Former Minister for Education and the Member of Parliament for the Bosomtwe Constituency, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, says former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo personally asked him to return to Ghana to help transform the country’s education system.
According to Dr. Adutwum, the request came during interactions with Akufo-Addo while he was living and working in the United States.
Speaking in an interview on The Delay Show aired on January 23, Dr. Adutwum said he was actively involved in New Patriotic Party (NPP) activities in the United States and served as Vice Chairman of the party’s California chapter.
He recalled that former President John Agyekum Kufuor had visited them in the United States during his political campaign to consult and mobilise support, adding that Nana Akufo-Addo later made similar visits during his campaign as well.
Dr. Adutwum explained that when Akufo-Addo visited, the meetings were held at his school in California and were attended by senior party members, including Alan Kyerematen and Yaw Osafo-Maafo.
He said Akufo-Addo was impressed by what he had achieved abroad and asked him to explain how he built his education model.
“He then asked, would you consider coming back to Ghana to help me change the education system? He asked me to think about it,” Dr. Adutwum said.
He added that he asked Akufo-Addo about his plans for the education sector.
“He said he was bringing free senior high school, and Americans are the ones that introduced free senior high, so I should bring what I have learnt back to help,” he stated.
Dr. Adutwum said the proposal resonated deeply with him, recalling his own struggles in his childhood days, when he had to sell a pig to fund his secondary school education.
“So if someone has said he would make all children go to school, including those who don’t have just like myself in the past, why would I not go and help?” he said.
Dr. Adutwum lived and worked in the United States for about 26 years. Before establishing his own schools, he worked as a classroom teacher in Los Angeles. In 2004, he founded New Designs Charter Schools.
Upon his return to Ghana, he was appointed Deputy Minister for Education in 2017 and later became Minister for Education, while also serving as Member of Parliament for the Bosomtwe Constituency.
