Haruna Iddrisu
All is not well with government’s management of the educational system as the elapsing days are beginning to show.
Having condemned the initiatives of the previous government in the educational sector, especially the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy and the double track system intended to address the surge in senior high school admissions, many thought there was a game-changer up the sleeves of the grandmasters of propaganda when they shouted their voices hoarse on the campaign trail about something new in the horizon – hot air it has turned out.
Time has proven that there is absolutely nothing to write home about the high pitched noise.
Just when the countdown for the scrapping of the double track system is on the verge of commencing, a bombshell is announced – the promised date is shifted to a period when the current government would have exited Jubilee House.
Information reaching the public yesterday was that the much-trumpeted scrapping of the double track system, a campaign entry of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) ahead of the 2024 polls, has witnessed a metamorphosis from 2027 to 2029.
In order words, the current political administration will live with the system for the rest of their tenure.
There must be something wrong which without doubt government is hiding from Ghanaians. Is that what scamming means?
It would be better to tell Ghanaians about the realities on the ground for which reason the campaign message cannot be implemented. For now, all other stuff transmitted to us by minders of government information will be taken with a pinch of salt.
Governance is about sincerity not propaganda. The double track scrap shift date made headlines as soon as it was released because of the confidence with which government assured Ghanaians they were going to scrap the system when they condemned the novelty.
It would be in order to simply announce that the double track system is going nowhere for the lifetime of the government and just shut up, period.
The reality of governance has soon dawned on the NDC having landed power through subterfuge and outright lies about their predecessors.
Within a year and a half at the helm, the unfeasibility of promised sugar-coated policies are becoming glaring and Ghanaians are learning the art of sieving the chaff from the grains, the hard way of course.
One thing for sure is that no apologies will be rendered to Ghanaians for the failed promises.
Whatever happened to the announced cabinet approved GH¢3 billion educational expansion programme sourced from government revenues and newly secured international loans including a $300 million World Bank facility as a major intervention to scrap the double track system?
What informed the rushed announcement about a timeline? Of course it was part of their stock-in-trade propaganda to present themselves as better managers of government and earn a political leverage.
We have been injured once and are twice shy, the Community Day Schools easily coming to mind. Built in nearby bushes without proper thinking about accessibility for the target groups, they remain verifiable testimonies to irresponsible governance and unthoughtful management of the state kitty.
Where are we today with the Community Day Schools?
