Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has expressed his disappointment in government’s school feeding programme.
According to him, the government has failed to prioritize the needs of children at the basic level. He stated that the basic education sector is falling apart due to some bad decisions government has taken.
Mr Ablakwa revealed that as it stands, capitation is in arrears and has not been increased for a long time.
“As we speak, school feeding is in crisis. The women are demanding an increase from the GHC1 to GHC3.50p, government says they can do only GHC1.20p. So, we have a situation now where a lot of parents are cautioning their children to stay away from the food. We have seen the kind of food being served, we will not accept even our pets at home to be fed that kind of food. So, I’m really disgusted about what is happening with school feeding.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Mr Ablakwa lamented that over the years there has been the dwindling budgetary allocation and financial support to the education sector. He noted that there is a total lack of prioritisation of basic education, which when not addressed, the implications could be dire.
“All the experts agree that if you have a wobbly foundation, there’ really no guarantee that you can make amends at the secondary level because they may not even qualify to get to the secondary level and tertiary level for that matter… We are also now discussing, merely, allocation, they are not releases and we know that in this country, there is such a gap between what is allocated and what is released…”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Challenges within Ghana’s education sector
Elaborating the challenges within the education sector, Mr Ablakwa expressed that the lack of investment in the sector for which the Ghana Education Trust Fund which is a product of student activism, to play a complementary role has taken a nosedive.
He revealed that he is very “saddened and appalled” that over the years, GETFund has rather become the mainstay.
“GETFund was just to complement the budgetary allocation, but unfortunately over the years, that is not what we see. We see that the pressure has been placed on GETFund. We now have a situation where the GETFund too has been encumbered in a number of ways… Look at the scenario for 2023 where GETFund is entitled to GHC4.6 billion but because of capping and realignment, they are due only GHC2.1 billion. Even this GHC2.1 billion, because of the Daakye bonds and the financial restructuring that is going on, due to the mismanagement of the economy, they have had to suffer a haircut.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
The North Tongu underscored that due to the challenges with the Fund, the GETFund formula has delayed so much this year. He stated that this is the first time that the GETFund formula has been approved in the month of June.
“GETFund has virtually collapsed because if you look at the numbers, virtually everything has gone to this capping and the Daakye bonds which was done under very opaque circumstances… If the finance minister does not fulfil his promise to the House of adding GHC300 million to this formula, these allocation will be thrown out of gear. So, we are really in crisis and this is as a result of many years of not prioritizing the sector.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
To resolve the challenge, Mr Ablakwa underscored the need for government to actively engage and prioritize the education sector. He indicated that it is important for the country to secure the future of children and ensure the next generation receives quality they deserve.
“So, anything we must do to ensure that education remains a right, that our children have access to quality education, that they are given a fair chance in life to succeed and to compete globally with their peers across the world that must engage our attention and we must channel all our focus and resources into that endeavour.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Furthermore, Mr Ablakwa commended civil society organisations who have taken keen interest in the dire conditions of basic education and have presented a petition to the President to act. To this, he noted that people are already beginning to see some positive fallouts from the action that they took.
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