“Free Education” and “Qualitative Education” Are Both Achievable

My Article is based on the following quotations:

(1) “The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) sees the education of the Ghanaian child as a significant one that is why the Union sees issues such as; how to deliver quality education; provision of jobs for jobless graduates and unemployed non-students; how to rally funds to upgrade facilities and infrastructures in the existing schools [as paramount] and not free education [which is] dominating in the coming General Election.”

(2) “A tour on our various campuses shows signs of lack. It is not a lack of food but lack of quality tools, equipment and infrastructure that will motivate them to unleash their God-giving potential without which our nation-building agenda would be stunted. Education has become the reserve of the rich instead of the constitutional injunction that ‘education is a right not a privilege’.”

(3) “NUGS stressed that “securing the promise of education for the Ghanaian students and youth will be our reason for taking part in this December polls. We must and will vote for a party with good educational policies and not junk”.

[Culled from different paragraphs of Ghanaweb General News of Thursday, 20 September 2012, captioned: ‘Students need quality education, not "junk" freebies – NUGS’; Source: radioxyzonline.com]

I was shocked to read the above news reportage attributed to NUGS, in which the students’ body seemed to hold in derision the promise of “free education” made by three parties (NPP, PPP and CPP), should either one be voted into office in the impending general elections. I was surprised that the students’ body chose to throw cold water on the idea, instead of encouraging the parties and their leaders to do what they need to do to make it happen.

I personally have no doubt that, given good and visionary leadership, Ghana can afford to provide its children with free, qualitative and purposeful education from Primary School up to the current Senior High School level. *This forum is not the right place to bring in the kind of quantification and costing that academicians seek, or provide in an argument of this nature to convince people who believe in figures. What I can say here in support of the assertion I have made, however, is that if the amount of state resources that is either stolen or wasted by Ghanaian politicians is channelled into education, then there should be no doubt whatsoever that any of the three parties, [and for that matter any other Ghanaian party,] can provide not only free , but “qualitative and purposeful education”. By “qualitative and purposeful education”, I mean the form of education that creates “school leavers” or “graduates” who fit into “something” or “somewhere” planned and anticipated; and who, therefore, do not become “drop-outs” or “unemployed”.

What I mean by “good and visionary leadership” is leadership that is not corrupt, or cannot be corrupted in any way. It means leadership that is morally courageous, and politically independent enough to be capable of controlling those under it, against administrative abuses such as corruption, greed, tribalism and nepotism. It means leadership that will not diversify a state asset and allow members within its rank or family or party to buy the diversified asset at a knocked-down price. It means leadership that will not seek its own personal, or party interest before its nation’s interest. It means leadership that will not sell Ghana’s sovereignty to any foreign power in exchange for foreign aid and external loan. It means leadership that will see one measure of “domestic expertise” as being worth two measures of “foreign expertise”; and will, accordingly, choose “domestication” as a dominant developmental policy and agenda. Above all, and in more specific terms, it means leadership that will NOT accept huge End-of-Service Benefits [ESB] while the nation borrows from abroad every year to supplement public budgets. It also means leadership that will not encourage its members to use clever ways to siphon off money from state coffers into party coffers, in any form, such as by encouraging party members to make false financial claims against the state, and then using the state defence machineries to protect such party members from prosecution. And finally, [but more importantly,] it means leadership that will not allow the creation of more MPs in regions or districts where there is incumbency advantage to be derived by the party in power, with the view to gerrymander, lawfully or unlawfully, when the leadership knows perfectly well that the nation is not finding it easy to [even] pay the fewer number of MPs the country already has.

If Ghana could have this kind of leadership, then yes, any party should be able to provide free, qualitative and purposeful education. *What NUGs should have asked the parties that are making the promise of free education is whether they have the kind of leadership that can deliver the promise they are making. In other words, NUGS, and for that matter Ghanaians should say: YES, FREE AND QUALITATIVE EDUCATION IS POSSIBLE, BUT WE WANT A PARTY WITH THE LEADERSHIP THAT CAN DELIVER THIS VITAL NATIONAL NEED.

NUGS should lead the nation in getting the vital answers Ghanaians need now to make informed decisions and choices regarding the coming elections. They need to ask those who say free education is not achievable to tell Ghanaians: (1) Why do they say it is not achievable, when the same people think that Ghana has enough money to employ 45 additional [but avoidable] MPs on whom the nation is going to spend huge sums of money to pay their relatively fat salaries and sumptuous allowances? (2) Why does the government get money to pay huge avoidable [and questionable] judgment debts, but it cannot get money to expand and improve education in Ghana?

NUGS should also lead the nation in asking those who say they will provide free education up to SHS level the following questions:- (1) How can these parties who are giving the promises be trusted to end the deep and extensive corruption in the country which is the main hurdle to the provision of free and qualitative education? (2) Will the leadership of the three parties promising free education swear with their lives that they, their teams, and family members will all be incorruptible? These are questions that the NUGS should lead Ghanaians to find answers to, so as to enable the nation to believe in something and vote sensibly, knowing that *FREE, QUALITATIVE, AND PURPOSEFUL EDUCATION IS ACHIEVABLE, PROVIDED WE CAN GET THE RIGHT LEADERSHIP.

Otchere Darko