Plan Ghana to help improve equal access to quality education
Mr Prem Shukla, Country Director of Plan Ghana an NGO has announced the organisations’ commitment towards improving equal access to quality education.
He said the focus among other things would pay attention to marginalised, vulnerable, hard-to-reach and socially excluded children.
Mr Shukla was speaking at the opening of a two-day National Civil Society forum in Accra, aimed at promoting a well coordinated civil movement in education to present a strong front to support government to achieve both Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education For All.
The forum which brought together civil society groups and other stakeholders in education would also serves as a platform for participants to share ideas and explore new ways to strengthen civil society-government partnership in promoting education and help achieve the MDG on education.
Jointly organised by Plan Ghana and the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition National Conference for Civil Societies in Education the forum was on the theme: “Coordinating Activities of Civil Society Organisation (CSO) towards Effective and Efficient Delivery in Education.”
Mr Shukla said enhancing quality and strengthening education governance at all the national as well as the local levels would be an agenda Plan Ghana would tackle in the next five years.
He said education was the only vehicle through which economically and socially vulnerable people could be empowered to reduce poverty.
Mr Mahama Ayariga, Deputy Minister of Education noted that due to social and cultural reasons many children in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West, Central and Western Regions were out of school.
He called on civil societies to support government in its quest to demand accountability and efficient resource management in all levels of education.
“CSO need to help government monitor and ensure that stakeholders including school management committee, teachers, circuit supervisors and parent teacher association play their role towards the delivery of quality education,” he said.
Mr Ayariga said government recognised CSO’s many contributions in the form of initiatives such as provision of teaching and learning materials, food supply, scholarships, building capacity of teachers and straightening of school governance system in deplorable schools.
He assured that government would continue to forge partnership with CSO’s and to scale up contributions such as complementary basic education, which seeks to equip illiterates with reading, numerals and writing skills.
Professor J.S. Djangmah, former Director General of Education commended government for re-introducing the 30 per cent Senor High Schools admission quota for local people.
He however called on the government to improve the provision of water and other infrastructure in the schools to facilitate effective teaching and learning.
Source: GNA