Africa-Press – Ghana. The various ministers of state of cabinet status are arriving at the Jubilee House for a meeting.
The humming sounds of the well-serviced Toyota Landcruiser V8s fill the air of the relatively quiet atmosphere at the seat of government.
Loud shouts of ‘Charlie yɛ hyiayɛ akyɛ’ could be heard amid loud handshakes as the ministers interact. Others can be heard on phone resolving pertinent issues going wrong in their offices as they walk through the corridors of the Jubilee House.
They gradually fill the vacant seats in the meeting room, still chattering. Then silence. Standing ovation. President Akufo-Addo arrives.
He confirms from his Secretary, Nana Bediatuo Asante, that the minutes of the previous meeting and agenda were sent to members as required. The response comes in the affirmative.
With previous minutes reviewed, agenda item number 1 is up for discussion- Painting of all public basic schools blue and white and changing of uniforms to same colours.
Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum is asked to brief the house about the policy proposal.
He goes like, “Mr President, this policy proposal is aimed at ensuring that our basic schools look beautiful. The current yellow and brown buildings are too dull for the human eye. Likewise, the yellow and brown uniforms worn by the pupils is unattractive. These are some of the reasons why Ghanaians in the middle class do not send their children to public schools. So, when we change these dull colours, public basic schools will become attractive and people will feel good sending their wards there.”
To his expectation, Dr Adutwum’s presentation received a unanimous applause- This is great!! He continued, “Mr President, I hereby submit the proposal for adoption.” President Akufo-Addo takes the proposal through the motions and it is adopted. Next item on the agenda please…
Disclaimer- If you believed the above narration, sorry. It is the figment of my imagination.
Reality
I had to create the scenario above because as a student of Public Policy Making, I surmise that it is only after receiving cabinet, and in some cases parliamentary approval, that any minister can go about bragging about his or her new policy.
So, has the policy to paint all public basic schools in blue and while colours and change the uniforms of pupils approved by cabinet? If so, is the picture I painted what happens in cabinet meetings? That a minister will bring such a needless proposal and for whatever reason, it will be accepted unanimously? If not, on what basis did the Minister for Education and NPP running mate hopeful, Dr Osei Yaw Adutwum make the statement below so confidently?
“We are changing the uniforms of public basic schools in the country. The yellow and brown that you see now, you will see no more. The transformation is coming to a community near you. It’s coming soon. We are painting these buildings across the country where we have them and it will be a beautiful day when we launch them.
[Changes the slide in his presentation] You see, you don’t see brown and yellow, we are rebranding public schools. No brown and yellow, blue and white. And we are changing the uniforms too (loud applause). This is President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia’s Ghana. We have begun the transformation. There is no reason why we shouldn’t. Ghanaians deserve better and we are going to give them better,” Dr Adutwum explained during a forum themed: “The free SHS story” held in Accra.
We’re rebranding public schools from brown and yellow to blue and white – Education Minister (youtube.com)
Challenges faced by basic schools
Upon hearing the Minister, I could not believe my ears. That with all the challenges plaguing the education sector, what has been prioritized is painting all public schools blue and white and changing uniforms to same colours?
Here is what I gleaned from an article written by an educationist of no mean repute, Prof. George K.T. Oduro of the Institute for Educational Planning & Administration (IEPA), University of Cape Coast on the same matter after the minister out doored his policy.
“If the Ministry had paid attention, it would not have placed primacy on school uniforms. It would have prioritized any of the stakeholder concerns relating to the over 8,000 primary schools operating under trees, late release of capitation and feeding grant, insufficient infrastructure, inadequate textbooks, inadequate teaching & learning resources (TLRs), little or no support for children with learning difficulties, inadequate equipped ICT laboratories and many others which tend to affect the image of public schools in the country.
These are the practical factors that tend to disadvantage public basic schools as they compete with private basic schools and thereby blemish the image of public basic schools in the country,” Prof Oduro wrote.
From where I sit, this is a statement of fact and the evidence is there for any casual observer to notice.
Kwasi Kwarteng to the rescue?
Clearly, the priority is misplaced. No wonder many stakeholders, including the Executive Secretary of the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST-Ghana), Dr Peter Partey Anti, condemned the decision. But as a sector that has an able Public Relations Officer, Kwasi Kwarteng was called to duty.
In a statement on Facebook, Mr Kwarteng wrote, “Contrary to the reports, the Ministry of Education isn’t changing uniforms for all public schools. Neither is the Ministry repainting existing ones. Similar to senior high schools, junior high schools may have options for uniforms, but it doesn’t imply a widespread change. The emphasis is on enhancing the aesthetic of new school facilities, not altering existing ones.
“The Ministry is not saying we are going to introduce uniforms across all schools in the country, no. We have model junior high schools that we are building. And as a way of boosting public confidence, not necessarily public confidence alone, but of course we are introducing something new.
On many occasions, the Minister himself has rightly admitted that the basic schools, particularly the junior high school, have always been the weakest link within our education landscape and the fact that it needs some aggressive intervention and revolution in terms of infrastructure, deepening quality and access. It is just about facelifting new schools that are going to come up. For instance, at the senior high schools, where students have different uniforms,” he explained.
I bet you can decipher the incoherence in his submissions. Especially if juxtaposed with the unequivocal manner in which his boss spoke. Then on Joy FM he had this to say, “So I would not call it a policy, but I will say there is an initiative or we are looking at that as part of the total rebranding of the public basic schools. We will also introduce uniform, but that is not something that has happened now, but is a futuristic proposal if you ask me.”
Unfortunately, the Cambridge online dictionary betrays him. It defines INITIATIVE as “a new PLAN or process to achieve something or solve a problem” and explains POLICY as “a set of ideas or a PLAN of what to do in particular situations…”
So, it will not be out of place to ask, is this a plan that will be implemented by this government within the next seven months for “…deepening quality and access?”
It’s time to go
In the absence of a satisfying answer, it is clear to me that Dr Osei Yaw Adutwum is trying to introduce the beauty associated with public schools in the United States of America from where, according to him, President Akufo-Addo brought him into his government. Well-paved compounds with basket ball courts etc.
And instead of tackling the real problems facing basic education in Ghana, he wants to whitewash them. It reminds me of an expression I heard from a friend some ten years ago that cracked me up – Polish on dirt- A beautifully painted blue and white building without textbooks nor desks for pupils whose teacher is disgruntled over his poor conditions of service.
How that can change the BECE records of these pupils in order to convince me to compel my nephew, whose first child is gradually approaching primary school age, to choose a public basic school instead of the very expensive private school nearby, one can only imagine.
Somehow, my checks indicate that in the US, pupils of public basic schools don’t even wear uniforms. They wear their own clothes. Uniforms, according to my source, are worn by pupils in the private schools.
Really, what is the rationale for our blue and white policy? Blue and white uniforms for our children whose favourite playing spot during break time is the sandy ground on their school compounds? Our children who after playing in the sandy compound apply their dirty hands on the wall?
White uniforms for our children whose yellow uniform becomes as brown as the brown component by the close of each day? Blue and white buildings in our majorly dusty communities? When most Ghanaians, because they work hard for the money, paint their buildings in colours whose shine will last forever?
Well, if Dr Adutwum has announced it and there is no official statement to indicate a change of PLAN, then as he said, “it will be a beautiful day when we launch them.”
Some say they suspect financial gain from the policy, but I don’t have evidence. Therefore, I will not comment on that.
Ghana my motherland!! Oh God, when will you take over the steering wheel as prayed by musician Kofi Kinata? It looks like we are at our wits end.
Source: 3News
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