Prof. Naana Jane Opoku- Agyemang, the opposition National Democratic Congress’ running mate for the 2024 election, has said the next NDC government would holistically address the bottlenecks in the education sector.
According to her, the NDC has demonstrable track record in the education sector and would continue with that tradition if given the nod at the polls slated for December 7, 2024.
“The remains unwavering and its commitment to quality and accessible education to all Ghanaian children from kindergarten to the university is unmatched,” she said at the launch of the party’s manifesto in Winneba on Saturday.
Education, Prof. Opoku- Agyemang, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, said was the bedrock of national development and that the NDC was determined to ensure that every child no matter their background had access to a conducive learning environment.
“To achieve this, we’ll prioritise personnel quality, provision of infrastructure, and learning materials. We’ll pay particular attention to schools in rural and deprived areas,” she said.
She said “the quality of facilitators of the whole learning process is paramount and that is why we keep raising the quality of teacher preparation and teacher training.”
To her, vocational and technical education was a very important area of focus for the next NDC.
With approximately 70 per cent of the population under the age of 30 and 50 per cent under the age of 18, she said it was imperative that the youth were prepared for the job market with focus on vocational education.
“Let’s look at our semantics again. If someone went to the vocational school, it is because he is endowed to go there and not because he couldn’t go to grammar school. We need to tone down on that language so that the students will feel appreciated and feel encouraged.
“Our vision is clear; we want and will support an education system that prepares every Ghanaian child for a bright future and a child who is rooted in the global knowledge through our rich cultural legacy,” she stressed.
The NDC manifesto, she said was not a set of empty promises but a roadmap to a better future for every Ghanaian.
“It is our social democratic blue print for building the Ghana we all want together, she said to rapturous applause.
“We are confident in the victory ahead and the NDC has the track record and renewed vision. We are motivated by the confidence in our skills and the good will of our fellow citizens,” she added.
FROM JULIUS YAO PETETSI, WINNEBA
