General Secretary of the Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU), Mark Korankye has admitted that in as much as infrastructural development at the basic and secondary level is commendable, the government should include tertiary institutions in its plans.
He indicated that the base of the educational sector has been opened up to accommodate lots of students whilst the peak has become narrow. “It is good for the government to expand the basic education and SHS level to increase access. But if you ignore expanding the facilities of the tertiary institutions to accommodate these numbers, then, we are going to have a problem”, he stated.
Mark made this statement in reaction to the 2021 budget presented to parliament where no provisions were made in improving infrastructure in tertiary institutions.
According to him, the free Senior High School policy has increased pressure on facilities of Public Universities nationwide. “Because of these huge numbers, some of these institutions are contemplating on running shifts”.
He argued the government must prioritize infrastructural development at the tertiary level regardless of not having made any provisions for that in the budget.
Speaking on the Happy Morning Show aired on e.TV Ghana and Happy98.9FM, he stated, “Both hostels and learning facilities need to be expanded. Currently, we suffer from overpopulated lecture halls with some students being forced to stand outside during lessons. This is not the way forward for our schools and educational system”.
On his authority, the government also needs to increase recruitment at the tertiary level to also cater to the needs of the ever-increasing number of students. “The gov’t should pay attention to expanding lecture halls and hostels and even recruitment. We need more lecturers and staff to help in schools. If these measures are not put in place, we will have a broad base and an apex that is narrow. This will cause a huge problem for us”, he indicated.
Addressing the floor of parliament on portions of the 2021 budget on education, caretaker Minister for Finance, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu read;
Mr. Speaker, in recognition of the important role of infrastructure in the quest to provide basic education for all children, the Ministry initiated a total of 874 projects in 2017. In 2020, 195 of the projects were completed bringing the number of completed projects to 518. In 2021, the Government will continue with the ongoing infrastructure projects
To ensure that no child is denied access to education, the Government invested in infrastructure to accommodate the increase in demand. A total of 1,119 senior high school infrastructural projects were initiated since 2017. Out of this number, 539 projects were completed. In addition, the Government completed a total of 28 Community Day Senior High Schools (E-Blocks) under the Secondary Education Improvement Programme (SEIP).
He however failed to mention any plans towards infrastructural developments in tertiary institutions.
By: Joel Sanco
