New education reforms lauded

A Development Planner at the Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, Nii Teiko Tagoe commends government for the introduction of the new education reforms, which would replace the 1987 reforms.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Nii Teiko noted that the junior and senior secondary school systems had a shorter period of learning, three years each coupled with extra curricula activities, which often times, did not allow students to have enough time to study.

He said students who attended the junior and secondary schools were not fully mature and well prepared to meet the demands of the growing economy.

"No employer will employ people with little or no experience," he added.

Nii Teiko said this had resulted in the increase in social vices such as robbery, streetism and rape.

He said the new reforms which sought to maintain the three years of Junior Secondary to be called Junior High School (JHS) and four years of the Senior Secondary to be called Senior High School (SHS) were a step in the right direction.

Nii Teiko again lauded the one-year apprenticeship programme under the new reforms, which allowed graduates from the SHS to undergo a vocational training of their choice before entering tertiary institutions.

The new educational reforms would also have an additional two years added to the kindergarten system, making basic school education 15 years.

The reforms, which would mainly focus on selected areas like Science, Technology and Mathematics, are scheduled to kick-off in September this year.

Source: GNA