A September To Remember: Akufo- Addo Gov’t Torn Between And Betwixt?

All too soon, September, the month that separates the third from the fourth quarter of each year, is gone, but not without its own ‘wahala’ for both the government and the governed.

The month saw scandals, corruption allegations, demonstrations, killing of police officers, rumours of a coup plot, Commission/Investigation Reports and White Papers, and above all, the Senior High School (SHS) self-placement fiasco.

At a point, the allegations of corruption got so loud that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had to come out to defend his administration, rebut claims that he was a ‘clearing agent’, explain efforts he had made so far to fight corruption, and also assure the nation that his administration was on course.

On the killing of the Kasoa Police Officers and the arrest of the suspected coup plotters, the cases are being heard in court. As for the Free SHS self-placement, the least we talk about it, the better because, even though it is not yet fully resolved, indications are that it will certainly recur in September 2020, and as usual, we will blame it on John Dramani Mahama. The PDS & Emile Short/Ayawaso West Reports may also be dumped on other piles of reports – to gather dust.

What has not been explained to the satisfaction of many Ghanaians is the spate of demonstrations against government in many regions over bad roads. While the ‘Fix Abandoned Volta Roads Campaign’ lined up series of street demonstrations due to abandoned road projects, the youth of Atwima Kwanwoma District in the Ashanti region hit the streets because of stalled works on the Sofoline Interchange Project.

All these would have been considered ‘usual governance issues’ had the STUPID Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) matter not cropped up.

In spite of the lame denials, evidence still abound that the government and United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) had long launched the programme in a bid to empower adolescents and young people to attain what is known as the “Our right, Our lives, Our Future (O³), a concept that originated from Sweden and Ireland.

The multi-million dollar questions are: Why do we draw unnecessary attention to ourselves? Whose idea was it to teach this topic in primary schools in Ghana? Why has GES suddenly migrated from Sex Education to SEXUALITY EDUCATION, and where from the adjective COMPREHENSIVE?

Under the programme, five-year olds will be taught gender, children’s rights and critical thinking on gender, plus HOW NOT TO BE JUDGMENTAL on gender issues.

We at THE NEW PUBLISHER wish to urge government to be wary of the way it seems to be running ahead of itself in a bid to do reforms in the education sector. In our view, these mass educational reforms, headed by Dr. Prince Hamid Armah, are not gelling with Ghanaians.

How can we, in a spate of two years, change teacher education (including the controversial Teacher Licensure Certificate), academic calendar and the curriculum? No doubt the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council (GPCC) has described CSE as ‘Satanic’.

To the paper, unless the Akufo-Addo government is in a hurry to go to opposition, the President must directly oversee policies by GES and the Ministry of Education.

People are losing confidence in the government.