BETTER LATE THAN NEVER (AUGUST 17, 2010)

NOT too long ago, in this very column, we had reason to lament the fact that we thought the future of our youth was being toyed with through the frequent interference with our educational policies. That concern had been occasioned by the desire on the part of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration to change the duration of the senior high school (SHS) programme from four years to three.
At that time, we had called for a consensus among our political parties to fashion out an educational policy that would be allowed to work for a considerable period of time before being tampered with by any party that came into power.
Today, we are very happy to hear that the government intends to broach such a consensus with the other political parties along the lines that we had suggested.
While opening the 13th annual congress of the Ashanti Regional Students Representative Council (SRC) in Kumasi, the Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, hinted that the political parties were to sign a pact to allow the educational system to work for the next 25 years without any major interference.
Giving the rationale behind that move by the government, the Deputy Minister said it was one sure way of addressing interference that tended to dislocate the educational system.
The Daily Graphic thinks this is a very laudable move which should be supported by all, including the political parties and other stakeholders in education such as parents, the religious bodies and teachers.
Our only regret is that we think the government should have mooted this idea when it set out to change the SHS duration from four years to three.
The education of our youth, who are the future of our country, is an important issue and all must get involved in getting the best for our country. That is why we think the idea of signing such a pact on the educational system should have been brought up as the government deliberated on whether or not to reduce the SHS duration.
As they say, it is better late than never, and so we call on all to embrace this idea of all the political parties coming together to sign a pact on our educational system.
We even think it should not be only on the educational system that such a pact should be signed. There are other equally important national policies which must be brought on board so that Ghanaians can rest assured that no matter the political party in power, good policies such as the National Health Insurance Scheme, the school feeding programme, the youth in agriculture programme, the National Youth Employment Programme and others will be continued to bring relief to the people.
We pray that after the pact has been signed, no party, when it comes to power, will find the excuse to go back on it as a way of paying the NDC back in its own coin. That, surely, will breed bad blood which, at this point in our history, we must guard against.
The Daily Graphic thinks that as a people, we must let history guide us, so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.
As the late Emperor Haile Selasie of Ethiopia put it: “Any nation that does not learn from its past is doomed.”
Let us leave whatever has gone on in the past behind us and forge a common platform to develop our dear country. That way, we can pat one another on the back for building a better Ghana and say, “Ayekoo!”