Story by: Samuel Nana Effah Obeng
AProfessor of Educationa Leadership at the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration(IEPA)at theUniversity of Cape Coasthas saidthat,considering the factors that adversely affect the imageryof public basic schools in Ghana, the colour ornature of school uniforms contributes insignificantly.Whileacknowledging the strategic impact branding and rebranding initiativeshave on products,Prof. G.K.T Oduro,in hiscomparativeanalysis quizzed,if the colour or nature of uniforms worn by pupis of public basic schoolsis the primary reason for the poor performances in literacy and numeracyas compared to private schools?.The University of Cambridgescholar wondered,if the Ministry of Education’s decision to priortizeschool uniforms in its rebranding agenda was informed by competitor analysis to determine factors that contribute to the higher performance of private basic schoos,againstthe lower performance of public basic schools in the country.The former Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast asserts that,if the Ministry had paid attention tocompetitor analysis, it would have prioritized any of the stakeholder concerns relating to the over 8,000 primary schoolsoperating under trees, late release of capitation and feeding grant, insufficient infrastructure, inadequate textbooks, inadequate teaching and learning resources (TLRs), lttle or no support for children with learning difficulties, inadequate equipped ICT laboratories and many others,which tend to affect the image of public schools in the country.Prof.Oduro raised concerns about minimal budgetary allocation for public basic education with available statistics suggesting that,n 2023, only 4% of the education budget was committed to primary education. He further hinted that,no matter how beautiful the colour of the newuniformsare or how stylish they look, f the requisite human and material resources to support qualityteaching and learning are absent, the low imageof public basic education will remain a policy chalenge.He charged theMinistry of Education to rethink its prioritization of new school uniformsfor publicbasc education. Prof. Oduro said,without rethinking the initiative, the motivation will be more of a legacy than a rebrandingagenda.Read Prof. G.K.T Oduro’s statement below:
STATEMENT ON THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION’S UNVEILINGOF NEW SET OF UNIFORMS FOR BASIC SCHOOLSIN GHANAByProf. George K.T. Oduro, Institute for Educational Planning & Administration (IEPA), University of Cape CoastThere is no doubt that branding or rebrandingis astrategic initiative for marketing institutions. In this sense, the Ministry of Education’s efforttowards rebranding public basic education for the purpose of image enhancementisworth commending. Indeed, over the past years, public image of stateownedbasic schools has been lower compared to that of private basic schools. Hence, despitethe high fees charged by private schools, some parentsgo to all lengths to get their childrenenrolled in privateSchools. In pursuit of the rebranding initiative, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw OseiAdutwum, recentlyunveileda new set of uniforms for basic school pupils.Describing the features of the newuniforms, the Ministerproudly remarked, “You see, youdon’tsee brown andyellow,we are rebranding public schools. No brown and yellow, blue and white, and we are changing the uniformstoo.Thisis PresidentAkufo-Addo and Vice-President MahamuduBawumia’sGhana”.While school uniforms play a key role in promoting identity and creating a sense of belongingness among members of a school’s community, one wonder if prioritizing school uniforms,in the Ministry of Education’s rebranding strategy, iswhat public basic education in our country reallyneed to compete well with the private education sector. Is the colour or nature of uniforms worn by pupils of public basic schools the primary reason for their poor performancesin literacy and numeracy compared to private schools? Is the type of prescribed school uniform a priority consideration for parents in choosing either public or private public school for their wards? Obviously, uniforms are not the primary cause of the image deficit in public basic school education. I wonder if the Ministry of Education’s decision toprioritizeschool uniforms in its rebranding agenda was informed by competitor analysis to determine factors that contribute to the higher performance of private basic schools againstthe lower performance of public basic schoolsin the country. If the Ministry had paid attention to competitor analysis, it would not have placed primacy on school uniforms. It would have prioritizedany of the stakeholder concerns relating to the over 8,000 primary schools operating under trees, late release of capitation and feeding grant, insufficient infrastructure,inadequatetextbooks, inadequate teaching & learning resources (TLRs), little/ no support for children with learning difficulties, inadequate equipped ICT laboratories and many others which tend to affect the image of public schools in the country. These are the practical factors that tend to disadvantage public basic schools as they compete with private basic schools and thereby blemish the image of public basic schools in the country. The colour or nature of school uniforms contributes insignificantly to the factors that adversely affect the image of public basic schools. It is also important to note that public basic education has not been prioritized in terms of budgetary allocation. Available statistics, for example, suggests that in 2023, only 4% of the education budget wascommitted to primary education. Addressing these issues would be more assuring for enhancing the image of public basic schools because they will have direct impact on improving the academic performance of public basic schools. If the Minister of Education is therefore genuinely committed torebranding public basic education towards enhancing its image, then the Ministry should rethink its prioritization of new school uniformsfor public basic schools. Without rethinking the initiative, the motivation will be more of a legacy than a rebranding agenda.The Ministermust remember that no matter how beautiful the colour of the new uniforms are or how stylish they look, if the requisite human and material resources to support quality teaching and learning are absent, the low image of public basic education will remain a policy challenge.
