The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Dramani Mahama has said he plans to review and improve the implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy and resolve its associated challenges.
He said this when he met with representatives of our Teacher Unions at the head office of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) in Accra.
He told the teachers on Saturday, April 20 that he is going to conduct an educational reform in his first 100 days in office and the integral role of teachers in national policy reforms, should he win this year’s elections.
“My administration will focus on adopting ‘first language’ as a medium of instruction from KG to Basic 3 and training more teachers in major local languages to facilitate teaching and learning at the basic levels.
“To encourage reading at the basic level, we plan to build more libraries and resume providing reading and textbooks for all basic schools.
“Timely disbursement of the capitation grant to education directorates and schools will be a priority, as well as removing the capping and collateralisation of the GETFUND and resuming the free sanitary pad distribution policy,” he said.
In a post after the meeting, the former President stated that he will prioritise the revival of abandoned Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and E-blocks “in our education infrastructure drive to decongest schools and improve the quality of education”.
“We also plan to review and improve the implementation of the Free SHS policy, resolve its associated challenges, and mainstream TVET and STEM in all secondary schools.
“These are just a few highlights from the productive dialogue we had. I look forward to further collaboration with teacher unions and other stakeholders to develop effective policies for the education sector.
“Together, we can build a better and more inclusive education system for our children and the future of our nation. Thank you to all the teacher unions who participated and shared their valuable insights.”
