Education Minister, Dr. Adutwum announces new uniform for basic schools to rebrand education in Ghana
Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum
The Education Minister has announced new uniforms for basic schools as part of an initiative to rebrand public education in Ghana
According to the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, the rollout and introduction of the new uniform is part of the government’s initiative to rebrand basic school education in Ghana.
He explained that this is part of the rebranding efforts by the Education Ministry to enhance the image of public schools in Ghana.
Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, while addressing a gathering on the Ministry’s plans, said the new uniform to be introduced for Basic Schools is blue and white with black bowties.
The Minister reinstated that the rationale for introducing the new uniform will follow the repainting of basic school buildings to blue and white to match the new school uniforms.
Dr. Adutwum made this announcement during an unveiling ceremony presentation at the University of Professional Studies, Accra.
Dr. Adutwum said, “We are rebranding public schools. No brown and yellow, blue and white, and we are changing the uniforms too. This is President Akufo-Addo and Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia’s Ghana. We have begun the transformation. There’s no reason why we should not. Ghana deserves better, and we’re going to give them better, something that we can all be proud of.”
Contrary to critics who say he has abandoned basic schools, Dr. Adutwum insists this isn’t the case.
He envisions a day when parents will beg to enroll their children in basic public schools because he is setting things right.
He added, “So they will say, we will give you credit, you have done well with Senior High School, but you have abandoned basic schools, children are sitting under trees, and you’re talking about drones. To them, I have a response; I look forward to a day when parents will line up in front of the school and beg to enroll their children; that is the day, and it will soon come, and it has begun under Nana Akufo Addo.”
However, the move has been condemned by the deputy ranking member of the Education Committee in Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak, who believes it’s a misplaced priority.
He cited the neglect suffered by public basic schools and the arrears in capitation grants, which are crucial for the functioning of basic education.
Dr. Apaak questioned why resources are being spent on rebranding public basic schools instead of addressing these pressing challenges.
“Invariably, most of the government attention has been directed towards the free Senior High School policy and its implementation. As we speak, I know for a fact that capitation grants, which are the grants that allow us to say that public education is free because these are the grants that the head teachers of the basic school used to organize activities like cultural activities, sports activities, are in arrears for eight terms.”
“We even have a situation where only 65% of textbooks based on the new curriculum, which came into effect in September 2019, have been distributed to our public basic schools across the country. We have more than 1.3 million people in the country who have no access to furniture, and so why will the government, in spite of these glaring and debilitating challenges, seek to spend resources in rebranding our public basic schools by introducing a new uniform,” he added.
This marks the second uniform change in the Akufo-Addo administration, following the 2019 alteration by the then-Education minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, now the Energy Minister.
SOURCE: Coverghana.com.gh
