Rev. Prof. Adow Obeng speaking at the graduation
REVEREND PROFESSOR Emmanuel Adow Obeng, President of Presbyterian University College Ghana, has said it will be disastrous for any government to reverse the free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
“For the sake of this country and its citizens, and to end the cycle of incessant educational reforms, we should be committed to the success of the current initiatives and do everything possible to prevent the pitfalls that befell earlier educational reforms”, he stressed.
The free SHS policy was introduced by the Akufo-Addo administration in 2017 to make secondary education absolutely free in the interest of rapid socio-economic development of the country.
The former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast said this when he spoke at the maiden graduation ceremony of the Master of Education in Educational Studies of the PUCG last Saturday, March 2, 2019, at Abetifi in the Eastern Region. It was under the theme: “The Role of Graduate Teachers in Educational Reforms.”
Prof. Obeng disclosed that Ghana had experienced a number of educational reforms in the past 60 years, but the relevant type of education that is required to contribute effectively to socio-economic development of the country has still eluded Ghanaians.
The PUCG President recalled the 1961 Education Act, the Kwapong Educational Review Committee, the Dzobo Educational Review Committee, the Evans–Anfom Educational Review Committee and the Anamuah-Mensah Educational Review Committee.
However, schools and students still operate below expectation as the educational system is unable to equip students with the requisite employable skills, knowledge, abilities and environmental awareness.
He attributed the failure of the country’s educational reforms largely to the lack of continuity to educational policies since these change as governments with different party manifestoes change. He called for national development agenda.
He charged parents and stakeholders in education who are dissatisfied with the educational system in the country to bear in mind the issues aforementioned in view of the new interventions in education.
These include the free SHS, conversion of the colleges of education into university colleges and the new four-year Bachelor of Education Curriculum for initial teacher education to be offered at the university colleges of education, and others.
The PUCG’s Masters in Education, Educational Studies Programme, was designed to provide openings for graduates, who want to be trained as teachers, professional graduate teachers, who want to upgrade their qualifications and skills.
A total of 248 students being the first group of the programme graduated; they consisted of 125 males and 123 females who came from teaching, finance, religious, and administration backgrounds.
Prof. Obeng claimed the graduates had been empowered to become change agents, and effective communicators with a flair for diversity, and can motivate others to achieve their goals.
He said they would not only play significant roles in the country and beyond in the face of the ever-changing policy reforms in the educational sector, but also change the course of education, offer its beneficiaries, the knowledge and skills required to pursue their interests, be successful, and contribute to the nation’s economic, social and political development.
The ceremony was graced by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt. Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante; Chairman of the University Council, Dr. S.Y. Yirenkyi; the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Education at UCC Prof. Kofi Tsivanyo Yiboe, who represented the VC, University of Cape Coast and others.
FROM James Quansah, Kumasi