The Education Ministry is encouraging candidates who wish to change from what it refers to as 'grammar' to technical school to do so.

The move, according to the Ministry, is intended to broaden the technical and vocational space for national development.

Speaking to Joy Prime’s Roselyn Felli on Prime Morning, on Tuesday, the Deputy Public Relations Officer at the Ministry indicated that this will also help reduce the pressure on the 'grammar' schools.

Mr. Yaw Opoku Mensah further added that TVET education is key to dealing with the bulging unemployment situation in Ghana.

"We need to understand it from the sociological perspective of how the education system has always been. Way back to the introduction of formal education. So you realise that the over 700 senior high schools are all within the grammar space. How many technical schools do we have, and how many people are motivated to find themselves within the technical education space? So we've had enough of grammar school," he explained.

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The Deputy PRO also stated that the move will not only broaden the technical and vocational space for national development, but will gradually help alleviate unemployment in the country.

"I believe you do have complaints about job seekers, and the question is what technical skills you are bringing on board. So therefore, we need to train our manpower within the technical space for the transformation and growth of the economy that we all seek. So that is why we are expanding that space. That is why we are motivating and encouraging people to find themselves within the technical space," the Deputy PRO added.

Mr. Mensah noted that the major reason school placement controversies arise is because the students do not arrange their schools in the right order.

He also said that parents' absence during the school-choice process, which tends to mount pressure on the teachers, is also the cause of the school placement debacle.

https://youtu.be/x6qXwgMrJMQ

"Someone with a good grade will probably be pushed to the third, fourth, or fifth choice, depending on the arrangement of schools that you have done... so you are pushed out of the spot with your good grade and raw score. That is why school organisation is critical, and it breaks my heart when our staff from headquarters and the regional base go into the district, in the cluster in the community, to educate parents, and when you call, the schools tell you that even if you call parents for a meeting, only a small percentage are actual parents, and the majority just send people to stand in for them."

The Deputy Public Relations Officer, the Education Ministry, Dr. Yaw Opoku, further urged that parents take an active part in the school selection process and collaborate with teachers to avoid future challenges.

He also encouraged students considering entering the SHS system to consider technical schools, as they will provide them with more practical knowledge and skills.