Free education is meaningless with schools under trees – UG lecturer

A Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr Adu Sarkodie has challenged the implementation of free education in the country, saying it is not worth it. The economics lecturer said while making education free is good, there are needs in education that should be of greater priority than making education free.

He mentioned basics such as teaching and learning materials, classroom facilities, and teachers as lacking or inadequate, thus, should be the priority now.

According to Dr Sarkodie, for education to be free the students need to be safe and have a conducive learning environment. So without basic infrastructure such as classrooms which forces students to learn “under trees” making education free is a waste.

Speaking at the Media General-Star Ghana-organized Thought Leadership Forum, he said, “We cannot have free education where children study under trees. We cannot have free education where there is no basic infrastructure in the schools.”

“We cannot have basic education where basic things like chalk, markers are not available in the schools. We cannot have free education where the pupil-teacher ratio is that high,” he stated.

Adding, “So, we should all redefine free education to include quality, equity, inclusivity and all that”.