No Textbooks On World Teachers' Day - Dr. Clement Apaak

Today October 5, 2021, we celebrate our hardworking Teachers for thier irreplaceable services and sacrifices to society and our nation.

Happy Teachers' day, though I know many Teacher's are not happy in Ghana because their conditions of service are not optimum. This is why we must feel obligated as a people to ensure that the right conditions are in place to illicit the very best from our Teachers.

The challenges Teachers face are numerous. One such challenge in recent times is the lack of textbooks in excess of two years after the introduction of the standard based curriculum.

The theme for today's global celebration of Teachers is: "Teachers at the heart of education recovery".

How are our basic school Teachers going to help with educational recovery without textbooks based on a basic curriculum available?

After several assurances, including one given by the Minister for Education, Hon. Yaw Adutwum, on Thursday June 10th 2021 on the floor of Parliament, in response to a question I asked, we are still waiting for the textbooks.

The Minister in response to my insistence for timeliness on when the textbooks will be available, said the books will be in schools three months from June 10th 2021, the day I asked the question. Today is October 5, 2021, International Teachers' Day, and we still have no textbooks for our basic schools.

Government must apologise to Teachers, pupils and Ghanaians for the failure to make textbooks available. Government must ensure that our basic schools get textbooks immediately. It's long overdue.