Former President and flagbearer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has declared intention to conduct a comprehensive review of the Free Senior High School Policy (Free SHS) within the initial 100 days of assuming office should he win the 2024 general elections.
This, he said, is a move to ensure a robust foundation in elementary education.
In a news report by myjoyonline.com, the former president detailed his plan to establish a committee comprising educational experts to devise an enhanced framework for the implementation of the policy.
“Within the first 100 days in government, we will convene a stakeholder summit that brings together educationists, experts, teachers, parents, students and opinion leaders to deliberate on how to improve the implementation of the Free SHS system and also improve the quality of our basic education,” he stated.
Furthermore, John Mahama proposed a return to utilising the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for student assessments within the regional bloc and not limiting it to Ghana alone.
He argued that solely relying on local exams conducted and graded by Ghananians might not provide an accurate evaluation of student performance compared to their counterparts in neighbouring English-speaking countries.
“We will return Ghana to the regional exams conducted by the West African Examinations Council so that it will be possible to compare the performance of our children with our English-speaking neighbours in the sub-region.
“Right now, we write a local Ghana exam, we mark it ourselves, we mark our own scripts and we give ourselves high marks… If you don’t have any benchmark to compare, how can you tell if you are improving?” he questioned.
Source: ghanaweb.com
