My son isn’t old enough to be in SHS – Education Minister

Dr Yaw Osei-Adutwum, the Education Minister, has refuted allegations that his son is enrolled in a private secondary school instead of the Government’s Free Senior High School programme. He explained that his son was not old enough to be in a senior high school (SHS).

Last week, Dr Clement Apak, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Builsa South, accused the Minister of enrolling his son in a private senior high school instead of the public one.

He said the Education Minister, therefore, had no moral right to champion government’s Free SHS Policy because he did not trust the quality of education provided to students under the programme.

However, Dr Osei-Adutwum, responding to the allegation at a media briefing in Accra, said his son should never be part of his political career.

“I think politics has taken a new low, my son should never be a part of my political career and secondly I don’t have a son who is old enough to be in a senior high school,” he said.

“So suffice it to say that I have no further comment on that…”

The Minister said all the best senior high schools were in the public sector so why would he not enrol his child in a public SHS if he was really due.

The Minister said the Government had made giant strides in providing teaching and learning materials and expanded physical infrastructure like classroom blocks, dormitories, science laboratories and libraries among others for enhance secondary education across the country.

“We may not have the best education system in the world, but we have made giant strides over the past four years,” Dr Osei-Adutwum said.

He reiterated the Akufo-Addo-led government’s determination to providing free, compulsory and quality education to every Ghanaian child in the quest of “making Ghana the education hub of Africa”.

He said government was committed to building a robust education system that could compete with international best practices.

Dr Osei-Adutwum said government’s goal in implementing the Free SHS Policy was to transform the education system and make it play a pivotal role in socio-economic development.

“For education to be fit-for-purpose, we should have students who are creative and critical thinkers, especially in this fourth industrial revolution to navigate the world,” he said.

He mentioned access, quality, and relevance as three key areas government was focused on to improve education and transform the country’s economy in the near future.