Reverting To ‘O’ & ‘A’ Level System Not Advisable - Franklin Cudjoe

The Executive Director of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe, has said it will not be advisable for government to reintroduce the ‘O’ and ‘A’ level system of education, as suggested by the Ghana Charismatic Bishops Conference.

Speaking on Citi FM’s News Analysis Programme, The Big Issue, Mr. Cudjoe said it will be needless to revert to the old system, since challenges facing the educational sector have nothing to do with the ‘O’ and ‘A’ level educational system.

He believes to resolve challenges facing the educational sector, politicians, who in his view are responsible for messing up the educational system, should be compelled to introduce effective policies that will address these challenges.

“Unfortunately, the same politicians in the fourth republic alone, have messed the system so badly that they never really paid particular attention to the workshops that were supposed to come along with these renewed forms of education. The biggest challenge to delivering results through these schemes has always been the politician.

What has happened now is that, it is the people at the lowest ranks of the poverty chain who have technical vocational schools, which I think it is a very bad thing to do. I will not necessarily agree to bring the old system, but rather we should tell politicians that there are certain things you need to back off.”

The Charismatic Bishops’ Conference in a communiqué issued earlier this week, called on the government to reintroduce the ‘O’ and ‘A’ level educational system which according to them, will restore the integrity of formal education in Ghana.

It said the country had been subjected to an inferior form of education through the JHS and SHS for many years.”

The Charismatic Bishops’ Conference, founded by Bishop Dag Heward Mills, and comprises seasoned Ghanaian clergy, said, “we call the JHS and SHS an inferior form of education because international universities require our SHS graduates to do a foundational course for a whole year before admitting them to the university proper.

Years ago, graduates from secondary schools in Ghana did not have to do such foundational courses because they already had a good foundation.”