The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, says government’s investment in education has resulted in an increase in school enrolment and envisaged learning outcomes.
He says the Free Senior High School (SHS) introduction in 2017 has increased admission from over 800,000 students to over 1.2 million students.
The interventions, he stressed, had led to improvements in the West African Senior Secondary Examinations test scores, of which the average performance improved from 38.73 per cent in 2006 to 69.73 per cent in 2023.
The Minister said this on Friday at a Thanksgiving Service organised by the Ministry of Education on the theme, “The Lord is Good to all and His Mercy is Overall that He has Made.”
He said education played a key role in the country’s transformation and that it behoved them to thank God for the mercies bestowed on the Ministry.
The Minister, also the Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe in Ashanti, thanked President Akufo-Addo for the confidence he reposed in him.
“We have gone beyond our manifestos. We have promised Free SHS and added free Technical and Vocational Education Training,” he said.
He said the Ministry would continue to work hard to replicate the sterling performances of Wesley Girls’ SHS in other schools for holistic learning outcomes.
Dr Adutwum said the Ministry had engaged the services of retired headmasters and headmistresses to mentor teachers to give of their best.
“We need to move away from our fixed minds to progressive minds and believe that everything is possible with focus and determination,” he said.
On school infrastructure, he said the government had started the construction of schools in the Ashanti, Northern, and other regions to improve learning outcomes.
“We have started construction of model Junior High School (JHS) and community schools from kindergarten to the JHS level with science laboratories and equipment,” he said.
Dr Adutwum stated that in April 2024, the Government would commission the projects to enroll students for the new academic year in September.
He said the Government had constructed new STEM schools across the country, including Accra High School and Abomosu, to compete with the rest of the world.
He commended the efforts and resilience of the staff of agencies under the Ministry to achieve such a great milestone in the educational space.
Dr Christian Addai-Poku, Registrar, National Teaching Council, commended the visionary leadership of the Minister, saying, “You are so good that everyone sees your vision and follows you.”
Most Reverend Dr Paul Kwabena Boafo, Bishop of Methodist Church, Ghana and Reverend John Fordjour, Deputy Minister in Charge of General Education, prayed for peaceful elections and success for the Ministry.
The Minister presented a plaque and an undisclosed amount of money to some former headmasters and headmistresses of SHSs for their selfless contributions to education.