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Dr Prince Hamid Armah, a former Ghanaian lawmaker and education policy expert, has called for the institutionalisation of the National Education Forum to ensure continuity and coherence in the country’s education policies beyond political transitions.
Armah, who previously served as Director General of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and as Vice Chairman of Ghana’s Parliamentary Education Committee, welcomed the eight-member committee appointed by President John Mahama to plan the forum.
He particularly commended Kofi Asare and Dr Sam Awuku for their expertise, noting their advisory roles in the education sector under the immediate past New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
Since 2018, Ghana’s Ministry of Education has organised an annual education forum, dubbed Education Week, to facilitate policy deliberations and stakeholder engagement. Armah stressed the need for this initiative to be sustained and formally institutionalised.
“A well-structured and institutionalised forum will ensure continuity, inclusivity, and policy coherence, allowing for sustained gains in Ghana’s education sector beyond political transitions,” he said in a social media post.
As a former technical team member involved in drafting Ghana’s “Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2030”, Armah urged the new administration to ensure the forum is not merely a ceremonial event but a platform for evidence-based decision-making.
Recalling the 2009 forum, when a government decision to revert senior high school (SHS) duration from four to three years proceeded despite inconclusive stakeholder consultations, Armah cautioned against repeating such politically driven decisions.
“A national forum of this nature should be more than a formality; it should foster genuine inclusivity, evidence-based decision-making, and broad stakeholder buy-in to ensure lasting impact,” he said.
As Ghana prepares for the forum, Armah expressed his readiness to contribute to discussions, hoping for meaningful, inclusive, and data-driven reforms in the country’s education sector.