The Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Adutwum has announced government’s plans to overhaul secondary education in Ghana.
According to him, upon full implementation, Secondary school education will now be six-years instead of the three-year duration.
Christened the lower secondary school, the new model will be a hybrid of the Junior and Secondary school system and will provide a six-year secondary school education.
This is to replace the 3 three-year secondary school model, which was introduced in 1987.
He asserted that the current secondary education model does not promote equity. He also lamented that the current secondary school system does not adequately prepare students for the university.
The Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe constituency in the Ashanti region also signaled government’s commitment to improving educational standards to match up to advancement in industry.
He mentioned that the era of memorialization, where students only learn by rote memorization should be a thing of the past.
‘’We talk of education 4.0 now, just as we talk about industry 4.0. Education 4.0 is designed to promote the era of critical thinking instead of memorialization, ‘’he remarked.
Giving details about the new model, the Minister mentioned that 15 schools have been considered for the piloting of the programme.
‘‘As I speak to you, we have awarded contracts to 15 schools that a going to be called lower secondary schools. The facilities of these schools are just like the secondary schools. These schools will be equipped with high school facilities. Every one of these schools will have a Library, Biology, Chemistry and Physics Labs. They are beautiful school buildings,’’ he stated.
The Minister mentioned that the hybrid approach to secondary education will allow for Teachers to teach both at the junior and secondary levels, hence improving standards and quality of tuition.