Let's develop our own education models – Prof Opoku-Agyemang

General News of Saturday, July 20, 2019

Source: Ghananewsagency.org

2019-07-20

Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, former Minister of Education, emphasized the need for Ghana to develop its own models of education to respond to its particular situation.

She said that the nation can not continue to experiment and that even "if we must learn from others, seek the best".

"When we say that a model exists in another country, let's find out when this model, how it is evaluated and how the bottlenecks are removed, and what the researchers say about this option," she added.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang called for the 7th John Evans Atta Mills Memorial Lecture in Accra on the theme; "Inclusive Education for Sustainable Development".

It was organized by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) in collaboration with the Government and University of Cape Coast.

She warned that reforming the country's education without a serious badessment of previous reforms would be a waste of resources, unproductive, irresponsible and downright destructive.

"We need a long-term development plan for the country – we need to know how we have managed the system in the past and what has created the problems we are now trying to solve."

Professor Opoku-Agyemang called for a paradigm shift that encompbades all marginalized people and creates an environment for them to function in a center.

Education, she said, must aim for the future by meeting the real needs of citizens – giving them the confidence and skills to build a prosperous country.

Education must create an environment that allows the mind to continuously develop new ways of dealing with existing and emerging issues through critical thinking, creativity, and innovation.

She noted that a pan-African approach would further help the continent to make progress in the fight against poverty, economic transformation and industrialization.

The former minister said the former president, Atta Mills, aimed to educate the country on quality and fairness, based on responsible fairness and citizenship.

She added that, under the watch of the deceased president, the ratio of textbooks had gone from the national average of a textbook for three children to four textbooks for each child, which reduced absenteeism teachers and strengthen the management of education.

All of these interventions were aimed at achieving quality results and ensuring that no child was left behind.

Professor Philip Ebow Bondzi-Simpson, Rector of GIMPA, described former President Atta Mills as a statesman who greatly contributed to the country's development.

"Professor Atta Mills was a great person from every point of view," he added.