Earlier, the sector Minister, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh said the government is planning to upgrade JHS and SHS certificates to diplomas.
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JHS and SHS graduates won't be awarded Diploma Certificate - MoE
The Ministry of Education has denied reports indicating that plans to upgrade the Junior and Senior High School certificate into a Diploma certificate which can allow graduates gain employment after completion of their programmes is in the offing.
Matthew Opoku Prempeh
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He said it is unfair for young people in the country to be forced to complete University before being eligible for employment in the country.
Speaking at the 2019 Danquah Institute Leadership lecture under the theme: "World Class Education and Imperative for the Next Generation of Leaders," Opoku Prempeh said a new curriculum for Junior High Schools in the country will see JHS graduates completing with National Higher Diplomas while qualified SHS graduates will be awarded with National Diplomas.
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According to him, "The curriculum that will appear for the Junior High School will lead to a National Higher Diploma, [and] when you finish Senior High School, you get a National Diploma. It is not everybody who must go to the University straight, but we must prepare our kids for the world of work."
But the Ministry in a statement said the Education Minister was taken out of context.
"The minister did not state that junior high school graduates would be awarded a diploma. Indeed, given the government’s commitment to redefining basic education to include senior high school, in respect of which the Pre-Tertiary Education Bill is in Parliament, it is inconceivable that the Minister would suggest that Junior High School graduates will be awarded diplomas or any other certification to enable them to seek work," the statement said.
The ministry noted that the minister mooted the idea of a national diploma for all SHS leavers which will enable them go into work, with those desiring to enter university then going on to write the WASSCE just as it is done in the USA where all high school leavers gain a national diploma to enable them to go into work, with the SAT examination being a further requisite for those seeking to enter into the university.
The statement added that the minister sought to ignite a conversation on whether all senior high school students should write a university entrance exam such as the WASSCE, given the diversity of learners in the senior high school system.
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Education Minister, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh
Pulse Ghana
Touching on the aspect of media reports that there are plans by the government to reduce the number of years spent by undergraduates at the university from four to three years, the ministry’s statement said: "The minister referred to the need for a strong and robust pre-tertiary education structure and noted that with such a system, a discussion on whether the current four-year undergraduate degree could be reduced to three years.
"Indeed, the minister referred to the fact that prior to the 1987 reforms that saw the shift from the A level to the senior high school system, an undergraduate degree was three years, similar to and that in the case of the University of Ghana in particular, the first year was non-scoring referred to as First University Examinations (FUE).
READ ALSO: Date for 2019 BECE changed
"The minister in his speech sought to trigger a national dialogue to potentially reconsider reverting to this undergraduate model, on the basis of a much improved and more robust senior high school curriculum so that students can be adequately prepared for a three-year undergraduate programme."
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MOE statement
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