Support govt to provide quality education
There is no doubt that countries that have achieved exemplary progress in all facets of modern life have done so on the shoulders of education.
Therefore, education has long been recognised as the key to national development.
This is to say that countries that hope to develop must have an education system that can flow with the changing times.
This means it should have modern facilities and also teachers who are innovative and change-oriented.
It is unfortunate that even in the present days, some countries, particularly those in Africa, are using archaic educational facilities, staffed with teachers with conservative ideas because they are limited by the facilities they use.
The trend now is that under-developed countries can learn from those ahead of them.
This is why The Ghanaian Times commends the Akufo-Addo administration for initiating the move to modernise the country’s educational system, to make it receptive to happenings that change the world for the better. It is reported that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday performed a symbolic inauguration of over 80 educational facilities renovated or newly-constructed by his government, including Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) schools.
STEM schools provide students with analytical and research skills; and its focus is hands-on, problem-based learning.
In fact, it is said that people well-grounded in STEM fields become innovative and critical thinkers, who can apply what they have learned to solving real world problems, thereby improving their communities along the way.
The good news is that ultimately, STEM literacy translates into securing gainful employment in the increasingly knowledge-based economy, which is the global trend.
What is important is that the government’s efforts are meant to improve access to quality education.
That is evident, for instance, in its inclusion of a range of modern facilities in the school infrastructure to cater for the diverse needs of students across the country, from the basic to senior high and technical schools.
Any country that intends to develop must not leave any of its young ones especially behind, in terms of education and training, not even those with physical and intellectual challenges.
Thus, we join President Akufo-Addo in his expression of the hope that every Ghanaian child would continue to have access to the resources and opportunities they deserve.
Quality education means imparting the expected knowledge and skills to learners and learners being ready to absorb or imbibe these, but this cannot come about as a result of only standard facilities.
It thrives principally on the efforts of teachers as they resolve to adopt teaching approaches or methods that can ensure that quality.
In that regard, teachers must be ready, for instance, to do continuous learning, including self-education, in order to update their knowledge and impart what is relevant at any time.
Thus, teachers must resolve to outlive attitudes that undermine quality education such as mismanagement of time and not doing remedial teaching, which is making sure learners poor in certain subject areas are given the necessary support to move along with the rest of the class.
The current situation where many public basic school graduates can neither read nor write the language of instruction (English in particular), for example, is a blot on the country’s education system and a risk of hindering some young ones from climbing the educational ladder to the desired rung.
Since the government cannot take up all the responsibilities, especially regarding the readiness of the children to study for quality education, The Ghanaian Times implores parents, teachers and community leaders to play their respective roles to support the government in its efforts to provide that quality education which will ensure the country’s forward march.