62% of primary 2 pupils can’t read – Education Minister

The Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, says Ghana’s education cannot continue to depend on apprenticeship-produced leadership, but on purposefully trained leaders interested in learning outcomes.

Speaking at the Education Ministry’s launch of the National Education Leadership Institute, NELI, in Takoradi, Dr Adutwum said a study by the National Standardized Test conducted in 2022 on the reading abilities of Primary-2 students showed that 62 percent of primary-2 pupils couldn’t read, a situation he said was even worse in 2015.

“In a test conducted in 2015, only 2% of Primary-2 students could read in this country. Thereafter, in 2022, the President invested resources and was able to access every Primary-2 student in the country on the National Standardized test.

“The test result which is out has revealed that 38% of the students can read, but I’m not happy about it [because] it also said 62% can’t read and we can’t be happy with that,” he noted.

“We have to begin to raise a new generation of education leaders who will be interested in learning outcomes and who will lead the charge to ensure that Ghana’s fortunes will change.

“We cannot depend on this apprenticeship leadership any longer…we have to fast-track the Wesley Girls’ experience so we can get more effective school leadership and this is where the National Education Leadership Institute comes in.

“The apprenticeship would be there but people will also have to study and understand what makes schools work in Ghana,” he emphasized.

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