Double-Track SHS - Newsfile on JoyNews (28-7-18)

let me introduce my guest to you fully seated in their studio Abdul Malik oka Baku editor-in-chief of the new crusading guide newspaper Martin pebble is a lawyer doctor Yao or say adieu team he's MP Bassam chief and deputy minister of education and Samuel Okuda - a blocker his MP Norton and ranking member Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament's was deputy education minister in the previous administration good morning gentlemen and well Martin is one good morning right so first we will do a fair segment after that we will receive all that the the panelists and do a second segment we have dr. dictum here because this is the area of his expertise and this is the ministry that he oversees he seems to be the one who has special responsibilities before the free as HS so doc may be out with a shoot I should ask people like Martin behind the COO what they feel about this double-track system that you are introducing and as ghanians do they share in the con sense of you know parents and guardians that there's very little you know about it the unaware all they are hearing is that next school term the our children are going to have to do a double track how do you feel about those those complaints yeah they are well founded very well founded though one side of me says well we should do everything within our power to make sure that we give access to education free as much as possible three secondary education the other side of me definitely shows that we have not acted tiny asleep you see so that's a problem but I believe that to the extent that they I guess mobile is is aimed at ensuring that people get free education we can work around the weaknesses so that I even just before off-camera I was talking to the dog that they need to ramp up education you need to ramp up education and then also most especially we need a buy-in from the opposition member in 1991 we had this education the National Forum on the education that kind of thing I remember that time Haruna encode yes you see Kofi what do you call it student leaders a few days and all that you see so we need them national buy-in because look bottom line that this country belongs to all of us so it doesn't matter that voters are watching in Japan it will always belong to all of us who wear opposition are raising very critical issues look let's create forum let's invite them let's interrogate the issues let's make sure that we have cross fertilization of ideas it's a very we have a very good thing now look at languages that one man cannot embrace a barber tree I don't know I hope you know yes way I grew up Pat Linden know if I know what a barber tree looks like huge let's not pretend that so dorky alone it cannot deliver a good system know who need input especially from the opposition because even if you drop your language this is a new a choice son Williamson eg not sure exactly you see so let's create that for bring you could you train these people on board let them cross effect like the ideas okay so now whereas you are claiming that they know very little about this maybe maybe right but you may not be ahead to give that excuse because of where you find yourself in society yeah and by way of using an exposure also yeah you clearly appreciate what it takes the double track system I think as much as a afraid I kind of understand but what the I don't I I think they haven't fully explored it's about the private secondary schools you see those private institutions how about bringing them on board you see so if we are facilities that have species there does those in private sector why don't we bring them on and pay them because they also are complaining so this conference of a heads of a previous quiz eat chips or something like that let's leave them on so that we absorb as much of their available spaces as possible because they are also Daniels you see gosh we keep the children at home six months of the year when we came because the lower you which I was six months yeah I want you to I want you to appreciate I want you to appreciate the concerns of parents that even Martin here is beginning to explain this in a way that you say is dangerous how about someone else who is not that exposed to appreciate okay so okay you what's your appreciation are you worried that your children have to go through a shift system or a double-track system that you don't particularly like that's why you should have started yes its strategic you understand that they come that's why you should have especially what happened here right but you know you also said shift system I'm no double track track again yeah that's this also that of you Xin dragon people trying to make shift system synonymous with a double track we do know that I have a very comprehensive or you know knowledge about this matter but I've had my brother Sammy actually make that point you know now for me what I hear and not my precision is that this double track thing is the pragmatic response to a challenge that has occurred in the course of the implementation of the free senior high school Adva processing I don't think there's any dispute away from ideological point of view philosophical point of view I'm absolutely for the free senior high school project I don't believe in those who are talking of discrimination and means-test and all that I believe this a step approach admitting that it will come with challenges realistically and that's exactly what the government has done you know it's a response to an increase in enrollment yes at a very high rate we may not have anticipated a rate but we did anticipate some increment it may have gone as over 30 percent yes but that is for me that is even a sign of the positive nature of this program otherwise would have left a lot of people out there unattended - and my social justice sense tells me that it would have been a wrong approach and so the questions being raised are these all the ancillary is that you're talking about this opening the space yeah for a lot more to have access yeah but in a again you are going to have a double track and people are saying the quality IPS will reduce even fed I'm not a journalist I'm not too sure about and in terms of quality it is how you manage the process it is the kind of instruments and conditions to bring to bear on teaching quality of teaching time the period I give to the students a things so it's manageable if you critically think about it you will find solutions to it okay but the point of your parents perhaps not been fully away and prepared to concede the perhaps consultation relating to the school administrators don't appear too well I was coming I was coming there I thought that one we've been excusable because I was thinking and in the implementation of this program those consultation okay May June July they held also consultations at a at McCann school intimacy very extensive so I was surprised then when some heads were claiming there were new consultations there was no policy guidelines when I sit in somewhere all those documents and the names of the people who attended ahead of the institutions and they are signatories in the hundreds maybe one more two or three men might have been absent so they could have articulated I even that was wrong they should have gone to be a second ization the center of the organization to get an information but parents I am prepared to concede that the might have been a gap in terms of making them understand what the issues about and what the pressures and challenges would be related to big parents and the actual rhetoric perhaps we might concede to that thank you I wish I returned to to today's and let's let here just this briefly this comment that was made in the course of the week as we began to discuss the matter of the double track and we heard from a number of people we would like to hear from the president briefly and after we have heard from the president we could also hear from Franklin Kudo of Amani and then I'll ask accreditor to repeat what it is SPR consents about this then we'll get dr. Bishop to give us the full brief on what it is I doubt the creator has any blueprint on this that he's using we'll be right back this multitrack double intake organization that we're going to make from the beginning of this academic year to be able to deal with this large population inflow of this large population of new students and that is going to allow us to do two or three things first of all create one for all the students secondly reduce class sizes downsize cloud sizes and that is the key to the quality is that we will have smaller classes teachers that are capable of teaching them and I'm sure that in two or three years time the the comments made by the representative of the teachers about the quality of [Music] examination process will be a thing of the past so I want you to support this dual intake system has being a very very efficient way of dealing with this large classroom and also encouraging the community to take advantage of the policy when we did let them and comes out with the monado then we went ahead and did a lot of calculations based on the emmys data and we projected that in 2018 the total population in SHS one was green services are at at 7,000 based on the 70% pass rates we were going to lightly get what fall that the 5,000 for 24,000 students who would be needed to go into SHS as justice one was a figure we have from the education it's rating projection in accordance the Education Ministry is total registered BECE candidates 521 thousand number placed four hundred and ninety seven thousand and number enrolled 472,000 so there's a surety of 30,000 30,000 if anybody tells you that we even project that we went I am projected 2019 2020 so it cannot be the case that we didn't foresee what we have in today so for anybody to wake up in the middle of the night through some professors and then startling you doubletrack multitrack there was a kimochi system what about this that is being played then we did the six of a lamb stew in two days a whole ministry without having touched through the policy implications of this comes and blesses this policy tell see what we describe as policy logically theity money completes breakdown in policy coherence and anything to do with logical policymaking so I'm not entirely surprised first of all the whole idea of having a Ivey reducing the contact hours the fact of the matter is that we cannot be making policy for education in this manner all right so you had the president not rank Rockefeller also even explaining the advantages of the system and the need for it and then Franklin Kudo imani Africa they have been talking about the free SHS since the idea was mooted and have been against the manner in which it is being implemented and clearly have issues with what is being done up now something else I was asking and you must be one of the major stakeholders in this in having of at least having been deputy Education Minister do you have a blueprint that guides you in appreciating what exactly government intends to introduce well thank you very much and good morning to the panel and good morning to a distinguished viewers and listeners we have seen a manual the manual which has been used for information or education purposes I would say with the heads and it's important that we do the distinction between consultation and information providing information or carrying out education and I believe that that's where their heads are coming from when you just gather them when all is said and done you've prepared your Manoir as was the case in these systems and you just provide information to them that this is we are going to do a double track system and this is what we want you to do that's just providing information that's not consultation and so I think that the heads have a point when they say that they were not consulted and we in the in the in your position we're not also consulted this country has has quite an array of former education ministers who alive from the you know the likes of progress would be to Prasanna no puka demon known aboot attend your own abou bottom of the drizzle honorably Aughrim there's so many of them I want to believe that even some during the in kuma-chan Pony era when the next school season starting September right do you appreciate this is an emergency you know so a fetching good so we appreciate that I don't appreciate that it is not an emergency president occur father was not sworn in yesterday or last week he's been talking about free Shi since 2008 he was sworn in on January 7 2017 president ocupado has had 18 months we all know that if you assess the MS data every year even with our free SHS enrollment does go up so this is not an emergency it is an emergency if you like created by lack of planning lack of foresight lack of vision and so we are bearing the brunt of our inaction we were just happy to announce that we have started researchers and we all went to bed it will appear and we have been hit with this but something I want to raise more fundamental issues first the constitution of Ghana has provided for us a path for this free SHS program and how we should go about coming can we do this but we fell into the country yes we only do this briefly and there's a reason I asked if you have cited any blueprints that's assist you to appreciate properly what is being done now you have you have talked about my home I have dominoe yes anomaly from what you have seen in the manual what is wrong with this system from what you have seen with the after going through the manual what can be the basis of an objection to the policy okay so there are a couple of reasons why there should be an objection the first one is with the massive data that we are dealing with we don't have an accurate data on the three SHS numbers the manual that I have here the data provided is 360 1771 of SHS free SH as beneficiaries so that's the first figure three six one seven seven one when you come to the 2018 budget which was presented to Parliament in November after the procedures have been load out something very interesting is going on the 2018 budget paragraph six to one of the budget the free SH has figure as we were told by the honorable finance minister is three hundred and fifty three thousand zero five three beneficiaries twenty five three zero five three the same budget the same 2018 budget surprisingly if you come to paragraph seven ninety nine an entirely different figure conflicting figure is provided three nine six nine five one we are told that beneficiaries at three hundred ninety-six 951 so that's the third figure only last week the Honorable Finance Minister was in Parliament to present a media review fiscal policy review of the 2018 body a statement and economic policy one will have thought that by now after six months since the 2018 budget was presented we will have will begin to see consistency in the figures paragraph one six three of the media review the Honorable Finance Minister provides a four different figure of three six two one one eight which is different from the manual figure of three six one seven seven one so if we can get a detail right how can we plan properly data is crucial so that's the first concern we have there are all kinds of figures being bandied all over the place and something I'm sure you have had you have had sir you have had His Excellency the president say consistently in Ghana and outside the United Nations Africa Union all over the place that free SH has beneficiaries 90,000 who will otherwise have been at home are now benefiting when you do the analysis of all these conflicting data all over the place including the latest one in the manual you subtract three hundred and eight thousand seven hundred ninety nine from three six one seven seven one you don't get a ninety thousand you get fifty two thousand nine hundred and seventy two so you ask yourself who gave the president that figure of ninety thousand and why are ministers talking about ninety thousand all over the place during there is the issue of a claim which has been made and that if you have right now it is important to emphasize that from the ministries on Manoir sixty two thousand four hundred and fifty three were placed but not enrolled and this raises a larger question of the need to further interrogate that notion that once you implement for your searches everybody will get in but what does it mean you say they were pleased but not and rude what does it mean it means they didn't pick up the offer so in a way you have all this is deliberate so you have in mind the resource-rich so so if you come to consider the fact that we don't even have accurate data at this point almost a year of implementing success we don't have reliable data all kinds of conflicting data all over the place this figure might even be high or might even below look at this we do not know these points we have raised so far so some of these are not these are not the merits of the fiscal track that's why you should have all heard me to start with the Constitution I have I have told you that told you please please please please allow me to I've told you that free SHS it's a program that we also put we would we have never been opposed to fear to free senior high school we have never yes it is it is it is the it is the moat it is it is it is it is it is the mode of implementation and I was something if you are if you had allowed me something if you had allowed me I was going to make the point that our Constitution the 1992 Constitution makes free education an imperative article 25 one of the Constitution stipulates all persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and with the view to achieving the full realization of that right a basic education shall be free compulsory and available to all be secondary education in these different forms including technical and vocational education shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate mix and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education when you come to article 38 under the directive principle state policy in the wisdom of the framers of our Constitution they give us the roadmap the plan for implementation article 38 - says the government shall within two years after Parliament first meets after they come into force of this constitution draw up a program for implementation within the following 10 years for the provision of free composite investor Basic Education so you notice that for basic education the framers of our Constitution were very rigid they gave specific timelines that so you can save 9 by 2004 we should be implementing free basic education but for secondary education let's listen to the cadet the framers of our Constitution article 33 the State shall subject to the availability of resources provide a equal and balanced access to secretary and other appropriate pre-invasion education equal access to invest your equivalent education with emphasis on science and technology so you notice that when it comes to secondary and higher education the framers of our Constitution were not stringent were not rigid they are cautious very cautious because of quality because if you are not minded to make sure that you implement it rationally taking into consideration your financial situation all of that it will just be about throwing numbers out and there is nothing more dangerous about having young people on your streets certificated and yet had not sufficient resources to be able to roll it out is it my political decision so a poll carry team decides that we take that decision that Ghana is sufficiently resourced to do this yes it's it can it's a political decision based but but when when you are cautioned that look we have been in government we are conversant with the data and we know that the best approach is the another in a progressive manner because you don't even have the number of facilities you don't have adequate facilities to implement this is it any wonder because now you have the Honorable Finance Minister with outcomes you have you have the Honorable Finance Minister honorable California tan making the point we made yeah it is at this point for you target it's a good point for you to power I was doing thank you thank you come come on come on later right so doc yes I my brother how how did you come about springing such a surprise auntie okay before I get to demand well I think so much has been said and it's it would be very important for me to see something so that in the minds of the viewers they would not I think that I what my brother saying as something accurate first of all I I really appreciate US position and granted that the a disparity in terms of data you beyond administration you know how amis defended that it has made a conflict you've been there we are streamlining data for the first time I will be able to deflect an information system by their by the first semester of this year every student will be in a database which can be accurately checked at this point had been manual and Edna South data you go to each year so we have that issue and a now concede that you can have this issue with data about to a farmer at bountiful phone if he could hear us right he think this and intellectual access a for those who'd understand hard life is on this in the village of bountiful he said to himself are they using the Constitution to that denial - and codomain sad opportunity to go to senior high school and and to give us the opportunity from once in our lifetime to have somebody go to secondary school the implications of secondary education freeze Nia has far-reaching so far region if you go to the villages and places where videos families for many years cannot send their children to school what we do of Constitution so far as we are not going against the Constitution and we are using the phrase ability ah he said offered by the Constitution to provide us as the vast majority of our youth if we talk as just an intellectual and they look at us and the Eleven see they don't get it they don't understand we have two issues or two schools of thought or so or two approaches one approach says buildings aren't already wait give me 10 years our built now build all these blocks and grant and and make sure the enough classrooms all children can go in the meantime with 100,000 of you 181 thousand of you will be on the street every year we don't care what we care about is the father we are learning better with Russ and Elias to build and as another party that says in spite of the facility challenges we are going to find an innovative and pragmatic way of ensuring that you go to school today whilst we mobilize resources through get fun in a new approach as school construction development and and I'm sure that we do five or seven years every school gets the facility it means and there will be no more double-tracking but by the way when we use this approach where I'm going to decongest there's a steel schools we are going to lower class sizes at the same time and on top of it we are going to open spaces in highly desirable schools our together prompts I don't get to go to a guest night if I'm going to increase enrollment you are guessing by 50% so that a child who could not go to a guest in like myself can go today and at the same time I'm reducing classes and at the same time I mean back on a major infrastructure development through gate ran so everybody can do a single track in five years it's a win-win proposition or across the board I will concede that this communication could have in done area I'll consider but to say that the double track system is the Western aha to the case in this country when we are in fact increasing contact hours from thousand and eighty hours 2,134 compared and when we are hiring more teachers so that teachers will not be overloaded every teacher will go with their tram convocation comes you go home peacefully with your students you come back with them you know about this situation where we have beautiful talk and we don't get the implementation in that order look see where that's it from so I know in recent times I know in recent times the township is is a bit improved but about five years ago I have been to data from so a couple of times and you can tell your difficulty to be even in posting teachers see to some of these places has not changed sure you can have more sensitive that's at a disadvantage please like that yes for people in fact the whole stream the entrepreneur has teachers a lot of teachers who that's not saying yes so school but the bottom line is this as you do your what we call it's your schedule your timetable you have a software that schools I'll be using and we are getting all the schools I don't have it to use it yesterday we met with a number of schools and ensure they are scheduling high is going to be like when they have their the drug track and the web which is sure is okay we had the visions of two teachers here in French we had visions of this you take that and then you recruit specifically for that school you see well the thing that we have not noticed and you can see from at the napkin application 42,000 qualified teachers as I graduate teacher because never recruiter graduate teachers we leave them to their own devices and the past five months will create a nineteen thousand of them and they're less as endless people who go to university of cape coast and do Bachelor of education in science the means of a decay so GSU not required to hide them we only hide a diploma number of them unemployed qualified so so it's not like you know say to the ancient builders kohaku photometry know me having recruited people who applied who applied yeah for the per thousand okay as part of the 100,000 plus who wants to be in the etiquette model yeah yeah yeah education model and so on this is where you were seeking to source non additional teacher no I'm giving an example of the father we are not there's no shortage of graduate teachers teaching and say these are the teachers you want to use recruiting permanent employees right yeah so that's why I'm nothing really cynical namco will come in for our quality purposes we are getting for teacher napkin employees pay school who will support intervention okay so math and English and math they're coming after school ones to just say that the student is not performing at path the due to time one-on-one with them so that is going to be done through a beautiful picture so so so then you take a look you take a look at the other essential things that we are talking about here my brother risk issues about please and not going that the genesis of this whole thing that you really if you talk about education and anybody who has done some work in education administration what are you that you do not guarantee assess when there's a cost barrier if you build all the buildings in this country for education and they still have to pay they will show up and this what we saw we've seen in this country and their northern regions of Ghana the last are four years there's number of student who did not accept enrollment after they where it was eleven point four eight percent you come to the certain part of the country and it is the hope in thirty five percent who were pleased but in no show up 35 percent it tells you something about cost evenly the northern scholarship was just a feeding grant anything come with all the things that are free senior high school has brought and they were still able to have a eleven point four eight person who didn't show up compared to 35 person in the certain part of the country so that the basic idea that all removed a facile yes you will remove it now look at what we are doing we get forgetful recently announced their father idea back of a major infrastructure development so that we don't have double track continuing at infinity so you have a situation where in other countries around the world when they go to this tracking they don't go into it as a permanent feature of the education system you can look at research in the state of California you look at what is going on in Australia with the influx of more immigrants what they all do is that you give your third breathing space you find a relative way of ensuring that everybody can go new sites Kenya as well is that a best example to use oh no I will say it's a better than put to use what I know because the other issues for example what we are implementing here it's not the same thing like a fully implemented you do variations for example our seniors you don't interrupt them you make sure they all go if you were to shoot out to somebody in half well no this is not what we do by that variation what was a summation of the duration you say this an emergency your strategy how long do you estimate this one I mean based on the projection that Gavin has given to us and the new funding mechanism that they're using you see he that - I just want to explain the a little bit so that I can appreciate why we thank you to be about five years or this at most three years and you are done and then go back we have get fun buildings uncompleted through other a misc we literally initially booted sa a building that was started by get fund and this one completed sitting there and and get far has been building like my father who has a cuckoo for my bed he took 20 years to bear his first room he just gets on money and leader foundation build on the block and I had to grab you from investor coming completed for him so so get by I've been doing that unfortunately if you look at the burdens that indecency or we started there why don't you complete it no funds were allocated dedicated fans were not allocated for it apart from the 23 that were funded through the World Bank all the rest were being both like my father builds get find gas money peer contractors just move it up by the way when you use that approach then I build and I started as 500,000 can become a million because we have fluctuation issues to deal with so you have kilo 15 million two million dollars is it true to follow the obscure 500 million drivers three million dollars Nina don't complete all buildings that are 70 percent completion level across our secondary schools seventy percent and when this is done you see us it's really where some schools we just be reverted that they will move away from the double track and comebacks Estonia try to code you they will Nonie that's what we beginning to just five say 41 they are some schools where we are not doing the boat right because there's no need to do it but we are opening up spaces in school like every girls were still girls and all these highly desirable schools by ensuring that more students can go there and at the same time make sure that we are back on a major infrastructure development so that we did a period of time five to seven years do you know you will not have to do the winter okay so so pause let's stop the bigger argument and look at in September you're going to roll it out how exactly is the program going to be SS one day just one two three how they're going to operate commence the program okay by the way of my senior brother said we have met with all headmasters across the country to educate them on the thing how we are going to implement it every single headmaster maybe the person was sick in didn't show up you did that win Oh last Friday we began in Kumasi had much longer head help nurses give us the edita fest it's not about having consulted them we conserve we had nothing it so then give us how many students you can take the moment we got it and we did our analysis and realize that there is an issue then of course we have to administer how to brief the President and say and Cabinet say we have a problem here these are the challenges that we are facing and by the way a so completely also browse so no I mean let me let me of course I have nothing to hide here I'm saying that we are dealing with a challenge West Africa dominating cancer gives us a data and then we affirm us as proof ice that the spaces that are available they give as this hisses we reconcile no my brother as you know how did I get in this country as my brothers and I lived into you don't do this in a day so once you get a data you compare they go back to Headmaster's and say Headmaster's this is what you have given to us and of course all of them were saying wow how are we going to come and even minister at the time led to a fugu from Pei asked them to provide their input as to how they think the solution they can find a solution in Kumasi I was there with me okay before I depart for tammany he came back to Akron met with the Headmaster's of all that is good so he realizes oh no top-down no okay so so opinions were solicited by my brother the issue central point is this you have 181,000 gap do you leave them to their own devices threw them on the streets using the cutoff that was what have you used in this country and probably my brother if he was involved with GES in how students were selected for school so take a so now I gotta go and go up okay this is what's been happening from fresh students will be going to square the same time and in the school at the same time we are not tampering of anything they have what's ahead of them from two students who begin a semester and we did a semester you have 16 weeks so they begin and end at the same time together they take their break come back and do another semester 162 days instead of 180 the only difference is that they are they will be longer and in the regular system as from tres abusing the idea be shorter so that is where so you are dealing with you have phone to Dan from trade an okay and then you move on to from one where sometimes the confusion getting in a school that has 3,000 students we are able to increase enrollment with 3,500 that means if phone three was thousand from two or thousand four hours thousand the previously we're now going to increase from one 2500 and the question is how can 3500 fit in us whoo that only cool early take 3000 what you do it I spread that talent 500 into - 750 750 at any point in time even at the time at any point in time you have 2,750 in school right and then who begins if we caught track a song we prefer to add a color so that people don't think is better than B so the blue track begins wave from - infantry start at the same time they move ahead this pant are 2 months in school close to what a term would be like but not exactly so when they get to 3 months that is when they take the avocation so what's the education the affair location is at that point okay which is also two months okay so when they take their vacations immediately so first that be staying at home for two months six months comes in immediately and when they come in they continue their whole full semester of 81 days that's what they do system with non-stop midway through their system weeks from true is now on vacation space opens up from ones who are not doing the other kitchen and the vacation come back and join their colleague former students and finish the semester with them do their final semester Azam's together do everything together you finish your first semester and the cycle repeats in the second semester interesting interesting the number of teachers who you would need would you need to double the numbers or no we we are what we are doing is this because you see schools the last time and we hide about cruising 19,000 teachers so a number of schools had more teacher than they even need but there are some school that I will have more teachers because the teachers cannot cross track they have to be on their track so we call it I have to be on their track after they do the schedule like yesterday we do fatimata you'll be able to know that if we destroy because we could not cross right maybe this which I have the ability to Silas co-teaching he may have one you leave him there and then what you do is that then you see the deficiency in the number of teachers and you could specifically to meet I do deficiencies at that particular school those who can work for the both tracks will gets will get extra pay no we are not going to promote their teachers need rest they will burn out so if you start from that premise you are not will hire more teachers and with time even though you are paying them well people will get tired so although there could be spread shark is this is a feature not as a feature of the multitrack system where teachers are earning a lot more because they are teaching not different tracks not exactly you don't do that in some key I I've taught in a motor track I got is done at pepper and they've giving examples of how no you case is also an added benefits you can do that and people will love that for one year two years they will burn out soon so what you try to do is in a unique cases maybe at each I was on try being he's not feeling well and for some reason he's of you can get it is every song like a sin to take their spots but if you plan with that in mind people do for three years they are tired even though the money is good but you give headmaster the flexibility to applying what you have a new depth to in special a keys because if a teacher is out family issues and and case as certain a classroom by the it will not be present to say that oh you don't attendance right so you know but you don't plan with that if you flower that you can have been art issues even though initially people love it but with time what is going to realize is that they get tired because they haven't had break except for the Christmas and the Easter breaks so you don't plan with that by you at you use it readily when they need arises because it will be on a temporary fix and basis and not on a permanent on a feminine okay now took eight weeks I I want to get about two minutes each comments of the two of you have been raped and then I'll get you to raise your additional issues and then he would respond to them specifically he he started by raising issues with the four different you know figures I don't know if you are suggesting we should ignore those figures and when he spoke about the fact that you had lack of four sites you didn't plan because even in the absence of free edge SHS we had increases all the time I saw you at a place right in % this now have 51% so unexpected all right because of because of the bathtub sighs you should not be seen unexpected no because of the better policy they implemented and you see there's something nice by saying that BC travesty them can sit for right it was I commend them for it because also they may not want to go back to their regular school find a field to take the exams again it was a good policy the first three years or so only thousand students were registering a year this year eleven thousand trees it's a good policy but the consequences of it is that the numbers are good enough for you we also at this time the dots was very good by making sure that we paid hundred percent of the registration fee for student in public school we realized that every year if you compare from two numbers of four three they get to from three that was a serious drop so as we paid the hundred percent that also boosted the numbers because now everybody registered so their good thing and a good policy also for what we're dealing with so it's not something the projection manuals talking about Amanda did not project this on the father and this was doing something profound that will have a good consequence in terms of number in not money they'll also know that we were going to pay the hundred percent registration fee therefore more students I will be accumulating they did not do those projections and the bottom line is I really appreciate policy thing turned like money it's good they bring insights but if it's only when they think that there are only ones who know something about education policy and that whatever they say should be the final see others I have eye problems always in this world I excuse me we are not just on mere politicians who don't don't research anything we know what we're doing but we appreciate contributing from people like you might know so so so much in haven't heard him haven't heard yet - what's what's your position now okay so before I could I you know we I acts about a private school right you don't have that in life so that I can write I can I can say something about the fear we've had consultations with privacy they've come to us we've talked many I have met with them means I know their leaders because once upon a time I was one of them okay but we have two types of private schools in Ghana when we say private school so fancy yes galaxy they do such a fine job Morningstar why don't we send our children to them if I turn one and start treating students they do not have space be a high demand school ICS would not have IP I also know how to be all this different category of than a reality oh yes rather complaining introduction of the fiance's no I ask not a second category so there's a fear of private schools that have no problem in fact their enrollment increased there were 34 student who has served us well suggests and didn't go and they were all kids and say I'm going to Christian High School dr. Dell School in bidois and I'm going to Galus I'm going to this school I'm going to dance so I'm not get worse the girls some of the schools are full to the brim and you have to be on a waiting list to get in then you look at the second category of private schools like the one I have in my village what is going on those private schools is that those who went there were not your middle class or upper middle class parents they don't send their children to those schools this way does to make Jade understand I went to them where students who because of the cut off could not go to public schools and this a student from very needy families and disadvantaged the school that I had I built in my village what happened was that made rate of the students I had to pay how to found recently they could not afford by the public system did not absorb them so this category of schools yes are suffering because when high school became free the poor got access to public school and therefore cool we're not going to the private schools so this private school argument that Krishna has killing us introduced cut off the advocating where do a cut off when I do a cut off on cotton of the poor and those are the ones who have to go and get a loan to come and pay in a private school setting so these two private school categories you have to fully appreciate the dynamics so yes there are some private schools with facilities those are the ones who are not looking for students who who who the ones with equipment and facility and sometimes better than public schools they are not begging for improvement the efficient way beyond the rest of about the other group the other group is what I'm talking to you about if I go through in a sum of me I will say all of them by the majority of them stuffin you have to change other stuff yeah in some cases because the qualification you develop a legal framework because some of them are for-profit if government is paying money to properly how to develop the legal framework it's called partnership schools some countries have but if it's something that is not no easier to do - yes that double star it takes about two years I'm working a public-private space because you cannot just one day wake up and say government man you're working at one day you're going to do a double track yeah and you have blocking more teachers no by you can't this institutions need those you simply do the recruitment you are doing no different even us even for those who do not like the double track let's do copy the two arguments the quiet and easy study progressively they started losing students too and I'm sure my brother will concede that the same argument because now the public schools became cheaper and therefore they said if I could go to a proper welcome to private so when NBC started the public school began to see the key but draw thank you in a way thank you very much it's not convinced by you sit down I've met with them over a year so when you talk about no console we had a meeting okay that's the president how many times he has met with me on the and the minister okay thanks I think that it first before it is that yes let's do everything in our power to keep as many of our children in school as possible but let's bring the order so I think that so far there's been that let me call it a exclusion bring the NDC on they were just in power about two years ago bring them on less pseudonymous place let's have a roundtable discussion because like we could YouTube nation especially a number of ministers and yourself documented them that they introduced their private VC so somebody you already have worries including that now because of the double tracking we're going to disturb the families Columbus Otis behind so you could have two children or three one will be in District one be there that you come to and you of the patients were coming apart from not planning of vacations properly parents also have children who cannot be on their own at home when it is one stream they come on vacation you make preparation arrangements to stay home and take care of that and then you go to your work all of these you think these are genuine are they are they not issues that should be swept under the carpet and promote the thing quickly rather know they are very genuine because he and this brings me to free Italian finance ministers a statement that those who can t look so I rather prefer that for face you can pee and want to have all the children is granny same time I don't pay so that they can't have their children is who at the same time so they can't plan your activities because is they save money look if you need you have domestics okay in some homes you have up to two domestics you are paying two domestics classes okay so that and this is a home where you have all the student go to school at the same time so now when you have one in school the other two at home okay you make it more complex so what I'm saying that yes Isis because you see their point is that because I moved on how exactly this is housing that you see less approve this sort of an open mind me I'm Lee against their double track I think as I said once a roommate is increasing fundamentally astronomically and for it because you need education when you say about the other feature they speak about with the president emphasized that enrollment will not only increase class sizes will reduce yes that's laughable that means quality is going to improve rather likely likely to improve okay the results we show a Larry actually improves or not but likely and looking at that because at the moment the classes are overflowing and teachers cannot you know reach out to all their students is very bad our universities you know even at our time yeah Tinky Tinky you have to sit outside and listen to the last because of the other challenges that parents are reason about having some children in school and this whom let's look at the way of bringing in as I mentioned Arrieta said for parents who can pay so that they can continue to pay so that if I can pay and keep all the children in squad the same time alright let's do that let's thank you did thank you see thank you yes now finance ministers renovation I think the timing was wrong I was wrong with being candid exactly that's the thing you don't get you want to be politically correct correct can I can I be here what's wrong with facing reality I said his timing was wrong he was also it was not a declaration of intent of government look that's a full-scale policy here being implemented is a violence when is the place he's not a government the president is actually the government if you have money or you don't this is no no he's not that God mate he can be ready for tomorrow and there'll be a new finance minister what are we talking about i overshot for that president unless you mean peachy or he loses an election this is the presidential government or system if you like and there's a policy in place his school of thought or his philosophy compromise finance minister to shock him out of to reality they didn't have money to do some of the things he was doing we told you that yes I am aware of the history who told you this see a lot of myths in history and we sometimes have packaged them in such a way assume they are custom I own unless we go for specifics then I can explain to you what I've just talked about the journey to Varco Wow yes the jersey that building building building their customer yeah okay I was British American and Ghanian impulsive had some Italian well well-organized over a period okay it's well-documented okay that's it is a digression yes but I think that's his fee let me tell you something I have all the minutes and it's a digression on the Volga River Development Authority I have all their minutes from 1951 to the time it was completed then I have all the handsets from the 50s to the 60s when it was completed oh okay that gives you a broader picture a broader picture of what went in yes the finance minister was very critical one stage I even advocated that they should name Akosombo after him when he night that's bidam a fantastic gentleman intelligent when it came to finances unfortunately fell out it was a big fall out for the CPP well this I digress and we'll come back to so he can be resurfaced so if you shut up no had to be unfed on my pad you see I say it was expressing my opinion a certain philosophical outlook on how this and how many people think like this and cover that please he was not clearing the intent of God meant to review the policies that's the point I am making that's the destination look there are people who believe in what he said across the social divide but that's not an indication of government and station to review this policy I'm even told they were saying that assuming they say database sufficient data base in terms of means texting any things then perhaps this could have been practical a practical way forward now do we have it now we not exactly but that's not the point with my view is that the government are well the government is committed to the implementation of the present policy whatever the finance minister said is immaterial okay all right so we listen to the finance minister briefly and then we take our very final you know inputs from Akkad yet oh and also from dr. Duchin so listen to the finance ministers point the issue of free education everything is something that any of us can compromise on and true it may be that they have to be changes in the way which we administering it you know I can't take my child to watch a moat our dog oh no and then leave in more hair and drive away and kind of forget I'll not pay anything as I can pay for 10 people you need to begin to get the data to them be discriminatory in how and who pays and who doesn't pay I've done that before you'd rather make the mistake to get if it is a mistake to get everybody in the system for the nation to them to them begin to have a conversation and say ok this is good foil because we want a human capital into a certain level but maybe let's begin to adjust this way but but I think the issue of opening up and people come into reality about well maybe we could do this differently it's not a bad thing foreign nations grow alright so so so so that was the finance minister that was a finance minister speaking to venilale yes that was not a declaration of intent on the part of government to review the policy in any case my advice to the finance minister Bogota contest in which what kind of interview but I think when it comes to political communication I will plead with him to cool down okay yes so sorry you think you you said you have a couple more points to carve us which ought to we ought to pay attention to absolute we are not saying that we shouldn't do the double track to give a space to do what he is saying has to be done take time and finish up the 70% complete get fun projects with a 500 million dollar you know facility that is coming in so that within five to seven years would have finished all of these and some of the schools will naturally you know revert to the single track you are not against that I'll answer that in a jiffy I want to he's already said yeah is it I won't take off I want to take off from the matter of the Honorable Finance Minister I take a different view from angle quick who that the Honorable finance minister ought to be commended we need this culture we need this culture and we should give inland from elsewhere where the GU feather and even resign to make their point that beer for example the the biggest international resignation the world is discussing now is Horace Johnson's resignation from there is amazed cousin on soft project here he took the view that that the so-called check has plan not what he believes in he's a high drag this year and he did not only issue a no pet criticizing the policy he backed it with a resignation that Koch is good perhaps this is the first time we are seeing an advantage in the family a French phenomenon you know he he has quite some leverage you know and and and you be on with the president's cousin he can he can just be thrown out like that so so he had a carrot you know to say what no we meet we meet we meet we meet we meet friends on the other side and we talk we talk privately witnesses I know there are many people in the government who think like beyond evoke an a free attack so there's an advantage at least now I know you know so so so so I'm saying that I'm saying that let's encourage this culture where we're as public offices we move with conviction and we can speak up even if it's against the cabinet if it's against the prisoners drink and back it up even with resigning like not is no solution to the present problem it is a solution you know thank you the schools by sometime maybe your voice you continue some way so so easily be very quick about yes yes you know they're just so many issues that that that I need to respond to very quickly I know you think a couple more yes but that's about to be really about the double-tracking so you want me to start with that because the general minister has also thrown out some contentious issues which I need to respond to for example when he says that the difference between the two parties is that the MPP believes that people should have the opportunity to be in school don't wait for the infrastructure to be ready fire whereas the NDC takes a different view that is a not an ST and unfair progressive enough fair enough gonna go Minister knows that that in the 20 2014 academic year 2013 to m40 economic year we started progressively free 320,455 time we were live in office four hundred and fifty eight thousand seven hundred students benefited what we did was to reduce the burden by taking the cost of 12 feet items on the bill then we also identified the poorest of the poor we did a nice assessment we found out that ten thousand four hundred add those yeah orphaned that's nobody working in their family they they even have parents who have HIV and all the all kinds of you know ailments that does not allow them to work ten thousand four hundred fortunately we got a word ban to support us they've got full scholarship so it is not true to a cue that the NDC does not believe in free education but we are saying that you implement it in a way like don't know what kind of rate I say that you can then save resources to also build schools that is how come we were able to commence 124 schools so now I come to her I come to it I come to the other group is that same way we started since we started this fault Republican Attorney yes we'd give us ten years to implement FQ yeah it's been too long to implement and get to full cycle with the SHS program so we have ways on well wait with monado says that this is the time for it which we should be grateful so so the that that brings me to the other major concern we have with the MPPs program and that is why I joined the skeptics who say that don't give them more time again hoping that they would get us out of this this whole shift system and let me emphasize that I call it a shifty stuff all my reading on this what they put out faces doubletrack remember that at first they were categorical they hardly Amano he deserve Australia Costa Rica Japan United States Kenya it's practice in has disputed it California this is not what they're doing so now I'm happy that you know Lipsy missus s this morning a while ago that it's a variation hours is a violation but you know in this this I'm glad who is here he's good in history Daniel politicians have had a long history of of avoiding means that they know that people don't like the noise shift system will ruffle feathers so they are brilliant Abu so that's what you do you remember in our history when we're going to privatize and chromis industries we call the divestiture when we're going to lay off workers we smartly called it retrenchment when recently when we were going to borrow on our bauxite we call the leverage get fun NH I'll tax additional tax measure we are calling it output income method so so it's a shift system hold on you computer when I was seeing Sharma cluster of schools yes the shift system we attended yes was that I go in the morning I go in the afternoon at that time says that what we call shifts yes this is also shift because others will go for 41 days the frequency when school reopens in September you got Danny as much notice because we have to be unless with parents so they can prepare so that if you can even arrange some computer lessons no it's shift because when school reopens in September the phase what you want is one half of the students would be at home waiting for the first half 29 of what half of the first TFS yes yes yes not all yes of the phase yes we would stay at home waiting for 41 days for their colleagues to finish vac it and then they now go so that 41 days number that characterize the public basic shift system can arise here and we can we and we have to be careful we have to be careful about it but I have more fundamental issues to waste okay so that in the next two minutes yes the first one has to do with did the government have an option or not I say they have they had an option you come into power 124 Unity Day schools have been built if we have completed this 124 schools remember that fifty help them and have in all sincerity the Honorable dr. YouTube has commended as many times that that help them implement free SHS if they did not meet those 50 schools that we are completed so is 124 schools if we had completed them by now it takes 18 months to complete at these schools that some contractors finish in 10 months you know timely my brother with yes with with money when we're taking over in 2009 there's the gate fund there is a gate fund law which which accumulates funds every year every year what you have done is to cut get fun this year get fun was entitled to one point eight billion cities you have dit if we had not we shall have spared get one and I said that during the debate in Parliament okay alright so we are we as we outpost was where we are opposed to this because we are saying that don't continue to be let this government sleep all right let's wake them up point is issue finish aware that there are a number of committee because as we speak that have been completed but are not be used if you go to the Tai Chi Minh municipality a town called Jaco it's also inefficient whereas in the fabric is imagine Kumasi let us identify all these schools thank you no thank you just ten seconds please ten seconds I am worried about the features of the doubletrack calendar the shift system which has been introduced now you are going to extend school hours from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. that's best practice we are going to extend it from 7:30 a.m. so any day students and all of that record to 3:30 there is an attention span there is diminishing returns that's it you are going to reduce teaching this from 180 days to 162 162 days in school you are reducing the body 365 25 why is this is this is not you know quality you're not often found in the classroom studying or somewhere even before your class is started you know in conclusion I just want to I just want people who are not intellectual so probably like us doing the Constitution and doing everything they are accent themselves so are you telling us that one eighty one thousand students to our home and that's a question I'm sure most people ask it's a simple question I can understand when they no understand has live in to work we have to do a better job communicating so I appearance who understand and when the end I find they will know that the contact I was living higher than the previous the old system so this you understand equality will not be compromised this you also understand that being aware that the quality that we heritage has not been the best way be influence intervention program where students schools are going to be giving grants to do intervention so that is something we are introducing in terms of the policy also as my brother point about parents who may have children on different tracks headmasters have been given mm Ridge as they enroll to make sure siblings on the same track so even not being half as means that one side is coming and one side is going we care about the impact on this of this policy on parents but by the idea that builder 124 schools at this time if you could do it in four years eight years why didn't you do it it's not easy to tell me that we're both nine one a half years we've been there by mu I had eight years and I couldn't adnan fingers FFF is getting particularly from the private schools association is that they really struggle to get your to get audience with you and or is its you or the minister and when they were I mean because there are two things that we're dealing with you you have public policy and people are looking at two policies one police help the private sector that's what the private schools coming we are not talking about a are going to improve they are going to help improve quality that's not the point the point is the a private sector you have private sector PI why can't you help even if I'm a private sector person I'll hold the same view say why can't you help me but that is a different argument from public education and how we as a cuter there can be different ways of helping even promoting the school marketing the school let me tell you they are so screwed that are so good that the people don't even know they exist the public the problems will have you seen in the commercial the group of those not business this process we call audio attempt at medium presses unless we cancel please bring them back if that private letter coming alright alright alright second the point I was going to make are we all aware that the challenge we face now it's not unprecedented the 2010-2011 academic year when the four-year system was introduced I say I'll say at this point that worked I'll say the 2mp Basanti our Deputy Minister of Education we are very grateful to you for the opportunity to explain to parents and guardians and of course to everyone how exactly the double track system is going to operate and many people expressing the joy that you have taken time to explain matters in the manner that you have done we take a break

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Keywords: Ghana Political Issues, Ghana Politics, Matters Arising in Ghana, NPP, CPP, PPP, National Budget, Chieftaincy, Ghanaian lawyers, Economy, Constitution, Election, campaign, YouTube, joy News, Newsfile

Id: 1yh3_z3nxio

Length: 76min 46sec (4606 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 28 2018