Minister of education, Dr. Yaw Osei-Adutwum says government plans to pilot a six-year secondary education system beginning in 2023 by consolidating some junior and senior high schools all under one management.
According to him, the initiative is part of efforts to shift the country’s secondary level education from a grammar-based one to one focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
“When we talk about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, we are not talking about doing this at the university but we are talking about creating a pipeline. A pipeline that begins from the primary school that takes us through junior high school all the way to the university.”
He added that “In 2023 when we open those schools, you are going to see how we are going to see six years [of] quality secondary education,” the Education Minister, said to the press on Tuesday.
He said the system will be piloted at 15 sites and will prove to be cost-saving once implemented and also result in students graduating with good results.
He indicated that per the president’s task to him to transform the education system, “we have awarded contracts for about 15 schools that are going to be lower secondary.”
Dr. Adutwum further said the number of high schools in Ghana is going to be reduced from 13,000 to about 2,500 if the reforms go as planned.
He said the ministry was going to partner with various stakeholders including private sector operators to provide the much-needed infrastructure like laboratories, workshops, and lecture rooms for STEM-based institutions.
Source: Anthony Sasu Ayisadu/ATLFMNEWS
