Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang’s sterling record as Minister for Education is a healthy mixture of innovative policy initiatives, quality outcomes and massive infrastructural development:
She successfully championed many reforms such as the conversion of polytechnics into technical universities;
Upgrading Colleges of Education into tertiary institutions;
Reducing teacher absenteeism from 27% to 7%;
Introducing the unprecedented Private BECE;
Leading negotiations with the World Bank which secured for Ghana the flagship Secondary Education Improvement Project and the African Centres of Excellence initiative resulting in the establishment and funding for the West African Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) both at the University of Ghana and the Regional Water and Environmental Sanitation Centre (RWESC) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST);
Supervised Ghana’s overall best performing WASSCE nation award by WAEC for four consecutive years when she served as Minister and the massive retooling and infrastructural development which she tirelessly delivered;
Abolished the quota system at the Colleges of Education which led to enrollment increasing from 9,000 to 15,400 thereby creating more teaching opportunities for the youth;
Ensured teachers were automatically posted without National Service and Licensure Examinations;
Procured and distributed more than 150,000 tables and chairs to basic schools;
Upgraded facilities at 50 less endowed Senior High Schools and 75 under-performing Senior High Schools;
Donated some 54,000 laptops to teachers and stocked computer labs with 60,000 computers during her tenure;
Recruited 2,400 mathematics and science teachers as a special intervention to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and science at the SHS level;
Engaged more than 40,000 newly recruited teachers during her tenure as Minister which is confirmed by EMIS data. GES staff strength increased by 18.2% from 247,254 to 292,238;
Superinted over the allocation of some 500 buses and double cabin pickups to educational institutions and district education offices;
Improved quality of basic education resulting in Ghana’s all time best BECE performance;
Distributed 787,485 free school uniforms to deprived districts across the country;
Supervised the distribution of over 40,000 free made in Ghana leather sandals for vulnerable students;
To improve retention and transition rates, she oversaw the distribution of bicycles, school bags, mathematical sets, solar lamps, calculators and textbooks to some 155,781 pupils;
Increased the capitation grant by 100% for 11,650 public basic schools in 75 deprived districts;
Constructed 25 District Education Officers;
Spent some GHS61.3million on BECE subsidy for all registered candidates in private and public basic schools;
Eliminated the obnoxious shift system in public basic schools;
Constructed some 1,129 classroom blocks, 73 teacher accommodation blocks and rehabilitated 622 schools at the basic level;
Constructed more than 2,000 school projects with the view to eradicate the school under trees phenomenon;
Introduced the progressively free SHS policy which was targeted at 458,700 poor and vulnerable students;
Distributed 787,485 free school uniforms to deprived districts across the country;
Supervised the distribution of over 40,000 free made in Ghana leather sandals for vulnerable students;
To improve retention and transition rates, she oversaw the distribution of bicycles, school bags, mathematical sets, solar lamps, calculators and textbooks to some 155,781 school pupils;
Increased the capitation grant by 100% for 11,650 public basic schools in 75 deprived districts;
Spent some GHS61.3million on BECE subsidy for all registered candidates in private and public basic schools;
Eliminated the obnoxious shift system in public basic schools;
Constructed some 1,129 classroom blocks, 73 teacher accommodation blocks and rehabilitated 622 schools at the basic level;
Prof. demonstrated unwavering commitment to the supply of Teaching and Learning Materials during her tenure:
472,800 Teacher Notebooks
653,700 Class Attendance Registers
12.8 million Core Textbooks
2.5 million Dictionaries
4,994,328 boxes of white chalk and 180,000 boxes of coloured chalk;
Initiated the construction of 124 Community Day Senior High Schools and completed 50 at the time of handing over;
Administered the Skills Development Fund which saw some US$50million worth of grants being awarded to 646 businesses and 93,446 employees/members of trade associations and farmer based groups;
Secured funding from the African Development Bank under the Development of Skills for Industry Project (DSIP) which was utilized for the construction of 13 modern and well equipped Technical Institutes across the country;
Upgraded facilities in all 38 Colleges of Education;
Supervised the completion of the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho;
Secured funding and initiated work on the University of Environment and Sustainable Development in the Eastern Region;
Embarked on massive infrastructural expansion in all public tertiary institutions;
Student loan beneficiaries increased from 13,833 in the 2012/13 academic year to 24,951 in the 2015/16 academic year;
Upward review of the students’ loan from GHS650 – GHS1,600 over two semesters to GHS1,000 – GHS2,000 for same period;
Introduced the Students’ Loan Plus to cater for students who gain admission but face financial handicap in raising the initial, time bound registration fees.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
