Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum
Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has assured the Free Senior High School (FSHS) initiative introduced by the Akufo-Addo’s NPP government has come to stay and will be strengthened under his leadership.
He said the introduction of the FSHS initiative is to ensure equity, improve accessibility and also to ease the burden of parents so that the youth would have access to education whether they have money or not.
“The government would continue to make available the right resources to ensure that all schools had what was required to support effective teaching and learning in all schools at all times irrespective of location,” Dr. Adutwum said when he paid a surprise visit to some selected schools in the Central Region on Friday.
He was there to monitor how the schools were adhering to the COVID-19 protocols, as well as how teaching, learning and assessment are being handled under the FSHS initiative.
The minister, who was on his way to the launching of the five-year strategic Plan for the Takoradi Technical University but found time to visit Wesley Girls’ High School, Academy of Christ the King SHS, Holy Child School and then to the St. Augustine’s College, all in Cape Coast.
He also used the occasion to donate five pianos to some selected basic schools in the Cape Coast Municipality.
The minister, who was impressed with the activities in the schools, commended the Cape Coast Education Directorate and the staff of the various schools for their hard work and assured them of the government’s readiness to continue providing them with resources on time to enhance effective teaching and learning.
The minister, who is also the NPP MP for Bosomtwe, charged students to remain focused on their studies at all times.
The Central Regional Director for Education, Mrs. Martha Owusu-Agyemang, said the major challenge confronting schools in the region was encroachment and appealed to the minister to do something about the situation and assured the minister that everything possible would be done to ensure that students continue to work extra hard to maintain its good record in the country.
The minister then assured the leadership of the various schools in the region that his ministry would liaise with the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to find a lasting solution to encroachment, which was disturbing some schools in the region.