By Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo
The Spokesperson on the NDC Manifesto on Education, Prof George K. T. Oduro, says the NDC, within the first 120 days of assuming office, will hold a stakeholders forum to review the educational system.
He continued that the move is in keeping with the party’s 2024 Manifesto, which seeks to reset our educational system towards building the Ghana we want together.
Prof. Oduro, who is also a former Pro Vice Chancellor of University of Cape Coast, made the point when he represented the Flagbearer of NDC, John Mahama, at a Policy Dialogue organised by the National Executive Council of UTAG at Jirapa in the Upper West Region.
Other members on the NDC team at the dialogue were, a former Minister for Finance, Seth Terkpe; the MP for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo; as well as Prof. Nana Ama Browne Klutse and Prof. Martin Oteng Ababio, all of the University of Ghana.
The National President of UTAG, Prof. Mamudu Agudugu, who set the ball rolling, explained the rationale for holding the policy dialogue with political parties.
He said: “We as the national executive Council of the University Teachers Association of Ghana, thought that it was important that we have these kinds of conversations with our political parties as they engage in selling their prepositions to the Ghanaian people for a chance to lead us from 2025. So we are very excited that, despite the very busy schedules, we have this very important representation from the National Democratic Congress to meet and to discuss with us. Sirs and Madam, in this room represents the second highest decision-making body of the University Teachers Association of Ghana, and that is the National Executive Council made up of five members of each of the 15 traditional public universities in the country. And we represent over 700,000 academics in our universities.”
Professor Oduro expressed appreciation to UTAG for inviting the NDC, saying the party finds the invitation very strategic and timely because it offers the Party the chance to interact with and listen to academics, for them to critique policies and offer constructive suggestions for policy making, policy implementation and policy reviews, and talked about the self-inflicted challenges Ghanaians have to contend with under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.
“It is an indisputable fact that self-inflicted challenges resulting from reckless spending, misplaced budgetary allocation priorities, dysfunctional systems, and intimidation under the AkufoAddo/Bawumia government have created severe distortions in our education sector. Basic education has received little attention; secondary education faces debilitating challenges, and tertiary education continues to suffer interferences in its governance structures.
Simply, the fundamentals of our educational system has been weakened.
Professor Oduro continued that another key issue that the NDC finds very inhibitive of smooth university operations under the Akuffo-Addo/Bawumia regime is the threat to academic freedom through interferences in governing council functions.
“You may recall that in 2017, when President Akufo-Addo took over the mantle of leadership, the hitherto congenial atmosphere enjoyed by universities were threatened by the government. A Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba, Prof Mawutor Avoke, was for example removed from office without any justifiable cause, and a new one, Rev. Prof. Afful-Broni, appointed as Vice-Chancellor without following procedures outlined in the Statutes of the University,” he stated.
Professor Oduro: “For the first time in the history of university governance in Ghana under a democratic regime, the investiture of the imposed Vice-Chancellor was carried out by the President under heavy security, with the President justifying the removal of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Avoke, long before the Court pronounced its verdict. Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Prof. Avoke and he was reinstated as Vice-Chancelor.”
He told the session that academic freedom and empowerment of universities and their councils to operate without unnecessary political interference are critical for a university to operate as a university.
Professor Oduro was emphatic that if the NDC is entrusted with leadership responsibility, it will halt the external interferences in university governance and champion the cause of quality and equitable education with unwavering dedication and passion.
He encouraged the academics to massively support the NDC’s agenda of resetting our educational system to build the Ghana we want.
“Vote for John Dramani Mahama to ensure an educational system that places high premium on quality and equity in policies geared towards expansion of educational access,” Professor Oduro observed.
A former Minister for Finance, Seth Terkpe, and the MP for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, dwelt on economic issues. They touched on buffers like the sinking fund stabilisation fund, contingency fund, challenges of servicing Ghana’s debts, and bringing back confidence into the capital markets, among others, and underscored the necessity for us to prepare for crises when the times are good.
Messrs Terkpe and Adongo stated that the NDC considers infrastructure as a key driver of national development, and based on that, the party indicated the big push in its manifesto, and it will invest about ten million Dollars over the four years, averaging 2.5 million Dollars annually.
The Head of the Physics Department of the University of Ghana, Professor. Nana Ama Browne Klutse, who spoke on Sustainable Environment and Extractive Sector Management, indicated that the NDC is committed to empowering communities, especially the youth and women, to participate actively in protection of the environment as well as enact the national climate law to enhance climate resilience.
Professor Martin Oteng Ababio of the Department of Geography and Resource Development of the University of Ghana said within the last two years, 35 forest reserves have been consumed by mining, adding that the dynamics of small-scale mining have changed from the use of rudimentary tools to the use of excavators and Changfans.