Government appears to be losing focus and should be called to order before things get out of hand, Executive Secretary of the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST-Ghana), Dr. Peter Anti Partey, has said.
Dr. Partey says the disparity between public and private basic schools is not about the colour of the building and the uniforms they wear, but rather the availability of basic infrastructure and materials needed to foster teaching and learning.
“People do not take their wards to private basic schools because; the basic schools are painted in brown and yellow, the students do not wear uniforms with bow tie,” but rather, “people do not take their wards to public basic schools because they are not conducive to deliver the quality of education we want,” Dr. Partey said.
He says those are the things the government should consider addressing to make the basic schools at the public sector attractive and not painting of school buildings and changing uniforms.
His comments come on the back of the government’s announcement of changing the uniforms and painting the schools as part of the many transformational initiatives to revive basic education and make it attractive in the country.
The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, hinted of the development Thursday, April 25, 2024, disclosing that the brown and yellow uniforms worn by pupils of basic schools in the country will be a thing of the past.
“We are changing the uniforms of public basic schools in the country. The yellow and brown that you see now, you will see no more. Reformation is coming to a community near you, and you will see it,” he revealed.
But according to Dr. Anti Partey, people do not enroll their kids in the public basic schools because “the teachers are less motivated, we have problems with monitoring and supervision”, adding that “these are the realities on the ground and these are the things that we think the Ministry of Education should be concerned with and not about changing uniforms and giving them bow tie.”
He asked that the Education Ministry be called to order since its actions clearly indicate a loss in focus.
“I think we are losing focus and the earlier some people in authority call the ministry to order, the better it would be for us because the disparity between the public and private basic school is huge and it’s not because of buildings, not because of the colours of the building or the uniforms the students are wearing. It is because they lack the basic infrastructure and resources that will make students feel comfortable and learn in the classrooms they are,” he said on Ghana Tonight on TV3 Thursday, April 25, 2024.
Changing of uniform for basic schools: What Partey Anti thinks gov’t should rather be doing
