Advertisement

Mr Boakye Agyarko — NPP member Manifesto committee
Mr Boakye Agyarko — NPP member Manifesto committee

Manifesto watch: NPP commits to resolving education crisis

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) believes that the hopes of Ghanaians for a bright future will not materialise if the country is unable to resolve its education crisis. 

For that reason, the NPP has made education a priority and will commit itself to a bold, creative, visionary and an all-embracing programme for the transformation of education in Ghana.

Core elements

The core elements of the programme, as contained in the party’s manifesto, include free education for all Ghanaian children up to senior high school level to ease the burden on parents and guardians while encouraging them to assume their responsibility for the social upbringing and control of their children, raising the quality of education at the primary and senior high school levels, with emphasis on Science and Mathematics as the fundamental building blocks for success in a technological era and to ensure that the first and second cycle schools lay the solid foundations needed either for tertiary education or for preparations for early entry into the world of work.

A deal with the universities

A government of the NPP will work with the universities to raise their standards to the ranks of the best among their peers, in Africa and beyond to ensure that their products are equipped with all the skills needed to build the national economy, but also are able and motivated to take on the challenge and the opportunities for higher achievement in the science and technology-led knowledge-driven global economy through innovation and creativity.

Towards this end, the party hopes to place research and innovation at the heart of education in Ghana. 

“The universities will be expected to accord priority to research, especially in the bio-medical, computer, agricultural and environmental sciences,” the party’s manifesto said. 

The party says it will foster close integration between the universities and the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) and other research institutions and further create two new institutions.

Two new councils

These two new institutions are a Consultative Council made up of researchers, the Association of Ghanaian Industries, Ghana Chamber of Commerce, representatives of major banks and venture capital funds.

The council will be expected to help source for funding to take research findings from the laboratory to the market place and in collaboration with the GAAS, other research institutions and the universities, establish a manufacturing plant at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) for the production of prototypes of inventions and creations of scientists and innovators in the country. 

The plant will build prototypes to prove the efficacy of the innovations as the decisive step in helping attract investment capital to support them.

Recognising that the success of such a programme hinges on the ability to attract and retain the best brains in teaching, the NPP says it will signal a sea change in the mindset of the nation, and especially of the government, in its attitude towards the teaching profession. 

Restoring the dignity of the teaching profession

“We shall restore to our teachers the honour and respect they once held as the source of enlightenment at all levels of society and ensure that teaching becomes once again, a profession of choice for our ambitious youth,” the party promises.

Connect With Us : 0242202447 | 0551484843 | 0266361755 | 059 199 7513 |