The spokesperson for Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, Hashmin Mohammed, has rejected claims that President John Mahama has left the Minister to deal with challenges in Ghana’s education sector on his own.
Mr Mohammed described comments by former Manhyia North MP, Collins Owusu Amankwah, suggesting that Mr Iddrisu lacked presidential support as “factually wrong, politically convenient and completely unsupported by the evidence.”
In a statement, he said attempts to link difficulties with the 2026 Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) to a lack of support from President Mahama were misleading.
He maintained that the placement system remained operational and was undergoing reforms to address longstanding weaknesses and improve the experience of students, parents and schools.
According to Mr Mohammed, the Education Ministry inherited several challenges but has chosen to address them through institutional reforms rather than shifting blame to previous administrations.
He cited the decentralisation of placement resolution centres as one of the measures introduced to bring support closer to parents and students and make it easier to resolve placement-related concerns.
He argued that difficulties associated with a complex nationwide placement exercise should not be interpreted as evidence that the Education Minister has been abandoned by the President.
“President John Dramani Mahama did not appoint Hon. Haruna Iddrisu to fail. He appointed him to fix problems. And he is supporting him to do exactly that,” Mr Mohammed said.
He said the President’s backing was evident in government’s policies, resource allocation and interventions aimed at transforming the education sector.
Mr Mohammed also pointed to efforts to address infrastructure deficits, expand school capacity and improve access to teaching and learning materials.
He said government was working to increase capacity in Category A and Category B schools to ensure that inadequate infrastructure or limited spaces do not prevent students from accessing quality secondary education.
The spokesperson urged political actors to approach discussions on education with facts and constructive proposals rather than partisan considerations.
He said portraying every challenge encountered during the implementation of a national programme as evidence of presidential failure would not help resolve the underlying problems.
“The CSSPS is being improved, not abandoned. The Education Minister is being supported, not isolated. And the education sector is being reformed, not left to drift,” he stated.
Mr Mohammed further insisted that President Mahama had given Mr Iddrisu the mandate, political backing and institutional support required to address the challenges facing the sector.
He encouraged stakeholders with concerns about education to offer constructive solutions while stressing that the government remained committed to improving the placement system and strengthening the education sector.
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