Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, a Deputy Minister-designate for Education, has charged stakeholders in Ghana’s education sector to fully embrace Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and do more to promote it.

Mr. Ntim Fordjour maintains STEM is the future for growth and prosperity.

He thus urged all to embrace it for the good of the young generation and the nation as a whole.

The Assin South lawmaker made the call on Monday, June 7, 2021, when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament for his vetting.

The nominee thus said he will assist his Minister to see to the full actualization of STEM.

“Mr. Chairman, I am a firm believer in STEM. Countries that are doing well now are those that embraced it earlier. It’s the way forward, and I will do all I can to assist my Minister in that regard to ensure it is implemented fully for the benefit of our children and the country as a whole. Let’s embrace it now.”

Speaking at the same vetting, the nominee debunked assertions that the government’s Free SHS policy has affected the quality of education at the secondary school level in the country.

According to him, such claims are unfounded and should be disregarded completely.

“I don’t agree that quality has been substituted for quantity with the Free SHS policy because considering all the reports available, (the Annual Performance Report of the educational sector and WAEC 2020), it indicates that the education outcomes have been improving for the past five years steadily, and quality hasn’t been compromised.”

“Recently, when the 2020 WAEC report was announced, out of the 465 students in West Africa that scored an A in all eight subjects, 411 (88%) of them were Ghanaian Free SHS graduates; and for the first time, 50% of students that sat for the WASSCE all passed for the core subjects. Such claims are not true and should be disregarded.”