The Education Committee of Parliament will hold a meeting with some civil society organizations (CSOs) that have raised concerns about the state of basic education in Ghana.
According to Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, a member of the Committee and MP for Akatsi North, the Committee received a petition from ten CSOs that highlighted various problems affecting basic education in a document titled “Memorandum of Issues in the Basic Education Sector.”
He said the meeting, scheduled for Thursday, will allow the Committee to listen to the petitioners and find out how to address the issues.
Some of the problems that the CSOs pointed out include the existence of schools under trees, sheds, or dilapidated buildings, the lack of textbooks and exercise books for pupils, the non-payment of utility bills, the lack of incentives for teachers in rural areas, and the politicization of the recruitment of teachers, among others.
Mr. Nortsu-Kotoe admitted that these problems are real and have been brought to the attention of the Committee, which the government has tried to solve over the years.
He also expressed dissatisfaction with the inadequate budget allocation for education which he said is insufficient to tackle the challenges.
“The budget allocation made is not enough to cater for the challenges facing the education sector and so after we sit on the petition and send a report to the Speaker, further action will be taken.”
