Former Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, says Ghana’s rise from seventh to second place in Africa on education rankings was driven largely by the country’s aggressive investment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with JoyNews, Dr Adutwum attributed the improvement to reforms implemented under the administration of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, noting that the gains were recognised by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

“The Mo Ibrahim Foundation comes to Ghana, other African countries look at education, and move us from number seven to number two in Africa, especially because of the STEM education agenda that we had so well prosecuted,” he said.

The former minister explained that the STEM agenda became a central policy focus after he was appointed to lead the Education Ministry, with the full backing of the former President.

He said the goal was to transform Ghana’s education system to better equip students with practical and technical skills needed for the modern economy.

As part of the initiative, the government established dedicated STEM senior high schools and introduced STEM-focused junior high schools across the country. One of the flagship projects, the Accra STEM Academy, was developed to run from kindergarten through to senior high school and was completed within two years.

Dr Adutwum said the scale and speed of implementation initially drew scepticism, but the outcomes have since validated the approach. He noted that international recognition of Ghana’s progress in education reflects the impact of the reforms.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s index, which assesses governance and development indicators across African countries, has been widely referenced in evaluating performance in sectors such as education, health, and economic management.