The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Education, Kwasi Kwarteng has refuted claims by former President John Dramani Mahama that the government is buying votes with the free tablets for students.
Mr Mahama, while addressing a student forum at the Wisconsin University in Accra, said the government is issuing this policy to convince the students who are turning 18 to vote for the NPP in the December polls.
The NDC flagbearer stated that “you bring a new curriculum, the children have no textbooks in basic schools for the last four years and you think that giving pre-tertiary students tablets is more important. Of course, everybody knows the political expediency.”
“The pre-tertiary students are going to register in May because some of them are going to be 18 and above. Some are 18 already and they are going to be the ones voting. So this is a gift to entice them to vote for the current government. It’s a bribe for them to vote for this government but I mean the students do not exist in isolation. They live in households and families,” Mr Mahama added.
But Kwasi Kwarteng told journalists in Accrra on Thursday that “I think that yes, politics largely has an impact on socioeconomic transformation and everything but I mean sometimes let’s be fair, let’s stand up to the occasion, let the whole world know that it is not everything that we have to play politics with it, particularly education.
“We have allowed ourselves and destroyed every gain that we chalked as a country with the politicisation and extreme politicisation of issues.
“Today every topic that we raise, if we talk about National Health Insurance, it is politicised, if you talk about taxation, it is politicised, If you talk about the strength of our cedi, it is politicised,” he lamented.
He further stated “For some time now, the Ministry of Education has been repositioning Ghana’s education to meet what is happening in this fourth industrial revolution. And it is even more reason why even though the government has promised free SHS education, we have also gone beyond that to introduce STEM which is something that this government never promised.
“But with the fourth industrial revolution, it has become very relevant and we cannot just sweep that under the carpet. The digitisation concept is the conversation now, it is the order for the day. All over the world, countries that have been able to use education as the focal point to be able to turn their socio-economic fortunes have been through education.
“But not just any other ordinary education but one that is very relevant within the fourth industrial revolution. That is the reason why we have been talking about STEM and digitisation. In 2021, no elections were impending but the Ministry of Education as part of the effort to reposition Ghana’s education to meet what is happening in this 21st century, deployed 3500 laptops to teachers, at that time, there was no election in view or campaign.
“But it is the continuation of that process. The effort to position Ghana’s education that is why we are also introducing things like smart schools. That is not even limited to those within the senior high schools. It has even gone beyond that to the basic schools” he stated.