An educational forum has been held in Cape Coast to mark the International Day of Education with a call on stakeholders to support education financing to improve standards.
The Director General of the Institute of Educational Planning and Administration of the University of Cape Coast, Dr Michael Boakye-Yiadom who made the call said while government’s budgetary allocation to the sector was woefully inadequate, stakeholders must not look on as this could compromise quality.
He said the country must not give up in striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals on education adding that all must devise innovative ways to get all in school and support finance education for enhanced quality.
The forum was organised by the Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, a semi autonomous Institute at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) that trains educational planners, leaders and administrators and a UNESCO category two institution in collaboration with the Cape Coast office of the Ghana Education Service and the University Practice Senior High School.
Theme
This year’s celebration was on the theme, Invest in People, Prioritize Education.
The first International Education Day was celebrated in January 24, 2019.
Dr Boakye-Yiadom said in 2001 at an international educational forum, the government of Ghana pledged a minimum of 23 percent of budgetary allocations to education.
However, he noted this year’s allocation was 12 percent, one of the lowest in many years.
He said public funding of education would never be enough in any country and particularly in developing countries charging, traditional rulers, district assemblies and the private sector to support finance education.
1.2 million out of school
He said about 1.2 million Ghanaians between the ages of four and 17 were out of school.
Out of the number, he noted that almost one million had never been in school saying figures should be a worrying concern for all.
Huge investments
He all levels of education from basic to tertiary required huge investments in infrastructure and teacher development to increase access and improve quality.
He said it was sad that some senior high school graduates with good grades could not get admissions into tertiary institutions because of limited facilities.
He said if the country did not effectively mobilize to work towards achieving the sustainable development goals on education it would not be attained.
Dr Boakye-Yaidom urged stakeholders to consciously make efforts towards educating all from the individual to the national level.
He indicated that visits to some of the communities in and around Cape Coast indicated that some of the children were not in school because they still did not understand the relevance of education.
Others did not have mentors and role models who inspired them to go to school.
Developing mentors
He said IEPA was considering developing mentors and roles for communities across the country to encourage them to go to school and stay in school.
Peer role models
He said if every young person in school encouraged one person to go to school the problem would be almost solved.
He said as they developed their leadership skills through peer inspiring out of school children to go back to school.
Stay in school
He advised the students to stay in school and encourage others to stay in school.
Speaking on theme, the Metropolitan Director of Education of Cape Coast, Ms Phyllis Krobea-Asante said education held the key to developing productive and functional workforce essential for accelerated socio-economic development.
She said government must increase its allocation to education from 12 percent to 23 percent saying the future benefits of such investments would silence all critics.
She said to this end the nation must continue to prioritize education and to help prepare the youth for the future saying that was the best way to ensure growth and development and bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.
Ms Krobea-Asante called on educators to invest in the future by invest time and resources in positively mentoring the students into productive citizens to themselves and society.
Source: Complex.com