Tag Archives: Clement Apaak

News

Gov’t sidelined Education Committee in sharing of smart tablets to students – Apaak

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The implementation of the One Student, One Tablet initiative by the government has sparked criticism from the Minority in Parliament.

They allege that the authorities responsible for the rollout have bypassed and sidelined the Education Committee, neglecting its role and input in the process.

President Akufo-Addo revealed plans to distribute smart tablets to 1.3 million senior high school students nationwide during the launch of the Ghana Smart Schools Project in Accra on Monday, March 25, 2024.

This initiative aims to equip students benefiting from the free SHS policy with crucial technological skills, in line with the government’s commitment to leveraging technology for educational advancement.

Dr Clement Apaak, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, expressed disappointment with the lack of involvement of the committee in this intervention in an interview with Citi News.

He highlighted the committee’s responsibility to oversee all educational matters in the country and lamented the absence of opportunities for members of the committee to examine the tablets, understand their content, and assess their utility before the policy was rolled out.

“We have been sidelined because ideally, we have a mandate to oversee every and anything to do with the education of this country. So for the committee not to have been allowed to see the tablet for a demonstration of how they were to be used, to be done for us to see and assess, to get a better understanding of the content thereof, clearly it is a slap in the face of the committee.

“It suggests that the committee is not being given the needed recognition that it deserves. I can tell you that the committee is not enthused at all about the way and manner this tablet issue has been handled.”

 

Source: Citinewsroom.com

News, Politics

Making NSS optional will increase corruption – Apaak

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The Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa South, Dr. Clement Apaak, has kicked against a proposal by the flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to make the one-year mandatory National Service optional when he is voted to power.

Dr. Apaak, who also doubles as the Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament said such a policy will only create an avenue for bribery and corruption to thrive.

The educationist who was speaking to Citi News argued that the move will decline patriotism among Ghanaian students upon completion of their tertiary education.

While announcing his vision for the country in Accra on Wednesday, Dr. Bawumia announced plans to make the service optional when he is elected president in the upcoming general elections.

“I believe it is time to rethink the concept of our current national service scheme. My government will propose that those who, after completion of their education, can secure jobs, would be exempted from national service. National service will no longer be mandatory, and students will have the option to decide whether to do national service. This will also encourage companies to go to campuses for recruitment annually,” Dr. Bawumia said.

Dr. Clement Apaak said the implementation of such a proposal will only create a favourable exemption opportunity for the children of the political elite.

“What it will essentially do is introduce optional service in place of National Service, and once it becomes optional, it also creates the avenue for bribery and corruption. We all know the value of doing National Service, and we know that the National Service certificate plays a very important role, especially for those of us who will want to go into public service.”

“Time without number, you may have heard persons who have been nominated for ministerial positions being asked by the Appointments Committee where they did their National Service and whether they have certificates and so by saying that we are going to make it optional, you are totally destroying what we know and replacing it with a system that will only exempt the sons and daughters of the political elite.”

 

source: Myxyzonline.com

News

Decision to reorganize PTA unnecessary; reverse it – Apaak to GES

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The Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr. Clement Apaak, has described as unnecessary the decision of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to reorganize the existing Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA) into Parent Associations (PA).

He has thus urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) to immediately reverse the decision, stressing that PTAs over the years have played significant roles in complementing the government’s efforts to providing quality education in the country.

GES recently announced that it would reorganize PTAs into PAs to address financial and operational challenges associated with providing access to education in schools.

But Dr. Apaak believes the decision to realign parent-teacher associations is “totally unnecessary.”

“The PTAs have and continue to play a very important role in assisting the government in delivering education. You go to many secondary schools across this country, you will see structures that were put up by PTAs,” Dr. Clement Apaak said in an interview with Citi News.

The GES has developed new guidelines for Parent Associations, previously known as Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), in pre-tertiary schools in the country.

The guidelines prohibit teachers from being part of the Association, impose restrictions on teachers collecting fees from students preventing them from writing exams, and stipulate that parents whose wards have completed school must no longer be part of the Association.

The Secretary of the National Council of the Parents Teachers Association in Ghana, Gapson Kofi Raphael, has also expressed dismay at the Ghana Education Service over its guidelines on PTAs.

He described the actions by the GES as unlawful and illegal.

 

Source: Myxyzonline.com