Former Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has raised concerns about the effect of the “chew and pour, pass and forget” approach on Ghana’s education system. He argued that the excessive focus on memorisation and examination results, rather than understanding and applying knowledge, is weakening the quality of education and limiting students’ ability to think independently.
Speaking in an interview on AsaasePa’s Atumpan programme, Dr Adutwum said Ghana must urgently place greater emphasis on what he described as the 4Cs of education — Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration and Communication.
According to him, developing these skills is critical to preparing young people to solve complex problems, adapt to a rapidly changing world and make meaningful contributions to the country’s development.
“We must deliberately eradicate poverty through education by equipping our students with the skills to solve global challenges, rather than simply teaching them to ‘chew, pour, pass and forget.’ If Vietnam, Singapore and others did it, we can also do it,” he said.
Dr Adutwum therefore called for a stronger education system that goes beyond preparing students to pass examinations and instead equips them with practical skills, independent thinking and the ability to apply knowledge to real-life situations.
