A Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has denied claims that education at the basic level would soon be privatized and commercialized. The Deputy Minister of Education in charge of basic and second cycle education said although there are plans by the Ministry of Education to revamp education at the basic level, there is no such thing as privatizing or commercializing it. On Tuesday, February 26, 2019, four teacher unions held a press conference and raised concerns over government’s intention to privatize and commercialize basic education. These teacher unions, GNAT, NAGRAT, CCT-Ghana and TEWU indicated that majority of their members would be laid off if the policy is rolled out. They also accused government of not engaging them on the policy, expected to be rolled out in September this year.
But speaking in an interview with TV3’s Evelyn Tengmaa in Parliament, Dr Adutwum denied any such plans to commercialize or privatize basic school education. “It is not true, and I want to get the full script from the press conference by the unions and we will issue a response to them. At this point I just want to tell you that there is no commercialization of public schools as they have alluded to.” He also debunked claims that the World Bank has committed some $150 million to support any such plans. The Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe Constituency explained that the World Bank wants to help revamp the public education system at the basic level, and that discussions are at initial stages with no intention or mention of privatization. According to the deputy minister, the move by government is to ensure accountability because the basic level of education is losing confidence of the populace. “They want to improve the public education space, which is what the World Bank is focused on. “Making it better, and producing better outcomes so that there will be more confidence, so that you know when you bring your child to the public school, they can perform just like the private schools.” He said there would be a national assessment to ensure a strong foundation for basic level education. Dr. Adutwum added that the teacher unions, parents and other stakeholders would be engaged on whatever the ministry plans to do. Source: 3news.com|Ghana]]>
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