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Prof. Takyiwaa Manu, University of Ghana: Prof, you are speaking on a topic that is dear to both of us; education. You mentioned that there was a problem with access and you mentioned that under your leadership all students who qualify in science and technology will be given scholarships. First of all, the National Council for Tertiary Education has a 60-40 mix between science and arts in our universities. That is what we are supposed to do to as a developing country; to have 60% of science students and 40% arts students. Prof Adarkwa, the Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University says that even if we were to admit all the science students that qualify we will still not make that 60% of science students. So I would like to know what your government will do to encourage the production of science students. And I want to link it to the issue that you raised about primary education; the issue of content. I think that we can build all the classrooms that we want in this country, but the issue is one of quality. I want to link again the issue of quality and science education to the issue of language. I want to know what your government policy will be on language instruction in primary schools to enable children to understand science and mathematics and other such abstract disciplines. Prof. Mills: Takyiwaa, the thing is this; you will find that students, in choosing their subjects, will take a lot of things into consideration. When they know that they can go to the universities and they can get scholarships and sponsorships, more students are going to be more inclined to choose science subjects or to read science. I had the privilege of teaching in the university. Many of the students who read administration were top science students but they chose administration because of the attractive nature of the jobs afterwards and also because some companies were sponsoring them. That is just to show that once you have an attractive package there will be tendency for students to move into that area. 14
Now you ask about the language we are going to use in the primary school. I think communication is very important. There are some who say we should teach them in their native language. Now let me say that our native language is limited in so many areas. There are so many things that you cannot describe in our native language. I will say that the basic language should be English but at the same time we should teach our children our native language. I think that English should be the medium of instruction because as you grow up you will find that our native language is incapable of interpreting many of the concepts that we have and I think that this is the way we should go. Matilda Asante, JOY FM: My understanding of research done with regards to primary education is that the children tend to understand the issues better in the local dialect, which should be the first language they pick up growing up, than they will ordinarily in English. Prof. Mills: Well, I don’t know. Let’s face it. When you go to school, your first language is your native language, but as grow you will find that there are certain shortcomings in the language. So that if they decide that at the very primary level they are going to start with the native language, I think that there should be a combination of the two because it is going to serve them well. If indeed you don’t give them a good grounding in English, by the time you decide to do so it’s going to be too late. Let me say that I am not an authority on linguistics but from my own experience, this is my proposal. Mrs. Irene Adanusa, GNAT: Prof, we have had so many reforms in Education. The focus over the past 10 years has been more on basic education. Considering our limited resources, what will your government focus on? Will you still focus on basic education or will you try and balance over the various levels of education? For whichever design you choose, could you give us one or two prescriptions as to how you will handle quality issues; quality in the sense of instruction, quality of teachers, quality of the social status of the teachers, 15
Page 1 and 2: Delivering On Your Promises: IEA Gh
Page 3 and 4: The Institute of Economic Affairs (
Page 5 and 6: PREFACE The Institute of Economic A
Page 7 and 8: 1. AN EVENING ENCOUNTER WITH PRESID
Page 9 and 10: consider this unacceptable. Even mo
Page 11 and 12: HIV/AIDS. Indeed, about a week ago
Page 13 and 14: ated with its production and distri
Page 15 and 16: ing glory to the efforts by the GNP
Page 17 and 18: QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTION Matilda
Page 19: youth, who are the future. Here we
Page 23 and 24: teaching will no longer be taken in
Page 25 and 26: It tells you that where you have a
Page 27 and 28: Ernest Owusu Aboagye, Pharmaceutica
Page 29 and 30: their full dignity. We have a lot o
Page 31 and 32: of you come to me under cover of da
Page 33 and 34: Harry Williams: Prof. you spoke ext
Page 35 and 36: Akwasi Sarpong, JOY FM: Prof Mills,
Page 37 and 38: know that it is not the state’s d
Page 39 and 40: Indeed we have cases where there is
Page 41 and 42: what you are saying. That is what m
Page 43 and 44: teachers, the teacher is at the cen
Page 45 and 46: issue if we think that NHIS alone i
Page 47 and 48: get enough. We’ve already said th
Page 49 and 50: As a young lecturer I used to think
Page 51 and 52: • We look at the judiciary - is t
Page 53 and 54: Dr. Nduom that the time has come wh
Page 55 and 56: Prof. Mills: I have two. I would ha
Page 57 and 58: Question: According to the 2000 Pop
Page 59 and 60: Prof. Mills: I will say that afford
Page 61 and 62: Question: You have each touched on
Page 63 and 64: There is the perception that we are
Page 65 and 66: with you. You may have heard our di
Page 67: THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS I

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