NUGS Challenges Education Minister To Come Clear On Appointment Of Abraham Attah

On the 22nd June, 2017, the Minister of Education Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh(MP) announced that Abraham Attah of "Beast of no nation" fame had been appointed the Ambassador for the Yet to be introduced Free Senior High School Education programme towards enabling many deprived students in embarking on their Second cycle education.

We do commend the trust and belief shown in granting such an honor to a young person. This shows the trust and belief reposed by the government in the youth and this bold step is deserving of commendation.

The acting leadership of the Union which was brought into being by the Accra Circuit Court following some disturbances affecting the leadership of the Union in recent times and the student leaderships of various institutions Were however disappointed with the choice of Abraham Attah as the ambassador . Regardless of his fame, this is a policy which affects Senior high school Ghanaian Students who school in the country and therefore it's sad having a student of the United States who is not affected in anyway by this policy spearhead this agenda.

This sets a bad example and also serves to portray some level of distrust and disregard for our local educational system. It would have been a great opportunity to grant some level of exposure to someone studying locally. There are over a thousand students who though studying locally have distinguished themselves in other fields such as excelling in sports, Industry, creative arts et al. and are equally deserving of this opportunity even if creative arts were the target group.

This would have been a great opportunity to send across a message that with the right mentality and a hardworking approach to one's studies, you could have such opportunities at your doorstep.

Take the on-going National Science and Maths quiz for example . If the government had chosen someone who excelled during the competition, this would have served as a motivation to all other senior high school students to take their books seriously and strive for excellence since opportunities like this could be available to them.

We do recognize that through his stage play skills, Abraham Attah has become a role model for many young ones across the country but This is however totally unrelated to the educational sector especially in the enactment of this gigantic policy hence as major stakeholders in this decision mandated to partake in the approval of Gorvenmental policies and in the acceptance of whoever manages the enactment of those policies as far as the 1992 constitution is concerned, we are at a loss of words as to the rationale for his selection.

*Through the voices of the over 5million Ghanaian students and within Ghana, We demand that either the government comes out to make it clear the criteria that was used in his selection, his role or they review this decision as we disassociate ourselves from it*

We must also put on notice that the FREE SHS POLICY and other Educational policies implemented or yet to be implemented within last year and the current year respectively are being analyzed and for the first time would be addressed in an educational dialog soon in conformity with the article 25 of the 1992 constitution.

The National Secretariat of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) in conjunction with all blogs and student leaders also wishes all Muslim Youth especially Students of the republic a happy Iddil-fitr celebration as we continue to fight for the interest and better welfare of Ghanaian students.

Signed
Malik S.Y Basintale
Ag. Secretary (Education and Democratization)
0540444414
Michael Amoah
Ag. National President