Education is slipping away from the ordinary Ghanaian. We pray that it does not become the preserve of only the rich as all indications seem to be pointing at.
When we eventually reach that destination and educational qualifications become like mansions, outside the reach of the ordinary citizen, the situation would have become irredeemable. Children of farmers from the countryside would be denied membership of neither the political nor professional establishments because of the circumstances of their birth if education continues to be determined by parents’ ability to pay.
Education is a right of every child, their parents’ circumstances notwithstanding: many kids are being forced to turn to the streets, their God-endowed talents hidden in their heads unexploited for their individual and societal needs. A few lucky ones who have been plucked from the streets by good-natured persons who have discovered their hidden talents have excelled.
We need visionary leaders who would lay out pragmatic programmes to make education accessible to all, regardless of the financial circumstances of their parents. It can be done only when we have leaders who think and dream big.
We have reached a state in our development where only the vision of far-seeing leaders can provide us with the necessary fillip to lift us out of our present state of unproductiveness and near hopelessness.
The season of nightmare is here again. Parents of children in second cycle schools are having sleepless nights confronted with the thought of how to meet the financial demands of keeping their children at school.
There are no programmes on the ground to take care of the peculiar needs of parents who are unable to keep their children at school.
As for those who have managed to complete their senior high school programmes and have secured admissions into the various public universities, they have their peculiar financial challenges, their payments in excess of two thousand Ghana cedis proving to be a nightmare.
Turning to family members to borrow is the last resort for some parents as their children pellet them with questions about when they would pay their fees. Some have sold out their properties just so their kids can continue their education at the tertiary level.
Our political leaders must as a matter of urgency, take another look at the financial implications of education with a view to agreeing upon a national policy by which no child would be denied this right because of their unusual circumstances.
With perseverance and commitment on the part of the politicians at the helm, education can be made accessible to all. Let corruption be reduced to the barest minimum and we would save enough to fund education and raise its quality.