Africa Education Watch, an education-focused think tank, is urging district assemblies to adopt innovative strategies to secure funding for educational infrastructure projects within their jurisdictions.
The think tank believes that the government’s capping of earmarked funds supporting educational infrastructure will not end soon, and that a concerted effort is needed to explore other innovative solutions.
This call to action is based on a research study conducted by the think tank, which highlighted significant deficiencies in basic school infrastructure in certain municipalities.
Kofi Asare, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, suggests that implementing these changes will help improve the quality of education for underprivileged individuals in these assemblies.
“We have gotten to a point in our national life where the Ghana Education Trust Fund and other national-level funds that usually supported the development of basic education infrastructure have either been capped or have declined in terms of their strength,” he said. “That is why it is very important for local government stakeholders, education stakeholders, and the entire citizenry to have a conversation about innovative ways of supporting district assemblies to live up to the mandate of providing basic schools so that the poor, urban, or rural will be able to access basic education.”
“Let’s not forget that according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), 1.4 million children are not in school in Ghana, out of which 1 million have never set foot in school. The only way we can ensure that the 1.4 million aged between 4 and 17 have an opportunity to enjoy an education is for district assemblies to expand their capacities to build more schools so that the poor and vulnerable who are unable to pay for private education will be able to access public basic education.”
