JHS, SHS Certificates To Be Upgraded To Diplomas

The Minister for Education has announced plans to upgrade the Senior High School certificate into a National Diploma certificate which can allow graduates gain employment after completion of their programmes.

The Minister said it is unfair for young people in the country to be forced to complete University before being eligible for employment in the country.

“World Class Education and Imperative for the Next Generation of Leaders,” Matthew Opoku Prempeh said a new curriculum for Junior High Schools in the country will see JHS graduates completing with National Higher Diplomas while qualified SHS graduates will be awarded with National Diplomas.

He noted that such an upgrade for their qualification will make the graduates more relevant and not having to necessarily obtain University education to be qualified for employment in the country.

“The curriculum that will appear for the Junior High School will lead to a National Higher Diploma, [and] when you finish Senior High School, you get a National Diploma. It is not everybody who must go to the University straight, but we must prepare our kids for the world of work.”

“And that National Diploma will ensure that our kids can go straight to work. If someone can go with the Middle School leaving certificate into the army, why can’t someone go now with Senior High School diploma into work? That should be good enough that anybody who has passed and has a certificate should be able to be employed provided we have prepared that person,” he said.

Mathew Opoku Prempeh further advocated for adequate training for Ghanaian students to make them technologically savvy.

He said such a trait will make Ghanaian graduates compete favorably with their counterparts from other parts of the world.