The Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) has called on the Minister of Finance, Mohammed Amin Adam, to release outstanding funds for procuring desks under the 2023 Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) formula.
It has also urged the Ministry of Education to increase allocations for desks to basic schools to at least GH¢60 million in the 2024 GETFund formula.
This follows its assessment of the desk situation in Gushegu and Kintampo.
In a statement issued on Monday, Eduwatch noted that the desk situation in Gushegu and Kintampo North represents the situation in many basic schools across the country, especially in rural areas, a situation caused by low investment in basic education infrastructure over the years.
It indicated that in 2023, GH¢15 million was allocated for basic school furniture under GETFund, an amount worth about 30,000 desks.
“Considering that a desk deficit of one million existed by 2021, this certainly is a drop in the ocean. To make matters worse, three (3) months into a new financial year, only GH¢6.7 million out of the paltry GH¢15 million has been released by the Ministry of Finance since appropriation in June 2023,” it added.
“As such, in its proposals on the way forward, it called on the Ministry of Education to increase allocations for desks to basic schools to at least GH¢60 million in the 2024 GETFund formula. We call on the Minister of Finance to release outstanding funds for procuring desks under the 2023 GETFund formula.”
“We call on Parliament to show interest in the delayed disbursement of basic education funds under GETFund and demand accountability from the Minister of Finance on the slow disbursement. We urge local governments and the non-state sector, including faith-based organizations and private companies, to support the provision of desks in public basic schools.”
It said it would in the coming days engage the Ministers of Education and Finance, and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education on the aforementioned issues.
READ THE EDUWATCH STATEMENT ON DESKS MONITORING HERE
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