The President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Daniel Oppong Kyeremeh, has appealed to political party leaders not to politicise issues of education but to prioritise how they can improve the welfare of Ghanaian students.
He said it was the Ghanaian student who would bear the consequences of bad policies in the sector if issues about the sector were left at the mercy of politicisation. Mr Kyeremeh stated this when he addressed the second edition of the NUGS Education Conference in Accra.
He said with the 2024 election fast apeduproaching, any suggestions of different approaches to the education system should be done without the usual politics that drew the country back.
He reiterated his call on politicians to always endeavour to include the youth when drafting policies and implementing decisions regarding the sector. "I implore you to consider our concerns and issues by setting up a Youth Advisory Board to ensure that you make student leaders part of policy formulation, designing and implementation so that you can adequately and appropriately attend to the needs of Ghanaian students who, I believe, are at the core of every educational system the government intends to initiate," the NUGS President appealed.
Mr Kyeremeh urged the Ministry of Education to uncap the funds allocated through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) for the implementation of projects. He noted that the funds released by GETFund to schools had been inadequate to carry out the sort of projects the schools needed.
Getting full access to the entire amount allocated by the government under GETFund, Mr Kyeremeh stated, would culminate in a massive wave of total transformation of campuses across the country.
"Most of the notable senior high schools have been able to carry out massive infrastructural and developmental projects on their campuses because they got support from the GETFund and we believe many others can have the same story to share when the full amount allocated to GETFund is released to schools for project implementation," Mr Kyeremeh added.
He commended the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, for showing commitment to the course of education in the country. Speaking at the conference, Dr Adutwum underscored the commitment of the government to continue investing in the educational system.
This, he noted, was to make the educational system modern, innovative and highly technological to respond to the questions the current times presented.