Dr. Mathew Opoku-Prempeh in a handshake with Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury
Minister for Education Dr. Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, has affirmed government’s resolve to ensure the implementation of the free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
Hosting the Finnish and Chinese Ambassadors to Ghana in his office, the minister said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government has chosen to implement the free SHS policy regardless of the country’s economic status, because education is the shortest route possible out of poverty.
“In a lower-middle income country where the economy is not so much in a great state as we speak, it is a bit daunting, but if I am given the choice of ignorance and education, I will chose education because it is the shortest route possible out of poverty,” he stated.
Dr. Opoku-Prempeh further explained that an educated Ghanaian child has the human capacity and the options available to improve, not the ignorant one, “… so we have chosen the side of the Ghanaian child to be educated, to be confident, to be a life-long earner and participate in global affairs, confident of him or her own self and ability.”
The minister, acknowledging the financial burden the implementation of the policy will have on the country, said it was not cheap for President Akufo-Addo to state without equivocation that free secondary education will start this year in the country.
He said the ministry was fully aware of the daunting task, but it is a choice they have to make for the Ghanaian child.
“We are going to work out and find a way of doing it. We will welcome support from everybody; it is a difficult journey but we will tread and come out victorious,” he said.
The Finnish Ambassador, based in Abuja, Nigeria, Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury, congratulated Dr. Opoku-Prempeh on his new position.
She said the two countries had had successful educational cooperation in the area of teacher and vocational training, indicating the desire for further cooperation.
She formally invited the ministry to a workshop to encourage girls to get involved in technology and computer coding which is being sponsored by the Finnish government with local support.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Sun Boahong, expressed her country’s commitment to boost the educational sector.
“Focus on teacher training and that is one very typical area every country would want to put a lot of emphasis on and going toward, we can see the kind of corporation we can have,” she said.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri