality this approach is creating between the Gold and Green track students is the saddest. For a country that has a President championing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) which are a collection of 17 global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”, we should have known this approach will limit our ability to achieve SDG 10, 4, 5 and many more targets we set as a country.
If you’re a footsoldier and you come to this post to spew trash, i will flip my respectful face and show you the one you never want to see.
Let’s wise up Ghanaians! Our educational system has been rendered useless and we have to get angry enough to protest it.
By Abdulai Haruna Obey(Research Officer.NDC, Bole-Bamboi Constituency)
