By Kodjo Adams
Accra, March 15, GNA – Stakeholders at the National Education Forum have called on the Government to prioritise investments in basic education infrastructure to enhance access.
The investment should include innovative financing models to bridge the rural-urban gap in basic education access and quality and ensure all children of basic school-going age have the opportunity to enrol at a complete basic school.
This was in a communique read by Professor George K.T.Oduro, Chairman of the National Education Forum Planning Committee, at the end of the Forum on Thursday.
The Forum, on the theme: “Transforming Education for a Sustainable Future,” took place from February 19 to March 13, 2025.
It was structured along zonal stakeholder engagement and town hall meetings under five thematic areas.
These are infrastructure; quality education; regulations, accountability and governance; education financing; and research and data.
Participants included faith-based organisations, student unions, community leaders, and non-governmental organisations in the education space.
The communique noted the huge gap in basic education infrastructure, access, and quality, creating deficits in access to quality basic education in underserved communities.
It called on the Government to be deliberate in investing to bridge the gap between the quality of basic education in rural areas and urban areas.
“The Government must adopt an equitable framework for distributing education funds with priority for basic education, which is the foundation of our education system,” it said.
The stakeholders recommended improvement in the provision of accommodation and allowances for teachers in required areas, including enhanced teacher salaries, welfare, and scholarships.
They urged the Government to regularise the roles of parent-teacher associations, faith-based organisations and other stakeholders through a framework to enhance their effectiveness, participation, recognition and impact.
On infrastructure for the senior high schools, the communique called for urgent steps to expand school infrastructure and abolish the double-track system.
The Forum had 5,000 stakeholders from across Ghana and received over 2,000 proposals from individuals and organisations, including a study on three passages with over 20,000 respondents.
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