Tamale (Northern Region) 23 March ’99
A national forum to discuss the rising cost of education and other problems affecting the education sector will be held in Accra next July. The meeting, which will attract all stakeholders in education, will also witness the inauguration of a national committee to spearhead the international campaign for “good quality and enjoyable basic education for all”. Professor George Mensah, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies at Tamale, announced this in Tamale today when he launched the campaign in Northern Ghana, which is also being held simultaneously around the world. In Ghana, the campaign is being undertaken under the aegis of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), formed specifically for that purpose. During the campaign, resources and other forms of assistance would be solicited from donor agencies and the general public for education and efforts made towards the removal of barriers impeding universal access to good quality basic education for all children. The campaign is the product of a collaborative effort of several international organisations, including UNICEF, UNESCO, Educational International, Oxfam and Action Aid. Professor Mensah said in spite of constitutional provisions guaranteeing basic education and government’s efforts at providing free compulsory universal basic education, the reality is that “free basic education remains as distant today as it was in 1995”. Professor Mensah said while government devotes between 36 and 40 per cent of its recurrent budget on education, overall spending on education remains low. “Consequently, we in Ghana identify with the international campaign and have adapted it for our national agenda”. The GNECC will help ensure that all stakeholders play a serious role in the formulation of educational policies and the management of educational institutions.
