‘Mahama never bought a single textbook for students in 8 yrs’ – NAPO

The Minister of Education, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, has launched a scathing attack on the erstwhile Mills and Mahama administration. 

According to him, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government during its eight-year reign failed to procure a single textbook for students in the country.

In a special dispensation granted by the Speaker of Parliament, Prof Aaron Mike Ocquaye,  for Ministers to make statements about their sectors, the Education Minister argued that the Nana Addo administration had done far better than the previous government.

“They (NDC) profess to know about education and that is the sad aspect. Textbooks are not classroom materials, they are resource materials. Since the time of President Kuffour, it is private publishers who publish textbooks not government.

“In the eight years that they (NDC) were in government, they bought not a single textbook for any secondary school in the country, whether core or elective.

“President Akufo-Addo has bought core textbooks and has distributed core textbooks to all secondary schools. He has bought supplementary readers for all secondary schools,” the minister told journalists in Parliament.

According to him, this investment among others in the country’s educational sector is what has contributed to the quality of education.

The Manhyia South MP said some policies such as cancellation of allowances for both students and teachers introduced by the previous administration were inimical to the progress of the sector.

He added that the NPP government was committed to improving the quality of education, hence the heavy investment in its flagship Free SHS policy.

But the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Select Committee on Education, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, accused the minister of being ill-informed about the sector.

He said the NDC administration (from 2013 to 2017) improved the number of students to textbook from one to four textbooks per student.

The Akatsi North MP said the NPP administration benefitted from funds and policies the Mahama administration left behind and should, therefore, not take full credit for the improvement in the educational sector.