Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, has charged the management of the newly transitioned Complementary Education Agency to collaborate with other agencies to reintegrate street children into the mainstream classrooms.
He said the Government had spent huge sums of money to move children from the street, stressing that getting the children off the streets would build their capacity and technical knowledge to contribute to national socio-economic growth.
The Minister stated that failure to act on those street children would result in their initiation into the commission of social vices that would threaten the security of the country.
The Minister said this in Accra at the transitioning of the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) to Complementary Education Agency.
The Parliament of Ghana on Friday passed the Complementary Education Agency Bill, 2019, that would soon change the name of the Non-Formal Education Division of the Ministry of Education to Complementary Education Agency, as it takes on more functions.
The memorandum accompanying the bill, signed by Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the then Minister of Education, said the proposed agency would provide learning opportunities and complementary education for those who are outside the mainstream Ghanaian education system.
It will equip them with the requisite knowledge skills and attitudes needed for their personal, community and national development.
He said most of the population did not have access to formal education since the establishment of the then NFED and stated that the transition would create more learning centres for adult education in the country.
Dr Adutwum said tenacity and vision led to the transformation to the Agency and assured of the Government’s commitment to supporting the youth with the skills needed.
He said the Government would look at possibilities of collaborating with the Universities to have exams centres organised by the Agency in place of the entrance exams and after successfully passing the exams, the students get admitted into the Universities.
He advised the leadership of the Agency to take advantage of digitization in the 21st Century in ensuring effective education and learning outcomes.
“Government was fully poised to bridge the digital divide and ensure inclusive educational development.
We are committed to the mission and vision of the Agency and support the change in thinking to transform the country’s education,” he said.
Professor Michael Tagoe, Provost, College of Education, University of Ghana, advised the managers of the Agency to develop a strategic plan and set targets to attract corporate institutions for support to operate the entity.
He admonished the Agency to enhance its corporate identity and hire the services of professionals to push the agenda of the institution forward.
Mr Francis Asumadu, the Acting Executive Director, CEA, said the NFED had over the years been for programmes relative to adult and lifelong education, but the enactment of the legislation to establish an Agency responsible for Complementary Education would ensure the implementation the myriad of changes and innovations in the sector.
The Agency, he said, would be responsible for equipping learners with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to enable them to improve the quality of life in their communities in a life-long learning framework.
