By Jesse Ampah Owusu
Accra, Sept. 25, GNA – Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minister of Education, says Ghana is ready to host the Second High-Level Conference on Education in Emergency (ACCELERATE+) scheduled for September 29-30 at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Accra.
The Minister said the conference was necessary and timely, particularly as the West African subregion faced disasters and conflicts that disrupted access to and delivery of education.
Mr Iddrisu made the remarks during a briefing by a delegation from Associates for Change, a Ghana-based research think tank, and organiser of the conference.
The conference is being organised in partnership with the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA), Nigeria, and the Centre for Studies, Research and Training for Social and Economic Development (CERFODES), Burkina Faso.
It will bring together policymakers, researchers, education practitioners, innovators, development partners and financing institutions from West Africa and beyond.
The main focus would be on five themes: education in emergencies and resilient education systems; foundational learning, e-learning, inclusion and educational innovation; and social protection, teacher well-being and safe learning environments.
The minister called for the establishment of a dedicated emergency fund to support education during emergencies.
He said the Ministry was committing part of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to respond to such emergencies, particularly the rehabilitation of school infrastructure following disasters.
Mr Haruna expressed the hope that stakeholders from the subregion would commit to the conference’s communique to improve funding for education during emergencies.
He said the stakeholders also intended to introduce innovative digital education mechanisms and tools to support learning from kindergarten through primary school to junior high school.
Dr Leslie Casely-Hayford, Director of Associates for Change, called for innovative approaches to ensure that children affected by conflict and emergencies continued to have access to education.
Children should not be deprived of their fundamental right to education because of conflict, displacement, school closures or the absence of teachers, she said.
Dr Casely-Hayford noted that the conference was focused on West Africa because research showed the significant education challenges arising from conflicts that the subregion faced.
She called for psychosocial support for teachers to prepare them for deployment to fragile and conflict-affected communities.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Jesse Ampah Owusu
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