By Albert Futukpor
Tamale, Sept. 2, GNA – The Government has been urged to increase budgetary allocation towards monitoring and supervision of schools to help improve the performances of pupils and students.
It has also been urged to dedicate five per cent out of the District Assemblies Common Fund allocated to the education sector to support the monitoring and supervision of schools.
This formed part of inputs presented by various stakeholders in the education sector for consideration in the 2023 National Budget and Economic Policy of government.
The stakeholders made the call during a stakeholders’ consultative forum to collate inputs into the 2023 National Budget and Economic Policy of the Government organised in Tamale by SEND-GHANA, a non-governmental organisation, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund.
There were presentations on how the 2022 budgetary allocations to various sectors such as Education, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Gender, Children and Social Protection were being spent.
Stakeholders from Education, WASH, Gender, Children and Social Protection, among others, attended the forum.
They observed that the performances of pupils and students were falling due to poor monitoring and supervision, a situation they attributed to poor funding.
Mr Fuseini Abdul-Rahaman, the School Health Education Programme Coordinator at Karaga District, who led a group discussion on education during the forum and presented its inputs, said increasing funding towards monitoring and supervision would improve teaching and learning and the performance of pupils and students.
Other participants also expressed concerns about poor management of solid waste, calling for increased funding for community-led total sanitation to end open defecation in the country.
Mr Mohammed Mumuni, the Northern Regional Programmes Manager of SEND-GHANA, commended the participants for their frank discussions and input.
He said SEND-GHANA was undertaking similar fora in other regions, adding that the inputs would be put together and presented to the Ministry of Finance to consider for the 2023 National Budget and Economic Policy.
Mr Fred Yiryel, a Principal Economics Officer at the Ministry of Finance, commended SEND-GHANA for its continued efforts to promote participatory democracy by offering platforms to the population to influence government policy.
The Ministry of Finance is expected to present the 2023 National Budget and Economic Policy to Parliament in November, this year.
GNA