The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) has advised government to consider developing a tracking system to monitor enrolment and retention of children with disability in the various education institutions.
According to the GNECC, such systems are needed to urgently address the partial exclusion of children with disability in the education sector and to promote inclusive education. It would also fall in line with Ghana’s effort to attain the sustainable Development Goal four.
The Coalition also wants government to expedite action on the review of curriculum of Colleges of Education to equip teachers with the requisite skills to support children with disabilities.
Speaking at the launch of Global Action week for education in Accra last week under the theme: Citizens Participation and accountability in Education Management; A milestone for Achieving SDG 4, Mr. Bright Appiah, Executive Council Chair of GNECC stressed the need for government to prioritse inclusive education.
Mr. Appiah stated that so far as the SDGs 4 is concerned, the state should commit to giving enough to the education sector.
“We believe that in order to achieve the SDGs, there is a need for more openness and accountability among all stakeholders – the international community, government, teachers, schools, parents, students, civil society and businesses – because education is a shared society endeavour and a shared responsibility,” he said.
Mr Appiah said even though access to basic education had increased considerably, there were still a lot of challenges including inadequate resources, unsafe school environments, poor leadership, to mention a few – which needed to be tackled with a sense of urgency.
He said civil society remains a driving force for transparent monitoring of and reporting on education, including financing, helping to ensure that financial resources were used efficiently and equitably.
Mr Appiah appealed that excessive politicisation of education issues must stop because in the end it is the child who suffers and not the politicians playing their games.
He noted that the best interest of the child must be the key consideration in the formulation and implementation of policies and not political tactics.
On his part, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah called for a dispassionate national dialogue on the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy to ensure its sustainability.
Prof. Addae-Mensah explained that the free SHS, a flagship programme of the ruling government is one of the boldest education decisions which had been taken since independence, and said there is the need to critically examine the programme without a nonpartisan to come out with measures such as funding to sustain the programme.
The Global Education Week’s aim is to encourage educators and learners to explore educational activities for global citizenship. In line with Target 4.7 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4, the Global Education Week addresses issues related to diversity and inequality at the local and global levels.
By Mohammed Suleman
