Ghana must focus on access to basic education — UNESCO report
Ghana must focus on improving access to basic education to enable it to achieve universal basic education by the year 2015, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has said.
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In its 2012 Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report (GMR), an annual publication that monitors progress toward universal access to education, it said 570,000 children were still out of school as of the end of 2010.
The report said although enrolment was increasing, more pupils, especially the rural poor, were dropping out of basic school.
The report, which was launched in Accra Wednesday, concluded that progress made in education in Ghana was not reaching the marginalised.
A Senior Policy Analyst at UNESCO, Prof. Kwame Akyeampong, who delivered highlights of the report, said out of 100 poorest children of primary school age, 87 entered primary school and only 72 completed.
Late entry to school was responsible for increasing school dropout rates, he said.
Among 15-24 year olds, 14 per cent males and 21 per cent females had not completed primary school, Prof. Akyeampong said. He stated further that a third of all young people had less than a junior high school (JHS) education, lacking the foundation skills needed for a job.
Details of the report said 48 per cent young women and 39 per cent of men in the rural areas did not have JHS education.
In 2010, 5.6 per cent of Ghana’s Gross National Product was spent on education, making the country one of the best performing nations in the African sub-region.
But Prof. Akyeampong contended that much of the spending was not done efficiently.
He explained that such investments did not target the sectors of the educational sector that needed it most.
Ghana has increased the share of its education budget earmarked for tertiary education which now stands at 23 per cent while funding for primary education has consistently been squeezed since 1999, according to the report.
Prof. Akyeampong proposed that expanding access at the basic school level and putting in place measures to curb the school dropout rate would put Ghana back on track to achieve universal access.
The acting Director of UNESCO in Accra, Mr Tirso Dos Santos, said the report was developed over a 12 to 18-month period drawing on scholarship and expertise from governments and other bilateral institutions.
Key components of the goals include ensuring that every child has access to early childhood care and education, every child has universal primary education, youth and adults can contribute to society, adult illiteracy will be reduced by half, there are equal numbers of boys and girls in school and the quality of education is improved.
Story by Justice Baidoo