SEATTLE, Washington — Over the past six years, the country of Ghana has revamped its entire educational infrastructure. It has done so through legislative and community action initiated by Professor Kwesi Opoku Amankwa, the director-general of Ghana’s education system. The intent of his initiatives is to take the nation’s educational value to a new level while bringing students closer to their roots. The education reforms in Ghana hope to help all children in the nation create prosperous futures.
Sworn into office in 2017, the current president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, increased the Ministry of Education’s budget by 39%. This budget increase funded the public education sector’s structure, in order to make education more geared towards vocational training. Led by Professor Matthew Opoku Prempeh, head of the Ministry of Education, the Ghanaian government created several plans of action to improve access to education for all.
Ministry of Education Initiatives
One of the major projects enacted in September 2017 was the Free Senior High School project, a scheme granting free tuition to all attendees of public secondary school. To support the Free Senior High School policy, the country prioritized repairing over 50 lower and secondary school physical infrastructures and created structure building projects covering more than 42 regional school districts. Giving students a more secure physical space makes them thrive and flourish in the classroom. The construction of primary school structures in so many different districts allows more children than ever in rural and urban Ghana to have access to the education that they are entitled to.
In efforts to increase the value of students’ primary education, Professor Matthew Opoku Prempeh created a new four-year Bachelor of Education (BOE) program. This new program helps to raise the standards in the education of teaching professionals in Ghanaian public schools. As a result, newly educated teachers are now better prepared to teach subjects thoroughly and more in-depth.
Growing Digitally
Many evolved education systems around the world are utilizing modern technology to create more effective and accessible schooling programs. The Ministry of Education paired with WOLO, an E-learning organization platform to bring educational resources online for students. Transforming the education system of Ghana through online education is the most effective way to rapidly increase educational growth.
Ghanaian social studies, cost accounting, economics, physics, English language learning and geography are just some of the programs included in the online curriculum. All of these courses allow young Ghanaian people to broaden their lens of global awareness and helps prepare students for the future. Since WOLO is based in Ghana, many public schools have adopted some of the programs and encourage students to attend online courses along with their in-person curriculum. Providing students with a diverse learning pallet makes them more engaged in the virtual and in-person classroom, allowing them to apply these acquired skills to their everyday lives.
Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT)
The GNAT is an association of public school teachers who have recently implemented a new style of the curriculum for the 2019 to 2020 school year. This included innovative renovations to the history department of public learning, making the subject more geared towards the truths of Ghana’s history and not history from the British colonial perspective.
Along with reinforcing Ghana’s authentic history, education reforms in Ghana also emphasize Western mathematics and literacy. They do this so that Ghana’s young people can have a more well-rounded and worldly education. Additionally, the change of the traditional dress code uniform now gives children more freedom to express themselves as they choose.
Education Equals Empowerment
Since President Nana Akufo-Addo took power, Ghana has been on the path towards brilliancy, led by its inquisitive young students. The education reforms in Ghana are imperative for the growth of the nation so that people can reach their full potential. Investing in the youth is an investment for all. These educational reforms have increased the value of education for all Ghanaian people, thus guaranteeing an improved future for the youth of Ghana.
– Nicolettea Daskaloudi
Photo: Flickr