GNECC sustains advocacy for quality education
The Ghana National Education Coalition Campaign (GNECC) has put in place measures and programmes to support the education of persons with disabilities and children in deprived areas.
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The measures are in line with efforts to promote inclusive education by formulating education policy and implementing it at all levels to ensure equal allocation and distribution of resources at the basic level for vulnerable groups.
At the 2013 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of GNECC, the National Co-ordinator of the coalition, Mr Leslie Tetteh, said GNECC had sustained its advocacy for quality education for children with disabilities in pursuit of the education for all (EFA) goals.
The two-day meeting was on the theme, “Improving Education Management Efficiency Through Decentralisation: The Role of Civil Society”.
He added that the coalition had deepened dialogues between government and the GNECC in a transparent and accountable manner for the allocation of education resource, to enhance accessibility at all levels.
Education decentralisation
In his report, Mr Tetteh stated that the project activities of GNECC had impacted positively on the Ministry of Education (MoE) resulting in vibrancy in the ministry’s projects.
Besides, he said, GNECC had also increased stakeholders’ knowledge and awareness in the country’s education decentralisation policy and implementation through discussions on the process and mechanism of the project.
He said the GNECC had presented a paper with demands on education decentralisation to government, which urged government to ensure that local authorities are given the mandate to participate effectively in the implementation of policies related to education at the local levels, stressing that the paper was subsequent to an Education Sector Review (ESER) which took place this year.
On the issue of education decentralisation, participants and partners at the 2014 AGM were sensitised to the role of civil society groups in improving education management efficiency through decentralisation.
Teacher absenteeism
In the quest to minimise teacher absenteeism in basic schools, a survey was carried out by the coalition in 40 selected schools across the country which indicated that 11 per cent of teachers absented themselves from school at least once or twice a week.
Mr Tetteh attributed this situation to lack of funds to motivate teachers. The inability of parents to provide meals and learning materials for children, he said, also discouraged children from going to school.
He noted that the allocation of funds to schools under the capitation grant was still a challenge most schools were facing and, therefore, called on the government to release the funds on time.
Professor J.S. Djangmah, an educationist, who was on the discussion panel, called for community participation in the effective implementation of basic education policies at the district level to enhance quality basic education.