Yaw Osei Adutwum

Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum (born 9 April 1964) is a Ghanaian politician and member of the Seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, representing the Bosomtwe Constituency in the Ashanti Region on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party. He is noted for his unannounced teaching visits to schools, although he is not in active teaching service. On 5 March 2021, Adutwum was appointed by President Nana Akufo-Addo as the Minister of Education in Ghana.

Early life and education
Yaw Osei Adutwum hails from Jachie in the Ashanti region of Ghana. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Land Economy (Business Administration with a major in Real Estate) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology prior to migrating to the United States and as well as holds a master's degree in Education Management from the University of La Verne and a PhD in Educational Policy, Planning and Administration from the University of Southern California. He had his secondary education at Kumasi High School in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, where he received his Advanced level education certificate.

Career
In September 2004, he founded the New Designs Charter Schools in California, USA.

Prior to that, he worked as a Mathematics and Information Technology teacher at the Manual Arts High School for ten years, and within this period, he founded the International Studies Academy, which served as a small learning community for students. He also served as the lead math teacher in the USC/Manual Arts Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI). He was also part of the task force established by the National Research Council for Career and Technical Education to develop a national model for career and technical education at the high school and College levels.

On 9 September 2021, Adutwum was appointed as a member of the Advisory Board of the Capacity Building Center (CBC) in the School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Initiative
On 2022, he granted scholarships to 61 engineering and medical students from his constituency for the 2022 academic year. With this initiative, the total number of students receiving the MP's scholarship for engineering and medicine reaches 91, inching closer to his goal of supporting 100 students within a 10-year timeframe.

Politics
Adutwum is a member of the New Patriotic Party, representing the Bosomtwe constituency in the Ashanti Region of Ghana in the Seventh and Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.

2016 election
He contested the Bosomtwe Constituency in the Ashanti region of Ghana on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party during the 2016 Ghanaian general election, He obtained 46,238 votes out of the total 54,144 votes cast representing 85.82%, while his closest contender, the then District Chief Executive (DCE) of the Bosomtwe District, Veronica Antwi-Adjei of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), had 7,215 votes, representing 13.39%.

2020 election
Adutwum was re-elected as a member of parliament for Bosomtwe constituency on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party during the 2020 Ghanaian general election with 57,939 votes out of 68,327 total valid votes, representing 84.80%, over Priscilla Mercy Nketia of the National Democratic Congress who had 10, 388 votes representing 15.2% of the total valid votes.

He was appointed as deputy Education Minister in March 2017 by president of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo. In 2020, he was subsequently appointed to serve in Akufo-Addo's second term as the substantive minister of education.

Committees
Adutwum is part of the Works and Housing Committee and also the Poverty Reduction Strategy Committee in the 7th Parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana.

In March 2017, Adutwum was appointed by President Akufo-Addo to serve as Deputy Minister for education. Adutwum served as the Deputy Minister for Education in charge of Pre-tertiary Education. In 2019, he was voted the Best Performing Deputy Minister of the Year by two research bodies: the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) and FAKS Investigative Services.

Minister for Education
After President Akufo-Addo's re-election, on 21 January 2021, he promoted Adutwum to the position of Minister for Education after serving as the Deputy Minister of Education for 4 years.

STEM schools
Under the leadership of Dr. Adutwum, he set out a plan to construct 35 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Senior High Schools (SHSs) and 5 STEM universities throughout the country. As a significant step towards this vision, 10 of these STEM SHSs were initiated in 2022. This initiative promotes STEM education and provides students with specialized learning opportunities to excel in these critical fields.

Personal life
Adutwum is married with a child. He is a Christian and worships at the Pentecost Church.