Ghana's new educational reform has come with it many teething administrative and logistical problems but the government says it is not unusual. Professor Dominic Fobih, Minister of Education, Science and Sports (MESS) said in spite of the challenges, the reforms sought to provide a guarantee for creating a well-balanced school leavers equipped with intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical knowledge, skills, values and aptitudes for self-actualisation. Prof. Fobih was speaking in Accra. The Minister said the educational reform is a necessary measure for reorienting the content of the educational enterprise to meet the developmental goals of every nation. He said the reform is also structured to provide a strong foundation to form the fundamental transformation of the education system through which children acquire basic literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills as well as skills for creativity and healthy living. He said the current reform lays emphasis on the role of science and information technology as a step towards equipping Ghanaian graduates with the tools to compete on the global market. It also aimed at increasing the percentage of students going into science related disciplines and alter the number of years spent by students at the pre-university level. Other areas includes, citizenship education, creative arts and information communication and technology to make students appreciate the basic concepts and values that underlie a democratic political community and a constitutional order to enable them uphold the constitution of Ghana at all times. “Creative arts seek to help the children develop critical thinking and imagination and the spirit of innovation, creativity and resourcefulness, while information communication and technology is to place the children well in the world of knowledge base revolution,” Prof Fobih stated. Prof Fobih said the reform would also promote the inter-connectivity of the different levels of education to ensure that children have a strong foundation and are adequately prepared for further academic work and acquisition of technical and vocational skills. Source: GNA