Civil society groups launch education manifesto for political parties

Ghana’s education system is being threatened by a myriad of challenges such as the lack of trained and qualified teachers, lack of learning and teaching materials, lack of infrastructure, among other things.

The result of the poor quality of education in the country is evident at the basic level, where on the average about 60 per cent of students who sit for the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) fail to gain entry into the Senior High Schools.

Another issue which is affecting the education system is the lack of trained teachers, a problem, according to certain civil society organizations, is also very evident at the basic level.

According to them, 74 per cent of teachers in kindergartens are untrained while 38 per cent and 22 per cent of teachers in the primary schools and junior high schools respectively are not trained to teach in these institutions.

For these reasons and more, civil society groups in Ghana have drafted a twenty-two page manifesto to offer directions to the management of Ghana’s Education at the basic, tertiary and technical and vocational education training levels.

The manifesto, “Civil Society Education Manifesto” was drafted in partnership with The Child Rights International and Action for Rural Education and was launched, Tuesday in Accra.

The manifesto recommends some reforms which the civil society groups hope will help address the challenges being faced in the educational sector.

Although Ghana’s education system has gone through some reforms with the latest being the reverse of the four-year senior high school system which was introduced by the Kufuor administration, to three years, many have still questioned the quality of education being provided and its ability to meet the demands of the job market.

As part of the group’s effort to drive the initiative towards national significance, the group is lobbying political parties to adopt the manifesto and incorporate it into their campaign manifestos for the 2012 General Elections.

However, the proposals in the civil society manifesto may well remain proposals as the biggest parties, the NDC and NPP failed to turn up for the launch.

The lack of commitment on the part of the parties is a source of worry for the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition.

Chairperson of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition, Ms Judith Sawyer noted that, “It will help if the political parties are willing to buy into the manifesto. The absence of the two main political parties at the launch of the manifesto doesn’t necessarily mean they are not interested. It’s rather unfortunate that they were not here today.”
 

The education initiative is part of the Education Agenda 2015 Project which aims to achieve universal primary education in Ghana, as part of the UN Millennium Developmental Goals.

Director of Childs Rights International, Mr. Bright Appiah says that universal primary education could be achieved through the effective collaboration between government, the various political parties, and civil society.