Odekro | What has your MP done for you?

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday, 19th June, 2019.
Pages 1….9 --

Mr Speaker, I am most grateful.
There are two corrections I have to make on page 9. The first one; the item numbered 7; the name of the Hon Minister for Trade and Industry should read “Mr Alan Kwadwo Kyere- manten”. ‘John' has been omitted; I

Mr Speaker

Thank you very much, Hon Member.
Any further corrections?
Pages 10…19 --
Hon Members, in the absence of any further correction, the Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday, 19th June, 2019 as corrected is hereby adopted as true record of proceedings.

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, the item listed 3 Questions.
The Hon Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources could please take the appropriate seat.
Yes, Hon Member for Mion, your Question numbered *581.
Mr Kwame Govers Agbodza - - rose --

Mr Speaker

Hon Member for Adaklu, I thought I saw you rise.

Mr Kwame Govers Agbodza

Mr Speaker, I wanted to draw your attention to the absence of the Hon Member, but he is in now.

Mr Speaker

Thank you very much.
Yes, Hon Member for Mion?

Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources (Ms Cecilia A. Dapaah)

Mr Speaker, Sang is the capital town of the Mion District in the Northern Region. The town has a population of about 9,500 and is located in an area with inadequate groundwater resources.
Mr Speaker, the town currently relies mostly on a limited mechanised water system with five (5) serving points (stand pipes), which was provided under the UNICEF funding in 2007 through the facilitation of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA).
Efforts to provide the town with adequate supply of potable water with groundwater has produced either dry or low-yielding boreholes which hardly produce adequate water for human consumption during the peak of the dry season. During the peak of the dry season, the limited mechanised system becomes unreliable due to the low yield of the aquifer and long queues can be seen at the fetching points. As a result, some community members do patronise the services of two privately - owned boreholes.
Mr Speaker, at the moment, the only water project being implemented in the Northern Region under CWSA

Mr Abdul-Aziz

Mr Speaker, in the Hon Minister's answer, she indicated that the Ministry has requested CWSA to undertake a detailed feasibility study and come up with options to address the issues within the Sang Community. Within what time frame does she anticipate that they would finish the study and make the report available to her?
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Ms Dapaah

Mr Speaker, I would use this phrase, if it would be acceptable to the Hon Member: “as soon as practicable”. This is because
the technical experts need to do their work. Whenever it is ready, we would come up and give him the information.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker

Hon Minister, this is all we have for you today. Thank you very much for attending upon the House to answer the Questions.
You are discharged.
The next Question is for the Hon Minister for Communications. Is she in the House?

Mr Kennedy K. Kankam

Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister for Communications is not available. So could we move to the next Question?

Mr Speaker

I am told the Hon Minister has written to the Clerk to Parliament and copied to Leaders that she would like this to be scheduled for next week as they are still in the process of collecting and collating the appropriate material.
The next Question is to the Minister for Works and Housing.

Mr Kankam

Mr Speaker, the Minister for Works and Housing is not available so I am seeking your leave to allow the Hon Deputy Minister to stand in for him.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Speaker, for the Minister for Communications, we totally agree with you. This is because even in the Minority, I am aware that there is an international programme being organised under the Ministry today. So if the Minister for Communications has a challenge, we agree. But for the Minister for Works and Housing, just saying that he is not available is not enough. If we could get a reason why he is not available, that would be good.

Mr Speaker

Hon Member, once you are not in a Leadership position, you would have to explain by what authority you would stand in for the Hon Minister who is absent. It is just the proper way of doing things and I would like to see things done that way. You would want to let me know by what authority. You are now addressing me not as a Leader, not as an Hon Member of the House but from the Leadership position.
I see a whip around so we want to do some consultations.
Hon Whip, next time you have to give appropriate authority. Otherwise, the Question is quo warranto and if you cannot answer quo warranto, nobody would hear you. You must have a warrant.

Mr Matthew Nyindam

Mr Speaker sorry for coming in late. The Hon Minister for Works and Housing has sought permission to be out of the country and the Hon Deputy Minister who is a Colleague of ours is more than capable of answering the Question. So with your leave and the leave of the House, could we allow him to answer the Question?
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker

Thank you very much.
Any objection?

Mr A. Ibrahim

Mr Speaker, once it is an official assignment that he has sought permission for, we have no objection. The Hon Deputy Minister is one of us and I know he is capable of answering the Question.

Mr Speaker

Hon Deputy Minis- ter, you may take the chair.

Mr Speaker

Hon Deputy Minister, thank you very much for your detailed Answer.
Hon Member, do you have any supplementary question?

Mrs Morrison

Mr Speaker, I am convinced.
Thank you.

Mr Speaker

Hon Deputy Minister, it appears that your exhaustive Answer --

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, this is a constituency-specific Question.
Hon Deputy Minister, thank you very much for attending upon the House to answer our Questions. You are respectfully discharged.
Hon Members, at the commence- ment of public Business, item numbered 5 -- Motions. Hon Chairman of the Committee.

Mr Matthew Nyindam

Mr Speaker, unfortunately, the Hon Chairman for the Public Accounts Committee is out of the jurisdiction, and according to the members of the Committee, the Report is not ready. Mr Speaker, with your indulgence, I would want to ask that you suspend the House for two hours while we get the Hon Minister for Education - - [Interruption.]
I am calling for the suspension of the House for two hours after which we would take the Report from the Committee of Education.
Mr Speaker, thank you.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Speaker, I find it very difficult to agree with my Hon Colleague on the other Side. He should let us know if there is no Business to be done. If there is Business, is he suggesting that we should suspend and wait for the Hon Minister? Mr Speaker, there are four Hon Ministers at the Ministry of Education, and we should suspend and wait for whom?
If Hon Ministers have Business to be executed on the Floor, they must prioritise Parliament. But if we tolerate this habit because a Minister is not in, and a whole Parliament presided over by the third gentleman of the land has to suspend and wait for him, I totally disagree.
Hon Ministers should prioritise Parliament, and if they have business to be done in Parliament they must come here first and do it.
A whole Parliament cannot sus- pend and wait for a Minister. Mr Speaker, excuse me for that.

Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh

Mr Speaker, what my Hon Leader on the Minority Side said is very important. There are four Ministers. The Minister responsible for Education, and then the Minister of State for Tertiary Education, and we now have two Deputy Ministers.

Mr Speaker

Hon Yieleh Chireh, except that we have never purported nor sought to direct, less dictate to the courts. If somebody misunder- stood what we were doing here, I respectfully would not want that rendition to come from you.
This Honourable House has never sought to do so. Our references were to our constitutional rights duly granted by the Constitution of the Republic, and others can have their views, but we definitely know what we are saying. So please, go on and leave that out.

Mr Chireh

Mr Speaker, I am guided by your advice, and I would stay away from that. But as for the Ministers, they must have time for the work of Parliament, particularly when they are four. There cannot be any
reason. The Hon Minister should be able to delegate.
Indeed, this particular Minister, when he was on the Minority, was very hard on our Ministers at that time. So we must play by the rules, and he too should be urged to re- organise his business.
As for the other issue that I want to raise, the Hon Majority Leader said on Tuesday that we were going to have a Committee of the Whole meeting today, and now the Hon Deputy Whip is telling us that we should suspend for two hours. No, we cannot do that. We can hold the Committee of the Whole meeting today, and as for business, if the Hon First Deputy Speaker is presiding, he would then adjourn the House, because the Ministers are not ready, and we have no business to do.
We cannot waste public time. That one is not right.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker

Hon Deputy Majority Chief Whip, kindly address this matter seriously, and if you are inclined to concede, do so.

Mr Nyindam

Mr Speaker, I agree with him. We all agreed that we were going to have a Joint Caucus meeting today, and that still holds. It
is because the Hon Majority Leader and Hon Minority Leader are engaged somewhere, and we think that they should be able to join us in the next hour for us to have the Joint Caucus meeting.
In doing so, we also still think that the Report that we have in front of us can be taken. Sometimes when you are on the other Side, you are quick to say all manner of things.
I remember when we talked about Motion 5 --

Mr Speaker

Hon Leader, is there a new development?

Mr Nyindam

Mr Speaker, there is a new development.

Mr Speaker

If there is a new development then please address that.

Mr Nyindam

Mr Speaker, I would like to --

Mr Speaker

No, Hon Member. I was not going to agree with you one bit. In fact, I was not going to suspend Sitting. I was going to actually adjourn the House, but there is a new development. The Hon Minister is in the House, so please address me on that and let us see whether we can make some progress.

Mr Nyindam

Mr Speaker, our Hon Ministers are up to the task, and I would not --

Mr Speaker

Hon Member, the Hon Minister is in the House. Do you have anything to say in view of the new development? Then say that.

Mr Nyindam

Mr Speaker, yes. The Hon Minister for Education went for a Cabinet meeting, and because he takes this House very seriously, he has rushed to be here for us to take the Motions numbered 7 and 8.

Mr Speaker

So indeed, it would have been most unfortunate if we had gone for two hours, only for the Hon Minister to come some ten minutes after. Let us proceed with the business without any justifications.
Item listed 7, Motion. Chairman of the Committee?

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka)

Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80(1) which require that no Motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on

Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh

Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka)

Mr Speaker, I
beg to move, that this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Committee on Education on the Contract Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Education) and Itec Global of the United Kingdom for an amount of seventy-six million, nine hundred and twenty thousand, five hundred and sixty-two pounds and fifteen pence (£76,920,562.15) for the Supply and Installation of Education Equipment and Training in Basic Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education (BSTEM).
Mr Speaker, in doing so, I present the Committee's Report.
1.0 Introduction
The Contract Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Education) and Itec Global of the United Kingdom for an amount of seventy-six million, nine hundred and twenty thousand, five hundred and sixty-two Pounds and fifteen pence (£76,920,562.15) for the Supply and Installation of Educational Equipment and Training in Basic Science, Tech- nology, Engineering and Mathematics education (BSTEM) was laid in
Parliament by the Hon Minister for Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh on Wednesday, 12th June, 2019 pursuant to article 181(5) of the 1992 Constitution and Section 33 (1) of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016, (Act 921).
Subsequently, the Hon First Deputy Speaker referred the Agreement to the Committee on Education for consideration and report. This was in accordance with Order 186 of the Standing Orders of the House.
2.0 Deliberations
The Hon Minister for Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and officials of the Ministry of Education attended upon the Committee to assist in its deliberations.
The Committee is grateful to the Hon Minister and his technical team for attending upon the Committee.
3.0 Reference Documents
The Committee made reference to the following documents during its deliberations:
i. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
ii. The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana.
iii. The Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act
921).
4.0 Background
The Government of Ghana, has over the years endeavoured to expand access to basic education for all children through the commitments of programmes such as the Education for All, and the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE). Some significant progress has been made with enrolments increasing substantially through the introduction of the Capitation Grant, School Feeding Programme, Free School Uniform and the Free Text and Exercise Books programmes. The 2012 Educational Sector Review Report supports this assertion by indicating that actual enrolment expenditure has increased.
In spite of the increased enrolment, the quality of education in basic schools continues to be of grave concern to the Ministry of Education and the country as a whole. The education sector is still confronted with several challenges in terms of performance and learning outcomes. For instance, results of Early Grade Reading Assessment between 2013 and 2015 indicate that just two per

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka)

cent of Primary 2 pupils were able to read at an appropriate grade level. The 2015 Early Grade Mathematics Assessment also indicates that higher order mathematical concepts were a challenge. Seventy-five (75) per cent of Primary 2 pupils were unable to answer a single conceptual knowledge subtask (word problem) correctly. At the secondary level, learning outcomes are also low. Only 33 per cent of students passed the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Mathematics in 2017.

Additionally, about 50 per cent of teachers in basic schools still remain untrained and therefore have some difficulties in bringing about effective learning in BSTEM. Exacerbating the problem is the lack of a strategic approach to science and mathematics education as well as poor facilities in general.

It is against this background and in line with Government's commitment to ensure the development of a healthy, knowledgeable, well-trained and disciplined labour force with the capacity to drive and sustain private sector-led growth in the country that the Government of Ghana (GoG) entered into a Contract Agreement with Itec Global of the United Kingdom for the Supply and

Installation of Education Equipment and Training in BSTEM.

5.0 Key Objectives of the Project

The main objective of the Project is to ensure the delivery and installation of educational BSTEM equipment as well as training to improve the quality of science and mathematics education within the Basic Education System in the country and in addition, to introduce basic engineering and technology into basic education. The specific objectives of the Project are as follows:

i. Improving the pedagogy of teaching of Science and Maths education of all basic education.

ii. Introducing engineering and technology education and effective pedagogy into the basic education curriculum.

iii. Increasing the accessibility of modern teaching methods within BSTEM education to all students and teachers.

iv. Addressing the fear of teaching and learning mathematics at the basic education level.

v. Introducing an investigative and inquiry-based approach to BSTEM teaching, in line with international best practice in the Ghanaian curriculum.

vi. Providing a kit of effective BSTEM equipment matched to the curriculum at each educational level.

vii. Ensuring that the Project supports the Ministry of Education's other progra- mmes to improve the teaching of BSTEM such as Trans- forming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) and Girls Participatory Approaches to Students Success (G-

PASS).

viii. Providing resources includ- ing open education resources to support and enhance the current textbooks in BSTEM.

ix. Promoting the importance of Science, Technology, Engi- neering and Mathematics (STEM) education in an increasingly technological world.

x. Equipping teachers with the skills to support students with Special Educational Needs.

xi. Providing ICT equipment to improve the competency of both teachers and students at Junior High School (JHS) level.

xii. Introducing basic progra- mming to JHS teachers and students to increase the understanding of current and future technology.

6.0 Scope and Components of the Project

The scope of work of the Project involves the supply and installation of educational equipment. Specifically, the Project seeks to:

Provide all 38,715 Junior High Schools (JHS), Primary Schools and Kindergarten Schools with science and mathematics equipment.

Train 19,810 teachers (9,905 science and 9,905 mathematics teachers), 14,665 primary teachers and 14,145 Kinder- garten teachers within the basic education curriculum.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka)

science, technology, engineering and mathematics would be based on developing the pedagogy of modern BSTEM teaching through investi- gative and inquiry-based activities and effective teaching practices.

It also came to the attention of the Committee that the training will complement the teaching practices taught in pre-service training for student teachers, and support the professional practice and professional knowledge standards within the National Teachers' Standards for the country.

It is the expectation of the Committee that the teacher training programme would equip teachers with the requisite skills required for the BSTEM programme in the country.

9.4 Children with Special Educa- tional Needs

The Committee observed that the Project would target children with special educational needs. Children with special educational needs have learning difficulties or disabilities that render it difficult for them to learn than most children of the same age. As a result, these children need extra or different mode of teaching to enable them catch up with children of the

same age who are without learning difficulties.

Indeed, literacy, numeracy and basic science are critical areas in children's educational development. Thus during the training and developmental programmes for teachers in both basic Science and Mathematics, the Project would focus on strategies that would provide classroom teachers with the requisite knowledge on how to address problems associated with special needs.

9.5 Value-for-Money Audit

The Committee sought to find out whether value-for-money assessment was carried on the Contract.

Officials of the Ministry informed the Committee that value-for-money assessment has been duly conducted by Crown Agents.

9.6 Approval by the Minister for Finance

The Committee noted that by a letter dated 29th October, 2018, the Ministry of Finance granted approval to the Ministry of Education to commit the Government of Ghana to this multi- year expenditure. Section 33(1 )(a) of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) provides that a

covered entity needs the prior written approval of the Minister for Finance before tying Government to a multi- year financial commitment. This has therefore been satisfied.

10.0 Conclusion and Recommen- dation

The Committee has thoroughly examined the Contract Agreement for the Supply and Installation of Educational Equipment and Training in BSTEM in Ghana.

The Committee notes with satisfaction that the Project, when completed, would help address the long standing poor performance in Mathematics and Science education at the basic level, create a pipeline of critical thinkers that will lead to the socio-economic development of the country, and also facilitate the achievement of the long standing policy goal of 60:40 sciences to humanities ratio in the tertiary education sector.

Accordingly, the Committee recommends to the House to adopt its Report, and in accordance with article 181(5) of the 1992 Consti- tution of the Republic of Ghana, approve the Contract Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by

the Ministry of Education) and Itec Global of the United Kingdom for an amount of seventy-six million, nine hundred and twenty thousand, five hundred and sixty-two Pounds and fifteen pence (£76,920,562.15) for the Supply and Installation of Educational Equipment and Training in Basic Science, Technology, Engi- neering and Mathematics Education

(BSTEM).

Respectfully submitted.

Mr Speaker

Thank you very much, Hon Member.
Hon Members, who seconds the Motion?

Dr Clement A. Apaak (NDC -- Builsa South)

Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion and in so doing, make a few comments and observa- tions.
Mr Speaker, during the delibera- tions of the Committee, the Commi- ttee was informed that a value-for- money audit had been conducted by Crown Agents. However, we are yet to see that document to verify; the authenticity of the information conveyed to us.

Mr Speaker

Thank you very much.
Question proposed.

Mr Kwame Govers Agbodza (NDC -- Adaklu)

Mr Speaker, I beg to support the Motion for the approval of a contract agreement for the sum of £76 million for the Ministry of Education to carry out some activities.
Mr Speaker, the objectives of the Project are captured at paragraph 5 of the Report and they are all very
good intentions of the Government to improve education, especially, in the technical and science areas.
Mr Speaker, I would limit my comment to an item in the Report which talks about value for money. The Hon Deputy Ranking Member made a comment, which is also in the Report, that the Committee was informed that value-for-money audit was carried out by Crown Agents.
Mr Speaker, sadly, the Committee failed to demand and see a copy of the value-for-money audit report. Just before we got to this point, in an Answer to a Question by one of our Hon Colleagues, it came out that a project that was developed by a State agency -- the Hydro Department of the Ministry of Works and Housing, -- led to a cost overrun of over 61 per cent of the project; meanwhile, we have the best hydrological engineers there. Simply put, it meant that we did not do enough work in preparing the project.
Otherwise, we would have known that the amour rock that was discovered in the bed of that river would have been detected and costed. So, today, the cost of that project has been doubled, simply because we could not put it together.
Mr Speaker, my point is that if the Committee is satisfied that just because somebody said value-for- money audit was done by the Ministry of Finance, which is what the requirement says -- I think that the subject matter Committee should have demanded to see it. This is because value-for-money audit, as far as I am concerned, must be at the heart of what this House carries out.
Mr Speaker, in this Report we are told that the developer gave us a five per cent discount on the original contract sum of £80 million, which is a good thing. However, when we say that value-for-money audit has been done and we reduce it to a report for this House to approve it, one day, let us assume that it turns out that such was not the case, this House would then have been encouraged to approve something hypothetically. I believe this should be a lesson for all of us in Committees, that when agencies come around and give us these assurances, they should just show us copies of value-for-money audits, so that we could be assured.
Mr Speaker, this is a lot of money to be spent on not a single item, but on a series of things. Therefore, I feel that as a House, if we are able to look at these things critically, this would help us to be a guard on the public purse in the way we discharge our duties.

Mr Speaker

Yes, Hon Member, do you rise on a point of order or a correction?

Mr Quaittoo

Mr Speaker, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Mr Speaker, yes, it is indicated that value-for-money audit was done. The Hon Member is not a member of the Committee, but the documents that were presented to the Committee had a Public Procurement Athority (PPA) report, which indicated that the value-for-money audit was done.
Mr Speaker, that is why item numbered 7.0, which is on project cost, says and with your permission I quote:
“The original price of the Project was estimated at £80 million. However, the Ministry of Education obtained a discount of 5 per cent after the Project was renegotiated.”

Mr Speaker

It was done after it was renegotiated?

Mr Quaittoo

Yes, Mr Speaker. It is available in the Report and was attached to the overall Report that was given to us.

Mr Speaker

It was negotiated and renegotiated on the basis of the value -- You did not say so. In future, please be a bit more detailed because the nexus is not established. Further to the value-for-money audit, the following were done but there is no such reference from what I heard you read. If you want, you could read it again. I want to hear it.

Mr Quaittoo

“The original price of the Project was estimated at £80 million. However, the Ministry of Education obtained a discount of five per cent, after the Project was renegotiated”.
However, this renegotiation was done by the Public Procurement Authority (PPA).

Mr Speaker

You are now explaining. Do you get my point? Our record does not state that on its face. I am not doubting it but it must be clear on the face of the parliamentary record, that pursuant to a value-for-
money audit, there was a renego- tiation. This is because the Ministry can renegotiate for so many reasons without a value-for-money audit. I just want that to be very clear because this is a House of record and our records must be clear on its own face and not upon subsequent explanations.

Ms Sarah A. Safo

Mr Speaker, your point is well noted. For purposes of information, I think this issue about “value for money” is always raised on the Floor when such Reports are laid and debate commences. The PPA now has opened a Value-for-Money Audit Unit within PPA. So now, the argument that was formerly made and the people of Ghana wondering why always, external firms do these value- for-money audits for Government -- the prices and the quotations would be reasonable.
Mr Speaker, I believe that with the establishment of the Value for Money Audit Unit within PPA, now, all or most of Government's arrangements of this nature - When they go to seek approval from PPA, they do that value-for-money audit and most of the time, the advice that is given is in line with issues or concerns that the Hon Member has been raising on the Floor all the time.
So, this is just a point of information that there is now a Value-for-Money Audit Unit within the PPA, as well as a Due Diligence Unit and the law per se that establishes the PPA is clothed with that Authority to undertake such value-for-money audits.

Mr Speaker

Hon Member, if I heard you right, you said “in most of these cases”. Are there some cases where it is not done and which are the “most”?

Ms Safo

Mr Speaker, the “some” are usually sometimes when Crown Agents is given the opportunity to do these value-for-money audits. In the past, I know Hon Agbodza was a Consultant and Contractor -- Mostly, you would see value-for-money audits from Crown Agents on these projects. However, what we sought to do was clothe and give the PPA the activation of one of its mandates to also carry out value-for-money audits and advise accordingly.

Mr Iddrisu

Mr Speaker, I ordinarily should have waited for my turn to comment on this but once the Hon Minister for Public Procurement has decided to volunteer information on “value for money”, we need to let her appreciate that it is not all the procurement decisions which are taken at the PPA. There is a Central Tender Board where sometimes, when the numbers go up --

Ms Safo

Mr Speaker, when I started my debate and was offering information, you had earlier made a pronouncement and I was thinking that the Hon Minority Leader, when he walked in, would actually settle in to know where we were coming from and where we were.

Mr Speaker

Hon Member, please, if you have a contribution to make, do so. His coming in is very much in his right. Just make the contribution and let us make progress.

Ms Safo

Mr Speaker, it is in his right but what I am saying is that you had made that point earlier and that was well taken, which is that the Committee on the face of the record should have presented the value-for- money audit --

Mr Speaker

Which he is entitled to reiterate.

Ms Safo

I rose as the Minister to also offer information that this is what is happening. I am not saying that Parliament should not ask for a value- for-money audit to be conducted when such projects are brought for approval. I have never said so.
I want it to go on record that I was proffering information, that gone are the days when only Crown Agents were doing value-for-money audits for Government on such projects. Now, we have given PPA that technical capability to also do same and I truly believe that it ought to have been part of the Report because Committee Members are indicating that there was a letter from PPA and an indication that a value-for-money audit was done.

Mr Speaker

Hon Minister, could you help us? Before that, let me just add to this discussion without prejudice. If I get the original meaning of this well, there is no assumption that

Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh

Mr Speaker, the document submitted to this House for the referral to be made, includes the PPA letter directing us that they have done the value-for- money audit and we should renegotiate the contract and reduce the contract price by five per cent. It is public record and is in this House. It is based on those two Reports that it was referred to the Committee. So, I just want a copy to demonstrate to the House and that is why I was going out of the Chamber so that we would know that all those documentations have been presented to the House and the Committee.

Mr Speaker

Hon Minister, that is the only issue. What the Hon Member read earlier does not indicate that as a result of value-for-money audit, there was a reduction.

Dr Prempeh

Mr Speaker, it is in the documents that were brought to the House.

Mr Speaker

Hon Minister, we are all learning and this does not only

Mr Agbodza

Mr Speaker, I thank the Hon Deputy Majority Leader for her explanation.
Mr Speaker, I agree with you entirely on what the contents of the Report is and the reason this House keeps raising the issue of value for money should not be taken personally by anybody.
Mr Speaker, in the life of the previous Parliament, when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Party was in power, myself and coincidentally, the Hon Minister for Education, out of scrutiny, caused
a developer to reduce the cost of the Ridge Hospital by over US$20 million because we demanded copies and specification of it. So, this is not a position of ‘‘they'' and ‘‘us'' but it is a position of the State that we should do well and save the country some money.
Mr Speaker, just to let the Hon Deputy Majority Leader know that encouraging PPA to carry out value- for-money audit -- in fact, even when Parliament carries out some value- for-money audit, it is good. It is just like having an internal audit unit at any entity. However, that cannot take away the importance of the Audit Service. An internal auditor cannot replace the Audit Service, so it should never be the case that any government should encourage us to use government appointees to scrutinise their own values.
What it would mean is that when the Executive comes up with their value, then they give their documents to their own appointees to determine whether the values are correct. By principle, that is totally wrong.
Mr Speaker, I would want to encourage PPA to carry out some value for money audit but on this particular case it was Crown Agents that carried out the value-for-money audit and so the principle of an
external eye has already conducted that. All I asked for was that, the Committee should have told us that they saw value-for-money audit report.
Mr Speaker, I am happy this debate has been made in a way that would guide all of us. This issue has been in existence for more than 10 years even before I became an Hon Member of Parliament. So, if we could address these issues, the State would benefit.
I have no problem with the principles of this contract because they are all noble ideas but the only issue is that we should ensure to carry out value-for-money audit not just to say that PPA or Parliament did it. All of them could do it but there should be an external eye, independent of the State, who should be able to look at it and determine whether the value- for-money audit is appropriate.
Mr Speaker, these are the few comments I would like to make.

Mr William Agyapong Quaittoo (NPP -- Akim Oda)

Mr Speaker, I am a friend to the Committee and I was present in all of their meetings.
Mr Speaker, I am glad that the Hon Minister for Education has come up with this good innovation. As a science
teacher between 10 and 15 years ago, everything I taught in science was very subjective. If I had to explain the processes of a machine, I used only diagrams. I only saw some of these machines like the mass petrometer, the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and X- ray machines after growing up. I taught the theories of all these machines on the blackboard using diagrams and I never saw one before.
At the primary and Junior High School levels, the pupils are taught abstract science so they find it very difficult to appreciate what is taught. This becomes so subjective that it discourages them from continuing to appreciate the subject and when they get to the senior high school level, we use the grades that they score in the junior high schools. For example, someone scores six-1s and it is thought that he or she could read science, but after one or two years, that person realises that he or she is not meant to do science even though he or she had six-1s.
It is very innovative for the Ministry to think that we have to bring science to the primary and junior high school levels for the pupils to know what science is all about by playing with those science equipment.
Mr Speaker, to have all these machines in all the primary schools in

Mr William Agyapong Quaittoo (NPP -- Akim Oda)

Mr Speaker, with regard to the teacher trainees programme on page 7 of the Report, my problem here is that, often times when such projects are rolled out, we pick trainers or trainees and train them.

If we do not bond them, after getting the training, they become so experienced and then move out of that sector, particularly in this case, the education sector. Remunerations are not very good there as compared to other sectors, so they get the training and before we realise, they would have moved on to another sector where they think that remuneration would be better for them.

Mr Speaker, at the Committee meeting, I posed a question to the Hon Minister if they could do something about these trainers who would be trained by the project. Would they be bonded somehow or their remunera- tion would be increased in a certain way to motivate them to stay and continue with the project?

Maybe, after training them, they would stay for more than 10 or more years for people to benefit from them.

Else, if they get this training, after one, two or three years, they would exhibit what they can do, get the experience and then move on to other sectors or the private sector where somebody would offer them very good remuneration.

Mr Speaker, I would want the Hon Minister and his Ministry to still think about this and see how such trainers would be kept when they are trained.

I thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.

Ms Laadi Ayii Ayamba (NDC - - Pusiga)

I thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity. At the Committee level, discussions about the project that was to be undertaken were led by the Hon Minister himself who explained in details what was going to take place. However, during discussions, we brought up issues that may after some times make the project not flourish well.
Mr Speaker, one of the issues that we realised was that, most of the basic schools do not have science laboratories. The second issue was where to even store those computers. Last but not least, we spoke about the issue of unavailability of lights in most of the schools. We topped it up with the issue of persons who would
be able to teach the subjects as expected.
Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister agreed with us that they had realised that there was a gap when it came to infrastructure to be used as laboratories and for storage of computers and that when he made some ground work, he realised that even then, in 2015-2016, computers that were supplied to schools were stored in the offices of either head teachers and houses of chairpersons of Parents and Teachers Association (PTA). This did not help the system at all.
Mr Speaker, so, the Hon Minister said they were taking it up and that they would ensure that at the end of the day, at least, these schools would have places for the science and that the teachers who would be taking the subjects would be given the opportunity to be trained.
Mr Speaker, indeed, I came up with the issue of the School Teacher Support Programmes (STSP) and the Hon Minister himself acknowledged that this programme was still in existence and he knew how well they could work but as of now, they are there in the district offices. Head teachers and district directors would be given more training in order to ensure that these materials that would

Dr Emmanuel Marfo (NPP -- Oforikrom)

Mr Speaker, I also rise to support the Motion and to commend Government for this strategic intervention to improve the learning of Mathematics and Science at the basic level.
Mr Speaker, I would like to focus particularly on paragraph 9.4 of the Report which deals with children with
special educational needs. I would like to draw attention to how we can use this intervention to assist many of our children who have learning difficulties. Here, I am referring to children who suffer attention deficit, children with autism and the like, because the observation is that, autism, for example, has become the fastest growing disability affecting the development of children on the globe.
It is estimated that, these days, five out of 1000 children may suffer from some form of attention deficit. These children are difficult to teach and so many parents may decide to keep them away from schools. Children with autism do not show any signs like others with Down Syndrome; it becomes very difficult to handle them.
Mr Speaker, I have an experience supporting some parents of children with autism and the difficulty they face is that when they take them to schools, the teachers are not able to provide effective teaching. When they take them to private schools that offer some form of therapy, it is too expensive.
A case I could cite is a girl of about seven years whose parent is a teacher and is required to pay GH¢3,000 a
month for some form of behavioural therapy to deal with the situation. How is this intervention going to cure this kind of situation? There are hundreds of parents who have children with learning difficulties who cannot even afford to hire private persons to help them deal with their condition.
So, even as we think of providing training for teachers and so on, we should also be thinking about these children so that at the end of the day, we will also be aligning this intervention within the broader framework of social inclusion. For example, there are a few equipment like iPads with applications that help children with learning disabilities to be able to cope with their situation.
Mr Speaker, so I urge that by this intervention, we will think about procuring some of these things for such children with learning difficulties.

Mr Speaker

Thank you very much.

Mr Ebenezar O. Terlabi (NDC -- Lower Manya Krobo)

Mr Speaker, thank you. I also rise to support the Motion but just to make a few comments and to advise the Hon Minister based on some experience that we have had with programmes such as this.

Mr Speaker

Yes, Hon Minority Leader?

Minority Leader (Mr Iddrisu)

Mr Speaker, thank you very much. I rise to speak in support of the Motion and I trust that I will get my Hon Colleague's name right.
Mr Speaker, this initiative could not have come after yesterday's State- ment by our lady Hon Colleague who made a Statement on mathematics and science education. I believe that we have to encourage the Hon Minister for Education, that going into the future, Ghana cannot win and be part of the next technological revolution without emphasising science and mathematics education including applied engineering.
He has one of two things to do even at the tertiary level; he must lead reforms of the pedagogy of the universities. They are holding us to accept it or not, which is not an acceptable way to provide the manpower needs of our country. Our universities must change and they must change in respect of their mission.
Mr Speaker, we cannot continue producing social sciences when the world is drifting and employment requirements are not for that. That is why we have a gap. We will produce unemployables and at the lower level, the students are here -- aptitude. We should identify them with aptitude in mathematics and science and
encourage them with teacher training specific to that area.
This morning, I read the Daily Graphic with satisfaction, that the University of Ghana was introducing a certain education-related course with basic level specialism. That word; ‘specialism' caught my attention and I was trying to locate it in my Thesarus and dictionary.
Mr Speaker, so, we support the Hon Minister but the point that the Hon Agbodza made and with your own guidance, the Hon Minister should compute five per cent the next time he sees that. How much savings are we going to get from the 76 million which results in a five per cent? This way, we are definite. When we are given the approval with less than five per cent from whatever amount, we know that Parliament is approving less than five per cent. If we are deducting the five per cent to some additional things that will get the delivery of the project, then it could also be further recommendations of Parliament.
The other issue of “value for money”; it should always be an independent audit activity taken by independent respected institutions dedicated for that purpose. Even though, the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), can, in their specialised function of procurement,
do their own audit, that is supposed to be complementary.
Therefore we should not be yielding, as the Hon Agbodza has advised, but we should be supervising and determining our own values and making savings of others. That is not acceptable if we want to make savings for the public and to ensure real value for money.
Mr Speaker, value for money means we relate numbers; if we say we want to supply 10 to 12 computers, which specification of that computers and at what cost? What will be the cost of the same computer in China or India or as compared to Ghana?
Mr Speaker, so, my worry is the Committee's Report on page 4, paragraph 8 which says, with your permission I quote;
“The project is estimated to take five years to complete commen- cing from the day the contract is signed, this will be implemented in three phases with each phase spanning over a period of 18 months”.
Mr Speaker, 18 times 3 does not give me five years, so when you say 18 years, 18 times 18, you have three years and you have savings of some nine months. So, why are they saying

Mr Speaker

Majority Leadership?
Deputy Majority Leader (Ms Sarah Adwoa Safo)(MP): Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
I rise to support the Motion ably moved by the Hon Chairman of the Committee on Education.
I believe that the project is something that is worth commending. Anything that goes to strengthen education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, should be encouraged.
Mr Speaker, we need to demystify these disciplines to get the needed attention and interest of our children in pursuing those courses.
That is where we have information, technology, innovation and that is where we can encourage creativity and technological advancements in this part of the world.
Mr Speaker, from the Report, we have been told per the observations, the importance of STEAM education in the educational system of our country. We have also been told of the implementation plan; how the Ministry and all stakeholders intend to implement the educational works that would be done for the 10 regional STEAM Centres.
Mr Speaker, I believe the Committee was given all the needed information and the needed audit reports, that is why in the concluding part of the Report, they are all in support of the project for this House to give the needed approval.
Mr Speaker, before I end, I would want to refer to page 6 of the Report which talks about the procurement process. We have been told that on the 30th of November, 2018 and 15th March, 2019, the Central Tender Review Committee, which is under the Ministry of Finance, had to identify and sit on the tender. They identified a service provider to the project.
Mr Speaker, this goes to the same argument that has been made over and over again and to also buttress the point again, that value for money that is done by the PPA is well-placed. That does not prevent any other external audit from being done.
Mr Speaker, on page 7 of the Report, we have been told that Crown Agents also did an audit. The PPA is clothed with powers by this House to be able to carry out these audits. But that is not to say -- I have not said it anywhere -- that Crown Agents cannot do any of those audits. What I said -- and that was why I said some of the audits -- I used my

Mr Speaker

Hon Minister, your concluding observations.

Minister for Education (Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh

Thank
you, Mr Speaker. I thank Hon Members for their wonderful contributions to the debate.
Mr Speaker, the fact is, the public records submitted by the Ministry to this House, which I have a copy and based upon which the referral was made, was very clear in the attached documents — our going to PPA, their contract scrutiny which told us that we had to renegotiate the prices.
Mr Speaker, for the information of the Hon Minority Leader, the contract price as brought by the contractors was £80,766,000.00. When PPA directed us that they have looked at the prices and for value-for-money purposes, it could be negotiated down, it then came to £76,920,562. 00 with savings on the five (5) per cent. So we take value for money seriously.
Mr Speaker, we take value for money seriously. The issue is, when an internal competitive tender is done; companies bid and somebody wins, value-for-money audit is not done again. The “value for money” that we are talking about is in the domain of restricted tenders; where there is a sole country to country like the one that my Hon Friend from Adaklu stated; the Accra Regional Hospital. It was a sort of sole sourcing; they came with the money and the project designs.
There was the need for us to look whether we are not -- Mr Speaker, some of the issues that came up were very germane: The flats that they were building — we all looked at it -- I am a doctor and he is an architect -- we looked at it and we made savings and applied it to the same quadrant.
So, I agree with them that value for money cuts across saving money for enhancing projects. In fact, that was what was done. The document which was supplied was part of the documentation that we brought.
Also, what the Hon Minority Leader said is true; a hammer cannot just be a hammer. But if he looks into the attached contracts, we have given the specification and the pictures of what we will do. We provided what will go into a kindergarten, a primary school and a Junior High School.
I thank Hon Members for their support, the contribution that enhances our ability to police the tenure, we will take into consideration and the House should give us the permission.
I checked the records, it is the first time that a ministry has come on the back of the Public Financial Management (PFM) for rolling contracts and international business transaction.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Minister for Education (Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh ((MP)

Mr Speaker, I beg to move that,
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 181(5) of the Constitu- tion the terms and conditions of any international business or economic transaction to which the Government of Ghana is a party shall not come into opera- tion unless the said terms and conditions have been laid before Parliament and approved by Parliament by a Resolution supported by the votes of a majority of all Members of Parliament;
PURSUANT to the provisions of the said article 181(5) of the Constitution, and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Education, there has been laid before Parliament the terms and conditions of a Contract Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Education) and Itec Global of the United Kingdom for an amount of seventy-six million, nine hundred and twenty thousand, five hundred and sixty-two pounds and fifteen pence (£76,920,562.15) for the Supply and Installation of Education Equipment and Training in Basic Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education (BS-
TEM).

Dr Clement Apaak

Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.

Mr Speaker

The Hon Majority Leader has a Statement to make on the late Hon Clement Tedam, a former Member of Parliament in the First Republic and a former Member of the Council of State of Ghana.

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (NPP -- Suame)

Mr Speaker, I rise to pay this tribute in honour of the late Hon Clement Kubindiwor Tedam, a former Member of Parliament and a former Member of the Council of State.
Mr Speaker, on Friday, 26th April, 2019, Ghanaians heard the sad news of the passing of one of the country's truly eminent Statesmen, Mr Clement Kubindiwor Tedam (Popularly known as C. K. Tedam), who we eulogise today, an illustrious and revered son of the land.
Born in the year, 1925, C.K. Tedam was a pioneer teacher in his district and an astute politician who hailed from Paga in the Upper East Region. His father was the Pagapio Tedam and therefore a royal. He was a devout catholic.
Mr Tedam began his illustrious political journey actively in 1954 when he contested and won an election to Parliament as an independent candidate. He was re-elected in 1956 as a Member of Parliament for the then Kassena-Nankana North Con- stituency in the First Parliament of the First Republic.
Mr Tedam was a founding Member and Chairman of the Council of Elders of the New Patriotic Party. He later became a Member of the Council of State during the admini- stration of Former President, John Agyekum Kufuor.
While in Parliament, he served on the Committees on Health, Education

Mr Speaker

Hon Majority Leader, thank you very much.
Hon Minority Leader.

Mr Haruna Iddrisu (NDC -- Tamale South)

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to associate myself with the Statement ably made by the Hon Majority Leader in memory of an older Statesman of our country who was a teacher and a politician, Elder Clement K. Tedam.
Mr Speaker, the New Patriotic Party has lost a political stalwart and I would want to quote the words of the party in 2014 when they honoured the now late Tedam;
“For your enormous contribu- tion to the growth of the Danquah-Dombo-Bus i a tradition, for your unwavering dedication and all the sacrifices that you have made to see the party and tradition established firmly in the political landscape of Ghana”.
Mr Speaker, the NPP owes it to his tremendous contribution and sacrifice to the party their presence and image in northern Ghana. He was a very humble and honest personality. Mr Speaker, he was among 11 of the

Mr Speaker

Hon Minority Leader, thank you very much.
Hon Members, we could take one contribution from each Side, otherwise let us pay a minute silence as a tribute.

Mr Speaker

May the soul of the late Hon C. K. Tedam rest in perfect peace. Amen.
Hon Majority Leader, what is the way forward?

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr Speaker, I believe that we could take the item numbered 10.

Mr Speaker

Hon Members, the item numbered 10 -- Motion.
In the process the Hon First Deputy Speaker would take the Chair.
Hon Chairman of the Committee.

Mr Speaker

Any seconder?

Mr Joseph Y. Chireh (NDC -- Wa West)

Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly

Mr Speaker

The item numbered 11. Hon Chairman of the Committee.

Dr Clement A. Apaak (NDC -- Builsa South)

Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion, and in doing so, I would make two brief comments.
Mr Speaker, we all agree that the purpose for which this loan was sought was worthy of our support and effort to ensure that we reach the collective fruit as a nation.
Mr Speaker, during the Committee's deliberation, it became apparent that the original number of regions designated for these centres were 10, and we drew the attention of the Hon Minister to the fact that today, Ghana has 16 regions and not
10.
The Hon Minister re-assured us that at the Cabinet meeting where this Agreement was given authentication, the President had made it clear that arrangements would be made to include the six additional regions.
Mr Speaker, much like the comments I made earlier, it is important that we consider the practical challenges that, perhaps, we would have to face in the execution of this policy, and the building and utilisation of the centres.
If one were to use the Upper East Region as an example, particularly the Builsa South Constituency, we have 22 junior high schools, and the assumption is that all of these schools would have access to the centre in the Upper East Region, and they are likely to be located in the regional capital, Bolgatanga. The question then becomes, what would be the frequency or the mode of moving students from a community, like Bachongsa or Yipala, or for that matter Gbedemgblisi to take advantage of the resource centre in Bolgatanga, when in fact many of these schools have no access to their own means of transport?
So while we are at it, I believe it is very important that we look at the holistic aspects of what needs to be done to ensure that those who truly deserve it benefit from this programme.
Mr Speaker, it is a known fact that unlike public schools, many private schools, right from kindergarten to
senior high school, have their own vehicles. I am not a prophet, but it is very likely that the same schools that are actually better off would take full advantage of what we seek to collectively benefit as Ghanaians.
So it is crucially important that we factor in how we would convey students from their schools to the centres, and who would bear the cost. These are matters that are important --

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Member, hold on.

Mr William A. Quaittoo

On a point of order. Mr Speaker, I would like to correct an impression created by the Hon Member. He said that there are now 16 regions, and that when they inquired from the Hon Minister, the Hon Minister said the six new regions should be included. That is a wrong impression.
It says here that, the construction of the schools should be started, and this does not include the six new regions. That is on page 6 of the Report, the item 9.4, the second paragraph:

Dr Apaak

Mr Speaker, I fail to understand the import of his intervention. We have 10 Centres approved. The President acknow- ledges that we now have 16 regions. He has directed that the six regions be included. So granted that he had even said that they should be confined to the six, we still have four left. I truly do not see the import of this intervention.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

He said the Report says they should start with them, not just include them. The emphasis is on “start”.

Dr Apaak

Mr Speaker, very well. Let me continue with my observations.
The other point I wish to make is the nature of the equipment to be installed. Although the Hon Minister allayed my fears, explaining that the
consultants have taken due know- ledge of the nature of our physical and climatic conditions and would design the equipment to survive the weather conditions in this part of the world, I still feel that it is equally important for us to be aware of the level of usage.
Mr Speaker, we would unveil a programme to a population that is not accustomed to the usage of the type of equipment that we are speaking about, not because they do not want to, but the fact is that if we were to go to Builsa South, out of the 22 junior high schools that we have, only about four of them have computers. There are students in JHS 2 today who have never seen a computer with their naked eyes.
This means that the level of usage would be much more intense, which also means that the likelihood of the equipment breaking down would be frequent. I believe it is important that I make this observation known to the House.
Mr Speaker, with these few words, I support the Motion.

Dr Sagre Bambangi (NPP -- Walewale)

Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion.
The teaching and learning of Mathematics and Science is very crucial to our development, as other Hon Members have already underscored. The few observations I would like to make are that one; there seems to be a large variance between the take-off, the piloting, and the scaling up of our projects.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

I did not know you were that young.

Dr Bambangi

I am a product of the experimental junior secondary school, and I have some of my colleagues here in Parliament; Hon William Agyapong Quaittoo is also one of those products. [Laughter.]
The experimental junior secondary schools were run in the 1970s. The junior secondary schools were well equipped, and the teaching and learning was very meticulous. However, when it came to scaling up,
it was entirely different. We had junior secondary schools that did not have any equipment, yet they became junior secondary schools.
Mr Speaker, the actual purpose of these junior secondary schools was defeated. This is because we said that we wanted to de-emphasise the humanities and, at least, balance it more with science and technology. So, at the end of the day, most of the junior secondary school products who came to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast, had to concentrate more on the humanities because the foundation from the junior secondary school level was not well built.
Mr Speaker, the other issue has to do with supervision because teachers would be trained at these centres to also impart knowledge to other teachers, so that teaching and learning would be more friendly with regard to Mathematics and Science. What we lack in our public educa-tional system now is serious supervision. We have all the quality teachers, and we pay them better than some of the private schools; but at the end of the day because our supervision is very weak, we do not produce very good learning outcomes.

Dr Bambangi

Mr Speaker, therefore, for us to maintain the momentum, I would want the House and all stakeholders of education to take note of this. This is because as soon as this Project is rolled out, after five years, if we are not careful, then we cannot revert to what we used to be, and that would not augur well for the educational system of this country.

Mr Speaker, I therefore support this Motion. I believe that we have had similar projects in the past, but because we had not kept our eyes on the ball, we had always rolled back to square one.

Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for this opportunity to contribute.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Yes, Hon Member for Wa Central?

Dr (Alhaji) Abdul-Rashid H. Pelpuo (NDC -- Wa Central)

Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, I also rise to contribute to the Report on the Contract Agree- ment between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and Robo Group T.E. K. Limited of Israel, for an amount of GH¢88,795,645.00
Mr Speaker, this Loan Agreement is in order, so far as what we are to

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Yes, Hon Member for Bantama?

Mr Daniel O. Aboagye (NPP - - Bantama)

Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Motion advertised on page five of the Order Paper.
Mr Speaker, it is important that we commend the Government for this initiative to invest an amount of about GH¢88 million to educate our children using the STEAM approach.
Mr Speaker, if we look at the observations on page 4 of the Committee's Report, it says that STEAM uses an approach that tries to find solutions to real life problems. Finding solutions to life problems, I believe, is what has come to be known as business or entrepreneurship. So if we are able to embark on creating more of these Centres, beginning with the six new regions, then I believe that this approach of teaching mathematics and science, for that matter, would go a long way to enhance the learning outcomes in our institutions.
Mr Speaker, we have about three or four senior high schools in Bantama, with the Islamic Senior High School being the one with the biggest population in Ghana. I am told that
they do not even have a good computer laboratory in that school.
Mr Speaker, if we happen to get the opportunity to establish one in the Bantama Constituency for the Ashanti Region, I believe people visiting today would be very happy to see one because we know that when we talk of Kumasi, and for that matter Ashanti Region, we happen to be the heart of the Region.
Mr Speaker, I believe and I would like to draw all attention to this — the purpose of this GH¢88,795,645.00 is well spelt out in the Report. I would like our Hon Friends on the other Side not to come out one day to say that investment in developing our human resources — our future leaders, our doctors, lawyers, and future Parlia- mentarians — would be considered as consumption; it is not. This is because, I know, if we remember, in one of these recent press conferences by our Hon Friends on the other Side, my own Hon Friend, Hon Ato Forson, said investment in free senior high schools is considered “chop, chop”. It is never “chop chop”. We are not in “chop chop” because
—
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim — rose —

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Member, hold on.
Yes, Hon Deputy Minority Whip?

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Speaker, there is a Report before us. The Hon Member's Hon Friends on this Side, whom he referred to -- everybody who spoke supports this Motion. So, I have a challenge with the way he is taking the debate; if that is where he wants to take the debate, I think you need to direct him.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Leader, what specifically is your objection? I am not sure of what objection you raised.
Hon Member for Bantama, they say you are taking the debate in a certain direction.

Mr D. O. Aboagye

Mr Speaker, thank you for your guidance and I take a cue. My intention is not to take the debate in any direction.
I commend them for their support. I just would like to draw their attention to the fact that this would be borrowing to finance education. Under no circumstance should anybody, for that matter, consider this to be consumption and therefore “chop chop” because it is not “chop chop”.
I believe that if we were able to educate people — because I remember in those days when we were in the University of Ghana as business students, for three to four years in the University of Ghana Business School, I saw a computer only once. So, what the Government is doing today would support education in such a way that, I believe, would ultimately benefit Ghana, so that together we all build a country beyond aid.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Yes, Hon Member for Adaklu?

Mr Kwame Govers Agbodza (NDC — Adaklu)

Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to support the Motion as moved by the Hon Chairman.
Mr Speaker, just to draw the attention of the Hon Chairman that the numbering of his pages appeara to be problematic. When we move from paragraph 8.2, we move to para- graph 9.3 immediately. Are there items between 8.2 and 9.3 that we needed to know? If no, when I am done, he could tell us because we would like to be sure that we are

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Leadership, do you think we should curtail the debate at this point? I am seeking your guidance. Nothing new is being said; the same things are repeated. [Pause.]
Yes, Hon Majority Leader?

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr Speaker, I thought that given the importance of education, you would allow one more from either Side and the conclusion would be done by the Leaders. I noticed that there is no interest shown from the other Side and that being the case, Mr Speaker, you would come to the other Side.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

It was actually the turn of the Minority Side. Anyway, if you are an Hon Member of the Education Committee, please sit down. You said all you have to say at the Committee meeting. I would let other people for whom the Report is new to talk. So, Hon Members of the Education Committee, please sit down.
So, I have three people to choose from. Very well; Hon Codjoe, you are a young man, I would give you the opportunity.

Mr Francis K. A. Codjoe (NPP — Ekumfi)

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to contribute to the Motion by reading the item numbered (iv) under paragraph 7.0 with your kind permission:
“Ensure that cognitive and motor skills of students are developed as they work through activities that stimulate creativity, curiosity and problem-solving abilities.”
Mr Speaker, I think that, as a country, this is actually the bane of our educational and developmental efforts. Over the years, we have encouraged people to advance in education and go to the universities; but, Mr Speaker, if we look at the ratio of people who take up science, technical and mathematics education at the university level compared to those who take the humanities, social sciences and business courses, we would see that it is a very low number.
That is why we salute an effort by this country to try to release the creative force that is within the Ghanaian and the ability to quickly solve problems. We, therefore, commend the Hon Minister for Education and his outfit for bringing up this very noble initiative.
Countries that have developed — if we take China that is leading the world today, Japan and those advanced countries, science and technology are the things that they taught their children to do at a very early stage; while we are here busily

Mr First Deputy Speaker

I studied archaeology at the university and there is nothing wrong with it.

Mr F. K. A. Codjoe

We do not have a lot of archaeological deposits in Ghana. In other environ- ments, that would be very good; but in Ghana, we do not have a lot of archaeological sites.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Member, are you from Techiman?

Mr F. K. A. Codjoe

I am from Ekumfi.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Ask the Techiman group where the first iron industry in the world is from. It is from Kintampo, and it was found by archaeologists. The site is known, but it is just that we do not use the information we have.

Mr F. K. A. Codjoe

Mr Speaker, the argument is not that these courses are not good. If we go to the University of Ghana, how many students in a year would go to those
departments as compared to those who would go to the science and technical departments. There is so much disproportion in terms of the people we produce into the society.
So, today, if at the basic level there is a programme to support our people in this manner, as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ekumfi, I would support the giving of any amount that the Ministry requires to develop and bring out the creative skills of our people.
Ghana deserves better and we need to invest in our children. In my constituency, I have a programme by which we are trying to computerise all the schools. So, if we believe that this is good for my community, then it is good for every Ghanaian. I am, therefore, happy to support this Motion.

Mr Bernard Ahiafor (NDC -- Akatsi South)

Mr Speaker, this is a House of record, and we need to place on record that nobody from any Side of the House has indicated that there is anything “chop chop” relating to this loan agreement. We need to place that clearly on record that nobody from either Side of the House ever referred to the contract agreement as having anything to do with “chop chop”.
The value-for-money audit has been mentioned and in the same breath, they may think that the Committee has not done its work thoroughly. I want to place on record that, at the Committee level, we required to know whether the value- for-money audit had been done, and we were made aware that it had been carried out by Crown Agents.
Mr Speaker, the Committee, therefore, reported to this House what transpired at the Committee level. It is the responsibility of this House to insist that if they do not see the value-for-money audit report from Crown Agents as indicated, they would not approve of it or otherwise. This does not mean that the Committee has failed to do its work. I need to place that on record.
Science and mathematics are very key in our country's educational system because in today's modern times, science and mathematics drive educational systems all over the world. So, this contract agreement is laudable.
With these few words, I support the Motion and urge the House to adopt the Report of the Committee.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Minority Leadership?

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim (NDC -- Banda)

Mr Speaker, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to make a few comments in support of the Motion on the Floor.
I do so because it gives a sense of direction to the educational landscape of this country, since the issue of unemployment, as the bane of this country, is as a result of the structure of our educational system.
Anything that would give direction for our children to study science and do so well must be supported in this House. I am happy that the centres would be established in the regional capitals, but not in any specific educational institution where it would be difficult for other schools to have access.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Yes, Hon Member for Adaklu? Are you challenging your Leader?

Mr Agbodza

Mr Speaker, yes. My Leader just made a very big allegation that everybody who attended Mfantsipim and Achimota Secondary Schools is doing well in the country. I know people who attended Adaklu Secondary School who are doing well, and I know people who attended Achimota School who are not doing well. So, I do not know where his assumption comes from. In fact, Abor Secondary School alumni are doing very well. I do not believe everybody who attended Mfantsipim or Achimota School is doing well. That is a statement that cannot be substantiated at all.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Leader, that is a fallacy.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Speaker, I include Adaklu Senior High School because this morning, I even watched them as one of the less- endowed schools in the National Science and Maths Quiz.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

It is not a fact that everybody who went to Achimota or Mfantsipim School is doing well; no.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Thank you, Mr Speaker.
I would use the word “most”. I chose Mfantsipim and Achimota Schools carefully because Mfantsipim was the first secondary school in the country and Achimota school was the first Government secondary school in the country; that is why I chose these two schools. I also consciously chose them because Mfantsipim School was established in 1876, and Achimota School was established in 1924 as the first Government secondary school.
We travelled from the University of Ghana to Achimota School to inspect their science laboratories even though I was not a science student. This was because of the infrastructure. So, if we are talking about demystifying science education, we cannot do so without providing these science infrastructure that would enable students to have access to practise what they learn.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Member, please hold on.
Yes, Hon Member for Effutu?

Mr Afenyo-Markin

Mr Speaker, my respected Hon Colleague must clarify the issue of Achimota School
being the first Government school and Mfantsipim School being the first school because there are students here. He should give accurate facts.
There are Hon Colleagues who want to learn from him, so he should tell us exactly what he wants to put across. I so rest my case.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

So, what was it, a point of order?

Mr Afenyo-Markin

Mr Speaker, the point of order is to the effect that he told us that Achimota School was the first Government school and Mfantsipim was the first school. First school as in what? I know of St Augustine's College though it may not be the first. He would have to clarify.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Member, we thank you for letting us know you went to one of the well- endowed schools.

Mr Afenyo-Markin

Mr Speaker, even Prempeh College was not mentioned. Why? -- [Laughter.] Prempeh College and Osei Tutu Senior Secondary School and others were there, so he should clarify it.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon First Deputy Minority Whip, please, continue.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Speaker, in principle we must all support the Motion.
I listened to Hon Colleagues when they said that the purpose of the introduction of the SHS was de- feated. It was not totally defeated but the kind of education that the JHS replaced -- the JHS, apart from not being able to establish the workshops, has helped in a way to demystify the needs surrounding the study in the sciences. In the early stages, the pupils of JHS level did better and passed the sciences to our surprise and when they got to the SHS -- and it is not surprising that someone could even complete the SHS in the sciences today and get either eight or nine ‘As'.
Mr Speaker, when the STEAM is introduced, it would help our children to have more interest in the sciences. It is in that regard that I would want to support it. It should not only be this one but we should have other pac- kages to support the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation scholarship which is given to the students in the science and mathematics. If we go in that direction, the children would complete JHS, SHS and even the universities will be

Mr Moses Anim (NPP -- Trobu)

Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this Motion.
Mr Speaker, with your permission, I beg to quote article 38(3) of the Constitution which says:
“The State shall, subject to the availability of resources, provide --
(a) equal and balanced access to secondary and other appropriate pre-university education, equal access to university or equivalent education, with emphasis on science and technology;''
Mr Speaker, therefore, this effort which is being made by the Govern- ment is in line with the Directive Principle of State Policy and we all need to support it.
Mr Speaker, it is as a result of this that in the Ministry of Education, in terms of ratio, science and humanity ratio at the tertiary institution is supposed to be 60 per cent to 40 per cent enrolment, but we have not been able to achieve that target. As I speak now, even at the technical universities, it is rather 39 per cent science and technical-oriented subjects. This is all because at the basic level, the affection for mathematics and science and technology is non-existent.
It has dwindled to a point where students cannot get that level of affection for science and mathematics to climb to the SHS and this also reflects at the tertiary institution. Parents, as we are included, were told some time ago that it was the banking, finance, economics, business and administration oriented subjects that paid and could give jobs and so as a result, we decided to guide our own children in that direction.
Today, every Hon Member of Parliament (MP) seems to be a source of employment because in the file of every MP, one would see a lot of applications from the youth who seek employment and most of them are those who studied humanities with less of those who studied science, mathematics and technical subjects. Meanwhile, we all know that we cannot develop without science and
technology. So, this is a very key area to create affection for our children to climb up to.
Mr Speaker, mathematics is a powerful tool because it is even needed in the day-to-day activity of every individual. Measurement is a powerful tool for everybody. These days when a person consults a mason for quantities on cement or blocks, it is either the mason under calculates or over calculates. This is all about measurement.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

The figure they would give for one square meter would be different from when you measure yourself -- which could be a quarter of what they give.

Mr Anim

Mr Speaker, we need to encourage the science-oriented subjects. Even in our homes, for our wives to be able to balance the soups and stews that they prepare, they need calculation in terms of the use of onions, tomatoes and salt. If they miscalculate, they might lose their marriages -- [Laughter.] Gone were the days when our fathers married three or four women and gave them days that they would spend with them. A husband could spend more days with one particular wife because her food could be tasty which may depend on the mathematical

Mr Speaker, science and ma- thematics are powerful tools.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

My wife really cooks well. Her mathe- matics is very good. [Laughter.]

Mr Anim

Mr Speaker, we are trying to create that affection, and this programme of creating the STEAM Centres that would bring technology to improve on that affection would do well for our children.

Mr Speaker, for example, para- graph 7(ii) under aims and the objectives says

“Expose school children to modern interactive learning environments''.
Mr Speaker, the environment under which science operates is skewed to how it becomes so good and attractive for one to stay in. Some of the laboratories, today, do not attract our children. These Centres would help our children to learn science and mathematics.
Mr Speaker, we also planted local content laws. Why did we plant all local content laws, today that our oil funds are booming, today that we are

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Minister, do you wish to conclude?

Dr Prempeh

Mr Speaker, I thank you and Hon Members for their contributions and their various pieces of advice. We would consider them during the contract implementation stage.
I thank you, once again, for believing in Ghana's education.
Question put and Motion agreed to.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

The item numbered 12; Resolution by the Hon Minister for Education.

Minister for Education (Dr Matthew O. Prempeh)

Mr Speaker, I beg to move that,
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 181(5) of the Consti- tution the terms and conditions of any international business or economic transaction to which the Government of Ghana is a party shall not come into operation unless the said terms and conditions have been laid before Parliament and approved by Parliament by a Resolution supported by the votes of a majority of all Members of Parliament;
PURSUANT to the provisions of the said article 181(5) of the Constitution, and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Education, there has been laid before Parliament the terms and conditions of a Contract Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Education) and ROBOGROUP T.E.K. Limited of Israel for an amount of eighty- eight million, seven hundred and ninety-five thousand, six hundred and forty-five Ghana cedis (GH¢88,795,645.00) for the Construction, Supply and Installation of Educational Equipment and Training to ten (10) Regional Science, Tech-
nology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Cen- tres.

Mr Stevens Siaka

Mr Speaker, I beg to support the Motion.
Question put and Motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.

Mr First Deputy Speaker

Hon Majority Leader, the item numbered 13 is Committee meetings.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Mr Speaker, I think we have come to the end of the Business listed on the Agenda for today. What is outstanding, really, is the work that must still be done on the Vigilantism and Related Offences Bill, 2019. As of yesterday, we had about 64 proposed amendments. Since, we are at the Winnowing Committee level, I would entreat Hon Members who still have amendments to submit them to us so that we attempt the reconcilia- tion that is necessary for the consideration of the Bill.
Mr Speaker, I believe we could begin the consideration sometime next week, so I would plead with Hon Members who have proposals to further enrich the Bill to submit them as soon as practicable. That is the announcement to give.
Mr Speaker, we had proposed to have a Joint Caucus meeting today. Unfortunately, given the packed activities that we have for the day, it is not possible to have the meeting
today. We would have that meeting which is very important to all of us either on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
Mr Speaker, having said so, may I move, that this House stands adjourned till tomorrow, Friday, 21st of June, 2019 at 10.00 a.m.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion for adjournment. Since, the Hon Majority Leader says the Joint Caucus meeting which was highly expected to take place today has been shifted to Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, I think leadership would take that oppor- tunity to finish some of the unfinished Businesses before the meeting.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.
Question put and Motion agreed to.

Debates of 20 Jun 2019

PRAYERS 10:19 a.m.

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:19 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:19 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:19 a.m.

Mr Ablakwa 10:19 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:19 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:19 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:19 a.m.

Mr Kwame Govers Agbodza 10:19 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:19 a.m.

ORAL ANSWERS TO 10:19 a.m.

QUESTIONS 10:19 a.m.

MINISTRY OF SANITATION 10:19 a.m.

AND WATER RESOURCES 10:19 a.m.

Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources (Ms Cecilia A. Dapaah) 10:29 a.m.

Mr Abdul-Aziz 10:29 a.m.

Ms Dapaah 10:29 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:29 a.m.

Mr Kennedy K. Kankam 10:29 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:29 a.m.

Mr Kankam 10:29 a.m.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 10:29 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:29 a.m.

Mr Matthew Nyindam 10:29 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:29 a.m.

Mr A. Ibrahim 10:29 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:29 a.m.

MINISTRY FOR WORKS AND 10:29 a.m.

HOUSING 10:29 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:39 a.m.

Mrs Morrison 10:39 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:39 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:39 a.m.

Mr Matthew Nyindam 10:39 a.m.

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim 10:49 a.m.

Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh 10:49 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:49 a.m.

Mr Chireh 10:49 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:49 a.m.

Mr Nyindam 10:49 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:49 a.m.

Mr Nyindam 10:49 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:49 a.m.

Mr Nyindam 10:49 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:49 a.m.

Mr Nyindam 10:49 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:49 a.m.

Mr Nyindam 10:49 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:49 a.m.

MOTIONS 10:49 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka) 10:49 a.m.

Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh 10:49 a.m.

MOTIONS 10:49 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka) 10:49 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka) 10:49 a.m.

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka) 10:49 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:59 a.m.

Dr Clement A. Apaak (NDC -- Builsa South) 10:59 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:59 a.m.

Mr Kwame Govers Agbodza (NDC -- Adaklu) 10:59 a.m.

Mr Speaker 10:59 a.m.

Mr Quaittoo 10:59 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.

Mr Quaittoo 11:09 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.

Mr Quaittoo 11:09 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.

Ms Sarah A. Safo 11:09 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.

Ms Safo 11:09 a.m.

Mr Iddrisu 11:09 a.m.

Ms Safo 11:09 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.

Ms Safo 11:09 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.

Ms Safo 11:09 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:09 a.m.

Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh 11:09 a.m.

Mr Speaker 11:19 a.m.

PRAYERS

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

Mr Ablakwa

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

Mr Kwame Govers Agbodza

Mr Speaker

ORAL ANSWERS TO

QUESTIONS

MINISTRY OF SANITATION

AND WATER RESOURCES

Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources (Ms Cecilia A. Dapaah)

Mr Abdul-Aziz

Ms Dapaah

Mr Speaker

Mr Kennedy K. Kankam

Mr Speaker

Mr Kankam

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Speaker

Mr Matthew Nyindam

Mr Speaker

Mr A. Ibrahim

Mr Speaker

MINISTRY FOR WORKS AND

HOUSING

Mr Speaker

Mrs Morrison

Mr Speaker

Mr Speaker

Mr Matthew Nyindam

Mr Ahmed Ibrahim

Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh

Mr Speaker

Mr Chireh

Mr Speaker

Mr Nyindam

Mr Speaker

Mr Nyindam

Mr Speaker

Mr Nyindam

Mr Speaker

Mr Nyindam

Mr Speaker

Mr Nyindam

Mr Speaker

MOTIONS

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka)

Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh

MOTIONS

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka)

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka)

Chairman of the Committee (Mr Steven Siaka)

Mr Speaker

Dr Clement A. Apaak (NDC -- Builsa South)

Mr Speaker

Mr Kwame Govers Agbodza (NDC -- Adaklu)

Mr Speaker

Mr Quaittoo

Mr Speaker

Mr Quaittoo

Mr Speaker

Mr Quaittoo

Mr Speaker

Ms Sarah A. Safo

Mr Speaker

Ms Safo

Mr Iddrisu

Ms Safo

Mr Speaker

Ms Safo

Mr Speaker

Ms Safo

Mr Speaker

Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh

Mr Speaker

Dr Prempeh