Over the years, there has been mass out cry in reference to the quality of students churned out by the Ghanaian educational system.
Although the issue of quality education is always in tandem with finance and precise actionable plans, politicians and civil society organizations in their quest to gain attention from the Ghanaian citizenry make wonderful pledges on the need for quality but leave out the question of how their suggestions would be carried out (financed). In the end, as feasibility on these promises is impossible their theory on quality becomes a gimmick.
Going down history lane, and in reference to the major steps undertaken to promote quality and accessible education by Ghana’s leaders; Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, upon realizing the role of education to national development, initiated free education all through to the tertiary level financed primarily with the nation’s earnings from cocoa of which Ghana at the time was the world’s leading producer. Evidently, he instituted the Cocoa Scholarship Scheme of which many of the persons at the helm of affairs today freely benefited.
Not long after the fall of Dr. Nkrumah, Dr. K. A. Busia (Ghana's prime minister – 1969-72) in his quest to adjust but further enhance access to education especially at the tertiary level introduced partial state involvement in funding tertiary education (cost sharing) hence the introduction of the Student's Loan Scheme as a complement to students in acquiring education.
As previous initiatives became obsolete and deficient in meeting the needs of the time, the GET Fund was instituted in the regime of President J. J. Rawlings (1999) and subsequently backed by law with the prime mandate to face-lift Ghanaian academic facilities especially at the tertiary institutions, as well as support in the general upgrade of education in Ghana.
In the era of President J. A. Kuffour, the FCUBE, the School Feeding Programme, etc was also introduced with the sole aim to reviving the vision of Ghana's first president and to motivate participation in education especially at the primary level.
Notwithstanding the visible initiatives introduced previously as contribution to quality education in Ghana, the passage of the Petroleum Revenue Management law (which sought to determine how Ghana's discovered oil would be managed) did not contain in it visibly allocated funds towards improving education despite societal out cry in this regard. By this, the fate of education in Ghana is once more left in the hands of politicians (persons who have so far made the subject of education an after-thought and a joke).
Furthermore, with the current trend, education in Ghana is seemingly drifting to be a venture for the privileged, as fees charged for accessing education is progressively high, contrary to the provisions of the 1992 constitution article 25 (“all persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and with a view to achieving the full realization of that right…..”)
Moreover, as access to quality education in Ghana tilts to be an elitist engagement, the gap between the BOURGEOIS and the “Have Not” in society would deepen, creating a class society. Consequently, a revolution will ignite primarily by the masses (“have not”), seeking to make society a classless one just as Karl Max has predicted. In the end, the quest would trigger anarchy, something this nation is not ready for.
As cover up by these elites who are predominantly the managers and power brokers of the country, the Students’ Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) is upheld as the complement to education notwithstanding its meager and late disbursement.
Ironically, these elites at the helm of affairs today and introducing unfriendly and anesthetic policies were a part of those that benefited from the scholarships and free education to the tertiary level as was the case in the era of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
Rather than advancing cogent alternatives towards eradicating the predicament associated with today's education, they join the masses in lamenting over the problem, calling for talk shops as a gimmick.
Until recently when students of the University of Ghana embarked on a protest march over the ‘wee’ school fees, the education ministry and the other relevant stakeholders of education never realized the need for a public discourse on alternative means of funding Tertiary education in Ghana i.e. partial state involvement in sponsoring education; a resolution which was initiated in the era of Dr. K. A. Busia.
In conclusion, if there is any hope of improvement in Ghanaian education system, persons put in places of authority would have to be proactive and assertive in the offering of alternative means of dealing with problems rather than joining the masses in chorus of ignorance of the unknown.
Furthermore, the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) as well as the Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) should endeavor to as much as possible relegate their whims to the background as they seek to live up to their reputation (advancing the interest of their constituents).
Again, persons at the helm of affairs, having in mind how helpful the free education up to the tertiary level in the era of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the need to demonstrate more appreciation, should sacrifice some of their per diem and allowances for purposes of promoting education in their respective institutions.
The truth shall be said at all times, damn the consequences. We shall overcome.
