Senior high school to run 3 or 4 years? PUBLIC TO MAKE INPUT-Education Minister designate declares

Frontpage, Feb 7, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah, Charles Benoni Okine & Becky Duho
CORE issues likely to define the four-year tenure of President John Evans Atta Mills in education and internal security dominated the first day of vetting when the first five nominees appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament yesterday.
Those who appeared before the committee were the Minister of Education designate, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo; the Minister designate for the Interior, Mr Cletus Avoka; the Minister designate for Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua; the Minister designate for Tourism, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah, and the Minister designate for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh.
While Mr Tettey-Enyo proposed to institute a non-partisan national forum to discuss the issue of whether or not to change the present four-year duration of the senior high school (SHS) course, Mr Avoka pledged his commitment to ensure the independence of the regional, metropolitan, municipal and district security councils to make them more effective to proactively deal with security matters within their areas of jurisdiction.
Mr Tettey-Enyo, who was the first to appear before the committee, explained that the proposed national forum was intended to give Ghanaians perhaps the final opportunity to make an input as far as the duration at the SHS programme was concerned.
For more than one hour 40 minutes, the 69-year-old educationist who spent a longer time than any of the other four nominees who appeared before the committee explained that “although our party had proposed to change the present duration of the SHS from four to three years in its manifesto, the public will be given the opportunity to make an input”.
His appearance had been of interest to many because of his earlier pronouncements on the issue and it was expected that he was going to have a tough time answering most of the questions.
Although most of the committee members pinned him to the issue of the duration and even referred him to his earlier statement to the press about his intention to change the present duration to three years, Mr Tettey-Enyo maintained a calm posture and answered every question that came to him from all angles.
He insisted that he had only referred to the manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) which he said would be implemented in the best interest of the country, adding, “But we will not leave the public out in what we intend to do.”
He said it was important for the government to ensure that the basic school level of education was well equipped so that students who would be turned out would be able to spend only three years at the secondary level, instead of the present four.
He said the Anamoah-Mensah Committee which had been tasked by the previous government to reform the educational sector had proposed three years for many reasons and indicated that the government, after the proposed national forum, would ensure that the will of the people prevailed.
On the issue of study leave for teachers, the minister designate said the ministry would work to encourage teachers who aspired for higher training to undertake distance learning.
He said the move was to ensure that they did not leave the classrooms in droves to pursue their education at the expense of the students and pupils.
Mr Tettey-Enyo explained that the training would be subsidised for them, while also ensuring that the classrooms were not emptied.
He added that the move to upgrade teacher training colleges to undertake diploma courses would be pursued vigorously.
He said much work had been done already and efforts would be made to ensure that the programme took off as soon as possible to boost the capacity of teachers even before they entered the classrooms to begin teaching.
“We are all aware that teachers need to be well trained before they enter the classrooms and we believe that when their training is upgraded, it will have a positive impact on their performance in the classrooms,” he said.
When asked about the school feeding programme, he said, “The programme is definitely a good idea because of the positive impact it has on school enrolment, among others.”
Mr Tettey-Enyo said what the government intended to do was ensure that many more pupils benefited from the programme, while the mode of implementation was also streamlined.
On issues at the tertiary level, there were various questions, ranging from congestion in the lecture halls to lack of accommodation facilities, with the Minister of Education designate pledging the commitment of the government to ensure that the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) was judiciously applied to provide the needed infrastructure on the various campuses.
“We have seen the major transformation the fund has brought on the campuses of the polytechnics and the public universities and I will work to ensure that more of such facilities are provided to enhance enrolment and also provide a more conducive learning environment for the students,” he added.
Mr Tettey-Enyo further pledged his commitment to ensure that vocational and technical institutes were given the needed attention to enable them to continue to turn out qualified and well-trained students to be absorbed at all levels of education.
The Interior Minister designate, Mr Avoka, who demonstrated a lot of bravery and confidence in answering questions, said the regional, metropolitan, municipal and district security councils would be well supported by the ministry to enable them to deal with security issues that confronted them on a much more speedy basis.
“These councils are on the ground and they need to be independent, while the ministry only provides support when the need arises and that I will pursue,” he added.
One expected issue of national concern, the cocaine menace, also came up strongly, mainly from the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) members of the committee.
Mr Avoka said Ghana had been negatively tagged as a haven for drug dealers and stated that during his stewardship as a minister he would propose the transformation of the Narcotics Control Board to a commission to give it more powers and authority to discharge its duties and report to the President.
He said those convicted on drugs would not only be given prison sentences but the ministry would also work to ensure that their assets were frozen and confiscated to the state to deter others from committing such crimes.
He said the various security agencies, particularly those at the entry points of the country, would be strengthened, while the necessary equipment used in detecting drugs are provided.
On accommodation and incentives for the personnel of the Police Service and the Fire Service, he called on Parliament to increase the budget allocation of the ministry to enable it to provide more incentives to them.
Mr Avoka, who is a Kusasi, said he would not allow his background to influence his decisions on how to get the Bawku conflict fully resolved.
Some groups had wondered how he could he fair when he had defended the Kusasis against the Mamprusis in the Bawku conflict but he said, “They know I am a unifier and I will work to unify all of them to ensure peace in the area.”
When he took his turn, the Minister designate for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Chireh, told the committee that he would make a proposal to the President to consider nominating three people for each district assembly for one of them to be voted for the district chief executive (DCE).
He stated that such a system would make DCEs work in the interest of the people, instead of the current situation where such appointees were only accountable to the President.
Mr Chireh said, however, that he shared the view of other people that the time was not yet ripe for DCEs to be elected by the people, since that system needed some constitutional provisions.
The nominee also said the redemarcation and realigning of some district assemblies were issues worth considering, since that would ensure the efficient running of the assemblies.
He promised to work towards the implementation of the Local Government Act to ensure the deepening of the decentralisation process to bring governance to the doorstep of the people.
For her part, the Minister designate for Tourism, Mrs Azumah-Mensah, stated that with the current global credit crunch, there was the need for emphasis to be placed on domestic tourism to keep the industry in business.
She also stressed the importance of the promotion of local dishes and spoke of her resolve to liaise with managers of receptive facilities to include more local dishes on their menu.
On the poor roads leading to tourist destinations in the country, Mrs Azumah-Mensah said there was the need for a collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Roads and Highways to ensure that such roads were upgraded.
“This is the only way that we can attract both local and international tourists to boost the industry,” she said.
She appealed to leaders of the ECOWAS sub-region to implement the protocols put in place to enhance the free flow of people to encourage people in the region to visit tourist destinations.
When the Minister designate for Children and Women’s Affairs, Madam Akua Sena Dansua, took her turn, she proposed that the Department of Social Welfare be brought under the Children and Women’s Affairs Ministry.
According to her, since the department dealt with issues concerning women and children, it was better that the two were harmonised for the advancement of women and children’s issues.
She also said if given the nod, one of her first assignments would be to review the structure and mandate of the ministry to make it more responsive to the needs of women in the country.
Ms Dansua said she would ensure that the ministry had offices in all the districts, saying that “even if I have to use officers from the Social Welfare Department to achieve that purpose, I will not hesitate to do that”.
Ms Dansua, who told the members of the committee that the establishment of ministry was relevant to the advancement of women in the country, said, “We need a ministry that will be responsible for women and children’s issues to move forward the agenda of mainstreaming gender.”
Answering a question on the need for affirmative action, she said, “As a gender activist, I do not see anything wrong with it,” adding that there was no equity between men and women, especially in the economic and political sectors, hence the need for that action.
According to her, the issue of affirmative action had become necessary, since in the past women did not have the opportunity to upgrade themselves like their male counterparts, for which reason there was the need to give them the push to enable them to rub shoulders with their male counterparts.