The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has defended the ministry’s decision to peg the reporting date for first-year Senior High students (SHS) on December 4, 2023.
While addressing parliament, the minister cited the harmonized prospectus, the need to return to the pre-COVID academic calendar, and the placement of over 81% of candidates into Senior High Schools as the basis for the directive from the government.
“Given that over 81% of students were automatically placed based on their choices, it cannot be said that a lot of placements are yet to be remedied because some candidates have been placed under the region they reside.
“In addition, for the first time, the Ministry of Education, together with its relevant agencies and stakeholders, developed a National Harmonized Prospectus for all SHS and TVET students. This was to give parents ample time to buy the prospectus items and get their wards ready for school on December 4, 2023,” he said.
Last week, some members of parliament urged the ministry to reconsider the December 4, 2023, reporting date for the first years.
For instance, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban S. K. Bagbin, had proposed that the reopening date be shifted to the first week of January 2024 to allow parents and teachers to prepare adequately.
The ministry insisted that the reopening date remains December 4, 2023, as contained in the 2023/2024 academic calendar released by the GES.
Dr Adutwum also denied claims that teaching and non-teaching staff did not have ample time to rest before schools reopened.
“Since the introduction of the double-track calendar in 2017, more teaching and non-teaching staff have been employed at schools. As a matter of fact, the majority of teachers are only at post when a particular track is in session. So it cannot be true that all teachers have never had any rest since the double track was introduced,” he added.