Ghanaian actress and entrepreneur Yvonne Nelson has expressed worry about the state of Ghana’s educational system.
Speaking to JoyNews, she shared a disturbing experience where she encountered students who were required to use cutlasses to weed before their classes began.
She was appalled that this was occurring in today’s era, emphasising the need for progress in the education sector.
“We need to do better. I have a video on my phone. I was on my way to Kumasi one time after I launched my book and I saw kids who were walking to school and they had cutlasses in their hands and I stopped them and asked why and they said they weed before they went to the class.
How are they going to weed before they go to class? They are going to sweat, mentally they are not prepared. How do you allow this in a school? How do parents think it’s ok to give a cutlass to school? What if somebody gets angry, grabs a cutlass hurts their friend? Really, 2024? Is this happening in our educational system? Does the Ministry of Education know that this thing is happening so we have to do better,” she said.
Yvonne Nelson who has ventured into educational entrepreneurship now has the Just Like Mama day care centre and a recent addition, the Yvonne Nelson International School which is for pupils at the primary stage.
According to the actress, her daughter was the inspiration behind her decision to delve into education.
“My daughter started school when she was one year 6 months old and it was actually the care. She will come home with a bruise or an insect bite and you expect the school to call you to report it before she gets home but you the mother or parent will notice before the school says anything. That was like a minus and a red flag. And with the academics too, I wasn’t really getting anything from her from school.
As a parent, you should see a change in their vocabulary and, the things they are saying. I watch everything my daughter does, I help her in reading, and doing flashcards for her, I’m really into education so I got a little worried and I thought to myself this is something I can actually do and do well because I am a passionate human being,” she said.
The celebrated actress, also known for her book ‘I am Not Yvonne Nelson,’ revealed that despite the challenges of balancing school management, acting, and producing, her experience in production has equipped her for this demanding phase of her career.