Daniel Oppong Kyeremeh
President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Daniel Oppong Kyeremeh, has urged the government to de-cap the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) in order to ensure more education-related development.
According to him, if the GETFund had not been capped, many schools in the country would have seen infrastructure and other developments on their campuses.
Mr. Oppong told a NUGS Education Conference at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi that the GETFund only received GH¢3 billion instead of the original GH¢7 billion, due to the Finance Ministry’s capping. He, however, commended the Education Ministry for the many innovative and strategic investments it has made into education since 2017.
The NUGS President also appealed with the government to ensure student representation in state institutions and youth agencies.
This, he observed, would ensure that Ghanaian students and the youth are included in the operations and activities of these state institutions.
Mr. Oppong also wants the government to upgrade the 46 current Colleges of Education and give them autonomous status so that they can operate as universities. According to him, autonomy will make the Colleges of Education to offer courses that pertain to the universities.
Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, praised NUGS for its interest in the education of Ghanaian students. Addressing the conference virtually, he noted that education gives the greatest potential for every country’s transformation.
This, he explained, is why the Nana Akufo-Addo government implemented Free Senior High School (SHS) Education, ensuring that every Ghanaian child has access to education up to the secondary level.
“We are changing the face of education and this undoubtedly would turn the fortunes of the country around, because apart from free SHS, we have also introduced STEM education, and many others which would ensure that students undertake courses such as Artificial Intelligence and Engineering no matter their backgrounds previously or courses they offered,” the Minister stated.
By Ernest Kofi Adu