Education Minister Justifies Freshers’ Opening Date
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has insisted that the December 4, 2023 opening date for Senior High School (SHS) beginners is a step in the right direction and for a good course.
He justified his decision to keep the date despite numerous calls by stakeholders including the Parliament of Ghana.
According to the Education Minister, it is aimed at reverting to the pre-covid academic calendar.
“Covid ruined our academic calendar such that we are unable to reopen schools in September as we used to. The last academic year began in February. The next academic year will start in January. We will move it backwards until we reset the academic calendar to September.”
He, therefore, posited that reopening in January would hamper the efforts.
During a session with the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs on December 13, 2023, he said, “This is why we decided to let freshers report in December for orientation and all that and then come for a break before the academic work begins in January and they had been home for quite too long {after the BECE}.”
Parliament petitioned the Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum to postpone the opening date for Junior High School (JHS) graduates to January.
The concerns which were raised by the Minority were premised on the fact that the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates went live on November 28 and deprived parents and guardians of the requisite time to mobilise resources for their wards.
Additionally, they argued that students who were not placed by the CSSPS needed some time to undertake self-placement while teaching and non-teaching staff have had no break and therefore needed time to prepare for the arrival of the new students.
