Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei-Adutwum has noted that the government is working on new uniforms for basic school students as part of an initiative to rebrand public education.
This move is aimed at enhancing the image of public schools and is part of broader rebranding efforts by the Education Ministry.
Dr. Osei-Adutwum made this announcement during a presentation ceremony at the University of Professional Studies, Accra.
Dr Adutwum said “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. This is President Akufo-Addo and Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia’s Ghana.
“We have begun the transformation. There’s no reason why we should not. Ghana deserves better, and we’re going to give them better, something that we can all be proud of.”
Despite criticism suggesting that he has neglected basic schools, Dr. Adutwum maintains that this is not the case. He envisions a future where parents will actively seek enrollment for their children in basic public schools due to the positive changes he is implementing.
“So they will say, we will give you credit, you have done well with Senior High School, but you have abandoned basic schools, children are sitting under trees and you talking about drones.
“To them, I have a response, I look forward to a day when parents will line up in front of the school and beg to enroll their children, that is the day and it will soon come and it has begun under Nana Akufo Addo,” he added.
The deputy ranking member of the Education Committee in Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak, has criticized the move, calling it a misplaced priority.
He highlighted the neglect faced by public basic schools and the outstanding arrears in capitation grants, which are essential for basic education.
Dr. Apaak questioned the allocation of resources towards rebranding public basic schools instead of addressing these urgent challenges.
“Invariably, most of the government attention has been directed towards the free Senior High School policy and its implementation. As we speak, I know for a fact that capitation grants, which are the grants that allow us to say that public education is free because these are the grants that the head teachers of the basic school used to organise activities like cultural activities, sports activities, are in arrears for eight terms”.
“We even have a situation where only 65% of textbooks based on the new curriculum which came into effect in September 2019, have been distributed to our public basic schools across the country. We have more than 1.3 million people in the country who have no access to furniture and so why will government in spite of these glaring and debilitating challenges seek to spend resources in rebranding our public basic schools by introducing a new uniform,” he added.