The President-elect of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has raised serious concerns about the ongoing funding crisis affecting the country’s education system, spanning from primary schools to tertiary institutions.
During a meeting with key stakeholders, Mahama attributed the challenge to the lack of consistent and dedicated funding, resulting in severe financial constraints.
Mahama emphasised the need for stakeholders to devise a solution, aiming to establish a sustainable funding model that addresses the sector’s needs, underscoring the importance of finding a long-term solution to the current crisis.
He also pointed out the funding challenges at the tertiary level, citing the diminishing resources available through the GETFund.
In light of these issues, Mahama called for a National Education Review Conference to address the systemic bottlenecks and develop comprehensive solutions for the education sector’s funding crisis.
“At the last count, 1.3 million Ghanaian children at the basic level do not have basic furniture to sit and study. And so we have a crisis at the basic level. Even though a lot of money is going to the secondary level, it does not come from a dedicated fund, and there is a lot of waste and inefficiency in the way it is being spent on the Free SHS.
“And then at the same time, tertiary education is also starved of funding because the GETFund that was a good source of funding has been collateralised, and so 60 percent of the GETFund has been spent in advance, and so only 40 percent comes to address infrastructure in the whole educational value chain.
“That is a crisis, and that is why I suggested that we should hold a National Education Review Conference and look at what all the bottlenecks are.”
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Rita Nsiah
