Ghana risked of losing 17.6 million pounds support for the country educational sector from the Department for International Development (DIFD) if it fails to facilitate the signing of Complementary Basic Education (CBE) policy document into a workable one by May this year.
The country has up to May this year to meet the dead line set by the donor partners. The donors are committing 12 million pounds into the implementation of the policy and any further delay may lead Ghana to lose the opportunity.
One of the lead education advocacy NGO operating in the three northern Regions, School for Life (SFL) is urging government and the Ghana Education Service to expedite action on signing of the CBE policy that is laying at the GES head office in Accra before the dead line set by the donor partners.
The three-year programme according to School for Life would help enrolled all school going age children into public schools.
Through CBE, School for Life has integrated 80 percent of the children into public schools. School for Life, a subsidiary of GDCA says nearly a million children are out of school with majority coming from the northern part of Ghana.
This, they say is worrying and called on government and major stakeholders in education to change the trend.
The Deputy Manager, Advocacy and Gender at School for Life, Madam Lawrencia Dakura-Abakisi, who disclosed this to Zaa News in an interview in Tamale said, SFL has been following the process of ensuring the implementation of CBE policy for a while but it is still a bane for them.
She said even though, there is now a unit at GES office Basic Education Unit the problem still persist and more action now.
The failure of government and GES to facilitate the CBE policy could also affect Ghana’s quest to achieving the Millennium Development Goal 2&3. According to Lawrencia Dakura-Abakisi if the policy start this, over 20,000 children would be enrolled which would be scale up in the subsequent years before 2015.
Briefing the media about the observations of media reportage on the developmental issues over the 2012, the Advocacy and Communications Officer at Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA), Rosemond Kumaha commended government for taking bold initiative in the election of the MMDCEs in the country and expressed the hope that, the media would play their role effectively on the matter.
She said government attitude towards the debate whether to elect or appoint MMDCEs is welcome and electing them would enhance the decentralization policy in Ghana. Madam Rosemond Kumaha also expressed their delight about the role the media contributes to the critical developmental issues affecting the rural communities in the north.
She mentioned the eastern corridor road which is under construction now and the improvement of women participation in governance as some of the critical issues media in the north has help in putting duty bearers on their toes over the years.
Rosemond Kumah said even though, the media is doing its best, more needs to be done to improve living conditions of the rural people in the northern region.
The review was a yearly meeting with the media to deliberate on pertinent developmental issues of GDCA operational areas as well as strategized on how to help improved the livelihoods of the rural people.
