The Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has said boarding schools remain an important part of Ghana’s Senior High School education system.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Dr. Adutwum argued that the “boarding school system is serving its intended purpose.”
Some critics feel the boarding school system has outlived its usefulness and has also compounded the financial burden of the government which has been worsened by the implementation of the Free Senior High School system.
The Free SHS Policy has led to constraints with the current boarding school system, forcing the government to adopt a double-track system.
Due to poor planning, the Minister said some students would still need boarding schools for more convenient secondary education.
“You may think there are so many senior high schools, but you will go to communities where the nearest high school is 30 miles away,” he said on the Citi Breakfast Show.
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“We have not placed senior high schools in locations that are in proximity to communities as compared to other countries,” Dr. Adutwum added.
He further argued boarding schools were also key to addressing inequality.
“For some students, it would amaze you to know that if they stay in their homes, they don’t even have a place to study.”
He also said that assessing the relevance of boarding schools should be demand-driven.
“Since people have a choice, you make the day schools’ quality second to none so that someone will say I would rather have my child go to day school.”
“Greater Accra is so innovative. Aquinas and all these schools are day schools and Aquinas is an excellent school,” he noted as an example.
