The Education Policies of the New Ghanaian President - A Bright Future

The New Patriotic Party, presided by Nana Akuffo Addo, is the majority ruling party in Ghana as of January 2017. The main policy objectives with regards to education are heavily focused on improving teachers’ well being and status, free education for children up to Senior High School, raising the quality of education at primary and senior high school levels with an emphasis on science and technology as well as raising university standards, with a priority in research and innovation. As we will show in this article, these policies will increase the need for Brighter Investment’s program in Ghana as well as help make it more successful.

Brighter Investment will greatly benefit from the successful implementation and execution of these policies. Free Education up to the Senior High School will limit the number of school dropout due to financial reasons and increase the overall number of students who graduate from senior high schools. This means that there will be a larger pool of potential students that could be supported by Brighter Investment to the tertiary level. Also, an emphasis on science and technology will raise interest in related areas and increase the number of prospective students who apply for degrees in these high-income fields. Given the high return of investment of tertiary education in Ghana, a large number of high school graduates who may still have financial challenges may require Brighter Investment to greatly increase the number of students supported.

Since Brighter Investment requires the participation and recommendation of teachers in selecting deserving and highly motivated students,an improvement in teacher’s well-being will increase their general performance in teaching. Highly motivated teachers  are also more likely to be genuinely concerned about the success of their students; which may mean a willingness to help students requiring financial assistance and as such directing the right students to Brighter Investment. A high reliability on teachers to supply the best of students with financial need will decrease Brighter Investment’s dependence on other costly marketing avenues.

Also, the New Patriotic Party plans to waive taxes on private universities in Ghana. This will encourage the establishment of more private universities and decrease the pressure on public universities.

Last but not least, raising University standards will increase the value of tertiary degrees. Not only is this beneficial to Brighter Investment in increasing the chance of student employment after completion, in time it is also expected to increase graduate salaries and make higher education even more of a life changing opportunity for our students.

More info: New Patriotic Party. Manifesto for Elections 2016.