Education think tank Africa Education Watch has urged the government to expedite the finalization of the Education in Emergency (EIE) Plan for Ghana to prevent educational disruptions in times of disasters such as the spillage of the Akosombo Dam.
The call follows the disruption of academic activities in some constituencies in the Volta, Eastern, and Greater Accra Regions following the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong Dams.
The plan, championed by civil society organizations within the education sector, provides the necessary values, guidelines, and processes to assist the government in the likely event of a disaster as witnessed in the affected areas.
In an interview with Citi News, the Executive Director for EduWatch, Kofi Asare, said such interruptions require a prompt response as proposed by the CSOs.
“It is critical that we appreciate that education is a fundamental right and its disruption requires an emergency response to restore it. That is why not only the Ministry of Education but other stakeholders at the local level must be part of and own an education in an emergency plan. If we had one, I am sure two weeks after schooling was disrupted, we should have had alternative schooling in place already in the affected areas.”
“And so we are calling on the Ministry of Education to expedite action on the draft of the Education in Emergency Plan, which has been sitting in the process queue for some time now, so that we can have it finalized and resourced so that next time, when such a thing happens, we don’t have to wait for two weeks before deploying education services to people in such communities.”
