By Naomi Kommeh.
The Centre for Socioeconomic Studies (CSS), has bemoaned the deteriorating state of Ghana’s basic education. The CSS is specifically worried about the unavailability of textbooks, and other teaching and learning materials for the past two years.
A statement signed by a Research Fellow at the Centre, Albert Wotorgbui noted that since the introduction of the new curriculum for basic schools in September 2019, corresponding textbooks and other teaching and learning materials are yet to be developed, printed and distributed to the schools.
He was worried that the total expenditure on education has consistently declined, “from 19.49% of total expenditure in 2017 to 15.98% in 2019, 16.08% in 2020, and now to a very low budgetary allocation of 12.11% of total budgeted expenditure for 2021’’.
Again the “2021 budgetary allocation of GHC15.63 billion to the Education Ministry is approximately equal to the total expenditure of GHC15.55 billion in 2020; a year in which the total expenditures of the Ghana Book Development Council and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment were GHC1.37 million and GHC1.23 million respectively. This insufficient budgetary allocation to both institutions responsible for the development and provision of these textbooks and the accompanying relevant teaching and learning materials yielded no results in 2020.”
This, the Think Tank says, suggests that “similar outcomes and with basically the same budgetary allocation, 2021 promises nothing worthy, to talk of solving the problem’’.
Mr. Wotorgbui noted that this gross irresponsibility being committed violates the Ghanaian Child’s Right to Education, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Sustainable Development Goal 4, among other international commitments.
To this end, the Centre for Socioeconomic Studies is demanding from the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service an explanation as to why this unfortunate situation has persisted for nearly three years. It also wants the institutions to take immediate steps to address the situation, and also provide Ghanaians with a timeline for the resolution of the concerns.