- “After further consultation on the issue, the Honourable Minister for Education has directed that the calendar for kindergarten to Junior High School for the current academic year should be reverted to the trimester system.”
The Ministry of Education has reversed its decision to roll out a semester system for kindergarten to Junior High School levels.
“After further consultation on the issue, the Honourable Minister for Education has directed that the calendar for kindergarten to Junior High School for the current academic year should be reverted to the trimester system,” the ministry said in a statement.
Below is the full statement from the Ministry of Education:
Consultation
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education on Tuesday refuted claims that the various teacher unions in the country were not consulted on the new academic calendar.
Dr Adutwum confirmed that teacher unions in the country were consulted and that the consultation process was chaired by his deputy.
In a statement this week, the Unions in Education said the decision to change from the trimester academic calendar to a semester academic calendar was unilateral.
The Unions in Education includes the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT-GH).
They say “Such a major policy change should have attracted a wide consultation and therefore find both the pronouncement and the document offensive and takes exception to them.
“We state emphatically, that at no point in time were the Unions in Education consulted on such a major policy decision…” the statement added.
Speaking with Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on the Asaase Breakfast Show, Dr Adutwum said, “I’ve spoken with the deputy director [of GES] he said they’ve finished consulting them [Unions in Education]. When they [GES] came to me, they came with the concerns of the unions.”
“I confirmed with the deputy director general who said the meeting was chaired by my deputy and that they brought them in. So, I don’t understand; things happen in Ghana. I don’t mind consultation but that is what my people are telling me,” he added.
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