Ghana: Gov’t to shift focus of basic education – Finance Minister

Ghana/Marzo de 2017/fuente: Citi 97.3 Fm

RESUMEN: El gobierno tiene como objetivo cambiar la estructura y el contenido del sistema educativo, pasando de pasar exámenes a construir el carácter, fomentar los valores y educar a los ciudadanos alfabetizados. Tales ciudadanos también serán entrenados para tener confianza en los pensadores críticos, dijo el ministro de Finanzas, Ken Ofori-Atta. Al dirigirse al Parlamento en su primera declaración presupuestaria en el Parlamento el jueves [3 de marzo de 2017], el Sr. Ofori-Atta dijo que el cambio en el sistema educativo se haría a medio plazo. Dijo que actualmente la educación básica consistente en dos años de jardín de infantes, seis años de primaria y tres años de escuela secundaria, no era adecuada, ya que no equipara al niño con los conocimientos y habilidades necesarios para afrontar el mundo del trabajo ni le da poder al niño Hacer frente a los retos de la economía competitiva global. Dijo que el gobierno pretende superar el desafío redefiniendo la educación básica para incluir la educación secundaria que abarca la educación técnica, vocacional y agrícola

The government aims to shift the structure and content of the education system away from merely passing examinations to building character, nurturing values and raising literate citizens.

Such citizens would also be trained to be confident critical thinkers, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance, has said.

Addressing Parliament in his maiden budget statement in Parliament on Thursday [March 3, 2017], Mr. Ofori-Atta said the change in the education system would be done over the medium-term.

He said presently, basic education consisting of two years kindergarten, six years primary and three years junior high school, was not adequate, since it neither equipped the child with the requisite knowledge and skills to face the world of work, nor empowered the child to deal with the challenges of the global competitive economy.

He said the government intends to overcome the challenge by redefining basic education to include secondary education covering technical, vocational and agricultural education.

“As part of this initiative, Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) will be used as a tool for placement of students into second cycle schools and not for certification.

“To improve the quality and relevance of education, and further make the products of our school system competitive, government will review the basic level curriculum to focus on the four R’s (reading, writing, arithmetic and recreation to include life skills and creative skills)”.

He said government also intends to ensure that all children had those basic skills when they exit the primary school system.

Mr. Ofori-Atta reiterated that, the Ministry would commence implementation of the free secondary education in September when the 2017/18 academic year starts.

He said the programme would start with first-year students in all public senior high schools across the country, explaining that “free secondary education would imply the absorption of all approved fees currently charged to students in public senior high schools.”

To expand access to Technical, Vocational and Agricultural Education and Training (TVAET) for the youth, Government would continue the expansion programme for technical institutes and polytechnics which began in 2016.

In addition, the government would embark upon the equipping of five technical universities and 10 technical institutes, he said.

He said the government would fully restore the payment of teacher trainee allowances, effective September 2017, to make colleges of education freely accessible to all eligible students and train teachers to drive the programme.

“Provision has been made in the 2017 budget to pay allowances to all 43,570 trainees in the 43 public colleges of education,” the Minister said.

Fuente: https://citifmonline.com/2017/03/04/govt-to-shift-focus-of-basic-education-finance-minister/

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