President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, has sounded the alarm on the country’s education system, describing it as a “full-blown crisis” that requires immediate attention.
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement, John Mahama highlighted the dire state of education in Ghana, citing inefficiencies, waste, and inconsistent funding as the root causes.
“The situation is bleak, with 1.3 million basic school students lacking basic furniture, and tertiary education struggling to access funding,” Mahama said. “We need to take urgent action to address this crisis.”
John Mahama criticized the current approach to funding the Free Senior High School (SHS) program, noting that the absence of a dedicated funding source has led to waste and inefficiency.
“The GETFund, a previously reliable source of funding, has been collateralized, leaving only 40% of its resources available to address infrastructure needs across the education sector,” Mahama said.
“This is unacceptable, and we need to find a sustainable solution to funding our education sector.”
Mr Mahama called for a National Education Review Conference to bring together stakeholders and identify solutions to the crisis.
The conference aims to examine the bottlenecks in the education sector and develop a sustainable funding model to address immediate and long-term challenges.
“We need to take a holistic approach to addressing our education crisis,” Mahama said.
“We need to bring together teachers, parents, students, and policymakers to identify solutions that will work for everyone.”
IMF Stands
Meanwhile, the IMF has noted Ghana’s progress in stabilizing its economy, but the road to recovery remains long.
In this context, John Mahama’s emphasis on education as a critical sector requiring urgent attention.
“Education is the key to unlocking Ghana’s potential,” Mahama said.
“We need to take urgent action to address our education crisis and ensure that our children have access to quality education.”
John Mahama’s comments come against the backdrop of his earlier statement on the Free SHS program, where he vowed not to scrap the program but rather to improve it.
“Free SHS has come to stay, and we will not scrap it,” Mahama said. “However, we need to improve it, and that’s what we will do.”
-BY Daniel Bampoe