A new set of uniforms for basic school pupils has been introduced by Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei-Adutwum as part of a rebranding push for public education.
He claims that this is a component of the Education Ministry’s rebranding initiatives to improve public schools’ reputation. At a presentation held for the unveiling ceremony at the University of Professional Studies in Accra, he made this declaration.
Dr Adutwum said “You see, you don’t see brown and yellow, we are rebranding public schools. No brown and yellow, blue and white, and we are changing the uniforms too. This is President Akufo-Addo and Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia’s Ghana.
“We have begun the transformation. There’s no reason why we should not. Ghana deserves better, and we’re going to give them better, something that we can all be proud of.
Contrary to critics who say he has abandoned basic schools, Dr Adutwum insists this isn’t the case. He envisions a day when parents will beg to enroll their children in basic public schools because he is setting things right.
“So they will say, we will give you credit, you have done well with Senior High School, but you have abandoned basic schools, children are sitting under trees and you talking about drones.
“To them, I have a response, I look forward to a day when parents will line up in front of the school and beg to enroll their children, that is the day and it will soon come and it has began under Nana Akufo Addo,” he added
ALSO READ: Teachers will go on strike if the government doesn’t comply with their demands
Nevertheless, Dr. Clement Apaak, the deputy ranking member of the Parliamentary Education Committee, has denounced the action, saying it is an inappropriate priority.
He brought up the incapacity grants and the disrepair of public basic schools, both of which are essential to the operation of basic education. Dr. Apaak questioned why these urgent issues aren’t receiving the same level of attention as funding for rebranding public basic schools.
“Invariably, most of the government attention has been directed towards the free Senior High School policy and its implementation. As we speak, I know for a fact that capitation grants, which are the grants that allow us to say that public education is free because these are the grants that the head teachers of the basic school used to organise activities like cultural activities, sports activities, are in arrears for eight terms”.
“We even have a situation where only 65% of textbooks based on the new curriculum which came into effect in September 2019, have been distributed to our public basic schools across the country. We have more than 1.3 million people in the country who have no access to furniture and so why will government in spite of these glaring and debilitating challenges seek to spend resources in rebranding our public basic schools by introducing a new uniform,” he added.
After the 2019 modification made by Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the current Energy Minister and former Minister of Education, this represents the second consecutive change during the Akufo-Addo administration.
Join our WHATSAPP GROUP and TELEGRAM CHANNEL to get all relevant teaching resources to make your lessons effective.
Subscribe to this blog and follow us on facebook
