By Elizabeth Abban, GNA
Tamale, April 04, GNA – The Northern Regional Early Childhood Development (ECD) Committee has held its first quarterly meeting for this year in Tamale to deliberate on the implementation of the newly revised Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Policy.
It was also to review the implementation of the revised ECCD Policy, strengthen coordination among stakeholders, assess existing challenges in early childhood education, and outline strategies to improve access, quality, and equity in services for children aged zero to eight years.
The meeting was attended by representatives of public and private institutions as well as NGOs including the Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Children Believe amongst others.
The ECCD Policy, which was launched on February 26, this year, is expected to address the gaps in the previous policy, which was developed in 2004 and had not been reviewed since then.
The evaluation of the 2004 policy revealed several challenges including inadequate resourcing, lack of coordinated implementation, and inequitable service delivery, especially for children with disabilities.
The meeting observed several challenges affecting early childhood education delivery in the Northern Region.
In public schools, participants noted infrastructure deficits including insufficient classrooms, furniture and learning materials as well as overcrowded classrooms, which hindered effective teaching and learning.
Both public and private schools were observed to experience weak monitoring systems and limited supervision of teachers.
In private schools, concerns were raised about unsafe or unsuitable learning environments and the quality of food and drinks provided to pupils.
Across both sectors, participants highlighted challenges with posting of teachers with some educators assigned to teach at levels beyond their professional training resulting in a mismatch between qualifications and class placement.
Mr Sanday Iddrisu, Northern Regional Director, Department of Children, speaking during the meeting, said it was to update stakeholders on the revised and recently launched ECCD Policy and to clarify the roles of institutions in its implementation.
Mr Iddrisu explained that the Committee focused on monitoring schools and improving teacher training to ensure that educators assigned to early childhood classes had the requisite skills, classrooms were not overcrowded, and children received quality education that supported their cognitive development from conception to age eight.
He highlighted concerns about teacher absenteeism and “presentism,” where teachers reported to school but did not actively engage in classroom instruction.
He emphasized that monitoring and coordination efforts were intended to ensure that children studied in safe and effective learning environments under teachers equipped with requisite skills.
Madam Hanifa Fusheni, Northern Regional Girls’ Education Coordinator, underscored the importance of monitoring both public and private schools to ensure children learn under safe and appropriate conditions.
She explained that monitoring activities were meant to support schools rather than harass them and were aimed at protecting the interests of the Ghanaian child.
She said monitoring included checking classroom safety, teacher conduct, and the quality of food and other services provided to pupils.
She said “While some visits may be pre-informed, monitoring may also be conducted without prior notice to allow officials to observe the actual conditions in schools and provide appropriate guidance.”
Mr Samuel Abdul-Rahaman, Programme Officer, Children Believe, focused his discussion on infrastructure gaps in schools, especially in the northern part of the country and mentioned inadequate classrooms, furniture, and learning materials.
He highlighted the organisation’s support over the past 30 years in constructing classroom blocks and improving school facilities and noted that in the past five years, Children Believe had built over 30 Early Childhood Development centres specifically designed for kindergarten learners.
He said, “These centres include classrooms, sleeping areas, dining spaces, and outdoor play facilities with learning materials integrated into the structures to support numeracy and literacy.”
He welcomed the government’s plans to construct 200 additional ECD centres nationwide to help reduce infrastructure deficits.
GNA
Kenneth Odeng Adade