By Michael Kofi Kenetey
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mrs. Rita Akosua Adjei Awatey, has hinted that the government in the next academic year will initiate reforms in the Technical and Vocational Educational Training, TVET system to integrate modern digital and soft skills to help improve the quality of graduates produced.
She added that government will also review most of the educational policies to help improve upon the quality of education in the country.
Mrs. Awatey was speaking during the opening ceremony of the Second National Catholic Education Forum in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital.
Mrs. Awatey noted that the government is committed to expanding infrastructure in the education sector to help abolish the double track system in the senior high schools.
She entreated stakeholders to drive their support behind the government in implementing policies in helping to reset the country on the right path.
The Koforidua Catholic Bishop, Most Rev. Joseph Afrifah-Agyekum urged the government to abolish the computerised school selection and placement system in the school selection process of senior high school entrants.
He reiterated that parents must choose the schools for their wards, rather than allowing a computer system to choose schools for students. Most Rev. Afrifah-Agyekum appealed to the government to allocate 20 percent slot for Catholic students in the Catholic schools.
The Managing Director of TEPPIA, a Non-governmental organisation of the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Partnership in Action of the Catholic Church, Dr. Charles Abugri noted that education is a shared responsibility and therefore all stakeholders, including parents, must play critical role in educating their wards. Dr. Abugri bemoaned how students are enrolled in the grammar schools more than the technical and vocational schools.
The Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Professor Ernest Kofi Davis urged the forum to deliberate and come out with ideas on how to discipline children in school without inflicting pain on the ward.
Professor Davis also entreated the forum to bring out ideas on how stakeholders together with the government will find sustainable funding of education in the country.
The Second National Catholic Education Forum in Koforidua in the Koforidua Catholic Diocese which was on the theme “Catholic Education for Integral Development, Shaping a Resilient and An Inclusive Ghana” brought together members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference and stakeholders in the education sector seeks to identify and address pressing challenges within the education sector.
It is also to foster collaborative engagement and partnerships among government agencies, religious institutions, educators, civil society organisations working together as a cohesive force to improve education in the country.
The forum is to further generate innovative ideas and practical strategies that elevate the quality, accessibility, and inclusivity of education, focusing on solutions that are forward-thinking and implementable.
