FREE SHS: Second Enrollment Increased By 43%—Minister NAPO

The Minister of Education, Hon. Mathew Opoku Prempeh has disclosed that the Second Enrollment of the free senior high school has increased by 43% since the implementation of the policy.

According to him, it has increased from 881,600 in 2016 to 1,264,071 in 2019 which the transition rate from Junior High School to Senior High School increased from 67% in 2016 to 87.7% in 2018, and to accommodate the extra numbers, 804 Classroom and Dormitory blocks are being built across the country.

Addressing delegates at the 2019 at the African Innovation Summit in Accra, he said,under the free senior high school programme, the ministry is supplying 4 core textbooks, student 9 exercise books and 4 notebooks to each student and providing school uniforms, school and house clothes, P.E. Kit and free meals for boarding and day students to acknowledge the role of teachers in the Free SHS programme.

He also added that they working on rolling out 32 state-of-the-art TVET Institutions across the country. The feasibility studies for these have been completed, funding proposals have been received and approval has been sought from the Public Procurement Authority for procurement to commence.

"In addition to this, development is underway for 8 Technical Universities, 2 Polytechnics and 13 Technical Institutes, whilst 35 National Vocational & Technical Institutions (NVTIs) are being expanded and upgraded across the country", he said.

He further stated that "Under the National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework, we have developed and revised the curriculum for Teacher Training and have introduced a 4-Year Bachelor of Education curriculum for pre-service teacher training, replacing the Diploma in Basic Education".

"Accordingly, we have upgraded Colleges of Education to degree-awarding University Colleges affiliated to Public Universities.

Currently, our Teacher Policy is being developed with the Teacher Taskforce to guide recruitment, deployment, accountability, career path, rewards and remuneration, teacher standards and teacher training".

"We have also introduced the teacher licensure regime in order to improve the professionalization of teachers and bring them in line with international best practices, whilst Continuous Professional Development has also been introduced with the same objectives. The strengthening of the National Inspectorate Board (NIB) has also led to a reduction in teacher absenteeism from 30% to 9%", he said.

According to him, under the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP), the government of Ghana seeks to improve the quality of low performing basic education schools and strengthen education sector equity and accountability in Ghana.

Hence, the project is targeting 10,000 most disadvantaged schools based on examination performance. It will also support the training of teachers, manage class sizes and improve systems for accountability, national assessments, and teacher management.

"The 5 GALOP disbursement indicators (which will be shared later with you in their presentation) translates into real, practical means by which we aim to improve teaching and learning in our schools and ultimately drive up learning outcomes.

...The total project funding amounts to US$ 174m, of which US$150m is from the World Bank International Development Association and US$ 23.9m is a GPE Grant", he stated.

Citing that, it will enable millions of youth to integrate faster into an increasingly innovative and technological workforce and address the continent’s challenges through scientific and technical research and innovation.

Adding that, it is time for African countries to accelerate their socio-economic transformation by developing skilled professionals in applied sciences, engineering, and technology.