Private Owned Schools Will Not Be Included in Reforms- GES

The Deputy Director-General of Ghana Education Service (GES), in charge of Managerial Services, Anthony Boateng has revealed that pre-tertiary level private owned schools will not be included in the ongoing reforms in the educational sector.

Speaking  at a GES Workshop on Secondary Education Improvement Project, he said deliberations are being held to make the National Inspectorate Board the official regulators of private schools.

According to him, the deliberations and the reforms will make GES view private schools as competitors rather than regulators since “the service cannot be a player and a referee at the same time.”

He also added that, GES after the reforms will focus on implementing policies.

“The Ghana Education Service (GES) is the regulator of education at the pre-tertiary level and is supposed to ensure that all schools perform to standard.

“After the reforms, the GES will focus more on implementing policies and the programs and will no longer be responsible for private schools.”

The Deputy Director-General further disclosed that by 2022, GES will only post teachers with undergraduate degrees to schools and those with diplomas will be given the opportunity to upgrade themselves.

Talking about teachers who are unable to upgrade themselves, Mr Boateng stated that no teacher will be dispelled but rather with time, those who will be unable to upgrade will be phased out of the system.

School Reopening Committee Inaugurated

The Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has inaugurated a 10-member committee in Accra to deliberate and advise on modalities for the reopening of schools in the pre-tertiary sector for the President’s approval.

This inauguration comes as  a results of the address by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to the nation on Sunday, August 16, 2020, which included the government’s intention to consider the reopening of schools after they had been shut down in March this year because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The committee which has been inaugurated is expected to report to the minister on September 24, 2020, with the recommendations they come up with regards to the reopening of schools.

The committee is chaired by the Chairman of the GETFund Board of Trustees, Prof. Dominic Fobih, with the other members being the Chairman of the Ghana Education Service (GES) Council, Mr Michael Nsowah; the Director-General of the GES, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa; the Deputy Director-General of the GES in charge of Management Services Mr Anthony Boateng, and the Deputy Director-General of the GES in charge of Quality and Access, Dr Kwabena Tandoh.

The rest are the Director of Pre-Tertiary at the MoE, Madam Catherine Appiah-Pinkrah; a representative of UNICEF, Mr Madeez Adamu Issah; a representative of private schools, Mr I.K. Mensah; the Chairperson of the Parent-Teacher Association of Accra Girls’ SHS, Nana Kwasi Amoako, and the Director, Schools and Instructions, Mrs Patty Assan.