The Ghana National Education Coalition Campaign (GNECC) has called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, address the current challenges facing the education system.
According to the Coalition, government must redirect some of its resources meant for senior high schools such as the intended distribution of free tablets to students at the SHS level to strengthen basic education. It revealed that the strengthening of basic education would provide senior high schools with students who have quality learning outcomes from that level.
The Coalition further charged the government to engage all key stakeholders to review the SHS policy implementation.
“Some schoolchildren sit on the bare floor to learn due to the absence or inadequacy of school furniture. GNECC is calling on the government to redirect some of the resources to the senior high schools such as the intended distribution of free tablets to students at the SHS level to strengthen basic education.”
Ghana National Education Coalition Campaign
Highlighting on the need for resource provisions, GNECC stated that basic education experienced about 40 per cent decline in budget allocation in 2023 as compared to 2022. It indicated that the majority of public schools in Ghana still do not have access to textbooks to support teaching and learning in the classroom.
“According to an independent civil society organization audit conducted by GNECC on school infrastructure in 2021, about 80 per cent of basic schools’ infrastructure is in a very poor state, while most classrooms are overcrowded.”
Ghana National Education Coalition Campaign
Budgetary allocation to education sector
Additionally, GNECC called on President Akufo-Addo to honor his commitment during the Transforming Education Summit in the UN, where he noted that 23 per cent of the National Budget would be allocated to education and coalition.
The Coalition emphasized that government’s 12.9 per cent budgetary allocation to the education sector in the 2023 national budget although indicates an increase as compared to last year’s allocation, still falls below the target Ghana has set for itself in 2021 during the Global Education Summit held in the United Kingdom where the President pledged to spend at least 23 per cent of the national budget on education over the medium term from 2021 to 2025.
To this end, GNECC called on the government and other key stakeholders to prioritize the provision of adequate resources for basic schools and inclusive education.
Commenting on inclusivity in education, GNECC revealed that the 0.02 per cent of the 29.7 per cent of the 2023 education budget allocated for the implementation of inclusive education in 2023 was inadequate for the effective implementation of the inclusive education policy. It explained that government must invest more to attain the desired result.
“To promote the effective implementation of the inclusive education policy, GNECC is calling on the government to redeem its pledge at the 2018 Disability Summit in the UK to allocate 1.5 per cent of the education budget for the effective implementation of the inclusive education policy.”
Ghana National Education Coalition Campaign
Meanwhile, ActionAid Ghana has called on the Ministry of Finance and Education to address the “unacceptably low” budgetary allocation to the education sector. It indicated that in 2012, Ghana recorded the highest total education expenditure allocation, with 27 per cent of total government expenditure being allocated to education.
In that year, ActionAid Ghana stated that basic education received a 47.5 per cent share of the budgetary allocation for education, with a significant amount dedicated to financing the construction of basic schools.
However, it noted that education expenditure allocations have remained below 24 per cent and the continuing challenge with financing public education in Ghana has largely been created by competitive budgetary demands from various sectors of the economy vis-a-vis the state’s subletting of its responsibility of education financing to private sector providers.
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