Ho, Jan 31, GNA - Prof Stephen Adei, the Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, has suggested the introduction of a second GETFUND as a back-up to the Capitation Grant to fund quality universal primary education.

"The government must be commended for the capitation grant. We need to build on it even if that means a second GET FUND", he told delegates at the Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) annual week celebration at the Ho Polytechnic.

The celebration was under the theme, Polytechnic Education: A window of hope for Ghana".

Prof Adei said as the foundation to the country's educational superstructure, primary education needed to be strengthened through quality school management, teacher motivation and independent supervision and monitoring.

Regarding secondary school education, Prof Adei suggested that subsidy on boarding schools should be scrapped so that savings made from that expenditure could be made available to finance quality secondary education for many more students irrespective of their locations. "If we persist in keeping the boarding schools, secondary education will be a luxury forever to a privileged few. We have to change and it does not cost a pesewa to do so but courage, leadership and the spine to do what is good for Ghana", he said.

"What we have today is meant to produce a few elites to serve the colonial administration. It's too expensive to be universalised." He said secondary schools do not need science laboratories and practical science to be able to prepare students to pursue science related courses at the tertiary level rather a good foundation in mathematics and scientific principles was all that was required. "It has been proven that you don't need a science laboratory and practical science at the secondary level to produce doctors, engineers and scientists at the university and tertiary level provided the kids are grounded in mathematics and scientific principles."

"We should work to remove the constraints that make many schools unable to offer science at Senior Secondary School (SSS) level", Prof. Adei said.

"Today one good physics teacher in Accra can teach in all secondary schools through TV if we invest in wide screen TV and solar panels in every senior secondary school.''

If adopted, he said, it would help free financial resources for the establishment of many community senior secondary schools within every 10 kilometres to qualitatively prepare many eligible students for science related courses at the tertiary level.