Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has emphasized the need for collaborative efforts among governments and education authorities to tackle the shared challenges in African education.
He stressed that the administrative and managerial hurdles in education are prevalent across the continent and require a unified approach for effective resolution.
Dr. Adutwum highlighted the potential of a pan-African strategy in overcoming barriers hindering efficient teaching, learning, and research.
During a meeting with Tony Mwaba Kazadi, the Minister for Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Accra, Dr. Adutwum affirmed Ghana’s commitment to ensuring universal access to education, emphasizing the importance of quality, innovation, and technological advancement.
Mr. Kazadi, leading a Congolese government delegation on a fact-finding mission to Ghana, commended Ghana’s efforts in education reform and expressed interest in learning from Ghana’s experiences.
He particularly praised Ghana’s initiatives such as the school feeding program and free education in high schools, which have inspired similar endeavors in Congo DR. Mr. Kazadi highlighted the importance of technology integration in education and cited Ghana’s Smart Schools Project as a source of inspiration for Congo DR’s educational development.
Acknowledging the shared challenges faced by African nations, Mr. Kazadi emphasized the value of learning from successful practices implemented by counterparts on the continent.
“We are in Ghana for a noble reason; Ghana inspires us in the DRC with your school feeding programme. Our President has decided to introduce same in our country to keep our students in school. Our President and Prime Minister have also decided to introduce free education in high schools and because Ghana is already implementing same, we decided to come here to learn the lessons”, he told the press.
During their visit to Ghana, Mr. Kazadi and his delegation will tour educational institutions and ICT infrastructure, engaging with stakeholders in the education sector.
“The quality of education we give to our children today has to be relevant to tomorrow’s technological advancements. That is why our government asked us to come to Ghana to learn about the technology solutions you are deploying in your schools and universities to make teaching and learning top-notch, like the Ghana Smart Schools Project being executed by a company called K A Technology.”
“We have realized that the challenges are the same; therefore, the solutions can be the same. We must not sit in our different countries looking for solutions when we could explore what has worked for our counterparts on the continent,” he said.
They visited Accra Girls and Achimota Schools, where they interacted with students benefiting from initiatives like the One-Student-One-Tablet program initiated by President Akufo-Addo.