Joy FM has reportedly apologised to Deputy Education Minister Dr. Yaw Adutwum for attributing false statements to him regarding the privatisation of some public basic schools in Ghana.
Dr. Adutwum briefed journalists on Thursday in Accra about the retraction of the misleading story and subsequent apology rendered to him by Joy FM.
In an apology document he submitted to journalists, the management of Joy FM purportedly said, “We wish to apologise to Deputy Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Adutwum for attributing to him, statements relating to the privatisation of some public schools which he did not make.”
Joy FM added in the document that “the error was inadvertent and we duly apologise unreservedly.
The story by Joy FM was on the Ghana Partnerships Schools (GPS) initiative and according to the deputy minister, it had claimed that he and the Education Ministry had blamed teachers for poor learning outcomes.
That was after Dr. Adutwum had granted an interview to Joy FM.
Teachers became angry following the story and the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) held a press conference to drum home its dissatisfaction.
He said, ” However, after my attention had been drawn by the ministry to the erroneous story, the Joy FM retracted its claim and duly apologised for wrongly attributing any such claim to me.”
He added that “this is a matter of public record and a copy of the official retraction is right here with me for your perusal.”
Dr. Adutwum raised a copy of the retraction as he cleared the air on the matter.
He pointed out that “we wish to make it clear that we have the utmost respect for teachers and the work they do in this country, and would not in any circumstances seek to denigrate them.”
“No official from the Ministry of Education or its agencies has ever blamed teachers for poor learning outcomes, ” he emphasized.
BY Melvin Tarlue