Provide practical solutions to country’s challenges — Kojo Yankah

A statesman, and former Central Regional Minister, Kojo Yankah, has called for a total overhaul of the country’s education system to provide practical solutions to the country’s challenges for sustainable development.

He said since independence the country had failed to implement an education system that would spur total transformation of the country fortunes and liberate majority of people from the shackles of poverty.

According to him, although Ghana was politically free and had made tremendous strides in democracy and good governance, the country had been unable to translate such feat economical, which he blamed largely on the system of education.

‘After 66 years of independence, my observation is that we have not conducted our formal education well enough to liberate ourselves economically to avoid the majority of our people drowning in poverty,’ he said.       

Rather, he said the country’s education system had been mirrored on other countries, without taking into consideration the peculiar nature of Ghana’s challenges.

Such a system, he noted, had promoted academic achievement instead of provision of practical solutions to solve problems.

“We have to change the philosophy behind our education to one that produces Ghanaians with the ability to solve our economic problems,” he said.

Lecture

Mr Yankah said this when he delivered a lecture at the annual R.T. Orleans –Pobee Memorial Lecture in Accra.

The lecture, organised by Adisadel College Old Boys Association, is in honour of R.T Orleans- Pobee, a former Headmaster of the school.

This year’s lecture, the eighth edition, was on the theme: “Is today’s education relevant? A new look at Adisadel.”

Science & Maths quiz

Buttressing his point, Mr Yankah, who is an old student of Adisadel College, gave an example of the National Science and Maths, which he said had become a source of bragging rights for schools instead of becoming a platform that equips students to use science to provide solutions.

“The quiz is not problem solving.

 It is about students who can chew, pour and pass. From there they go into other situations and they have no clue on how to solve problems.

It is a good idea, but we must let students identify problems and aim at using their knowledge to solve problems,’ he said.

Practical training

Mr Yankah, who is also a former Editor of the Daily Graphic, and the Founder of the African University College of Communication (AUCC), said the country needed to do more to equip its human resource base with the practical and technical skills to be able to solve problems peculiar to the country.

Initiative

The Global President of Adisadel Old Boys Association, Daniel Owiredu, said the lecture was a platform for leaders in various capacities who were old boys of Adisadel College to speak and offer solutions to pressing national issues.

He urged old boys of Adisadel College to avail themselves to such lectures and other events organised by the association to enable the school to continue to help in nation building.

For his part, the Chairman for the event, and Founding Dean of the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences, Prof. Harold S. Amonoo- Kuofi, described Mr Orleans –Pobee as a strict disciplinarian whose leadership contributed immensely to the success of many students of Adisadel College.

Writer’s email: emma.hawkson@graphic.com.gh