Veteran Journalist, Kwesi Pratt
Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt has urged the Minister of Education to exercise patience and avoid making premature policy statements on teacher training allowances and feeding schemes for tertiary students.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana monitored by MyNewsGH, Pratt raised concerns about the government’s approach to education reforms, arguing that key stakeholders had not yet been consulted.
“Government has announced plans for a stakeholder brainstorming session to determine the future of allowances, yet the minister is already making policy pronouncements. What is the value of the stakeholder meeting if decisions are being made before it even happens?” he questioned.
He also highlighted the potential chaos that could arise if feeding allowances were abolished, particularly in universities with large student populations.
“Look at Legon; it has about 40,000 students. If every student has to make their own feeding arrangements, can you imagine the chaos? Where will they all cook? What about the fire hazards?” he asked.
Pratt further raised health concerns, noting that many students may resort to buying food from vendors with no health supervision.
“If students are given loans instead of feeding allowances, who ensures they eat healthy food? Are they going to buy from street vendors who may be carrying communicable diseases?”
On the issue of fairness, he argued that eliminating feeding allowances and replacing them with loans would create economic disparities among students.
“Some students will take the loans because they have no choice, while others from wealthier families won’t need to. When they all graduate, those who took loans will start life at a disadvantage. Is that fair?”
Pratt advised the Education Minister to suspend further pronouncements until stakeholders have had the opportunity to deliberate on the issue.
“The minister should wait. Let the stakeholders meet, discuss, and make firm recommendations before the government proceeds. Otherwise, we will continue creating confusion,” he warned.
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