Eduwatch has petitioned Parliament to reject the allocation of ₵1.8 billion made to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund).

According to Eduwatch the allocation of ₵1.8 billion raises serious concern about the formula used in capping the GETFund in the 2023 budget, and whether it is in accordance with the Earmarked Funds Capping and Realignment Law.

The ₵1.8 billion GETFund allocation forms only 39% of the GETFund levy accruals which are meant to be used to finance education projects and activities.

This a sharp decline from the previous year’s 81% allocation.

“Going by the 25% capping under the Earmarked Funds Capping and Realignment Act, 2017 (Act 947) and the history of allocations in line with same, we estimate that, at least ₵2.7billion, representing 60% of the total 2022 GETFund Levy accruals of ₵4.6billion should be allocated to the GETFund for 2023,” Eduwatch said in a statement to Parliament.

They added that the continuous decline in the allocation to GETFund, amidst consistent increment in the GETFund Levy, has remained a significant issue of worry for stakeholders concerned about the widening infrastructure gap in the education sector, particularly at the basic education level.

Source: myjoyonline.com

On Wednesday December 14, Eduwatch, with support from OXFAM, held a one-day capacity-building workshop for CSOs on the education aspect of the 2023 budget presented to Parliament by the Finance Minister. The session aimed at deepening CSOs' knowledge in the planning and budgeting cycle, as well as equipping them to analyse, monitor, and demand accountability from government on the delivery of the budget.

The workshop was part of Eduwatch's advocacy for improved, equitable and efficient resource allocation and utilization in the education sector, under the DANIDA Strategic Partnership 2 Project.

Participants included School for Life Ghana, GNECC, Pencil of Promise, NNED, NORSAAC, TVET Coalition, FOSDA, Associates for Change, IFEST, ICDP, as well as Media General, Graphic Communications Group and the Business and Financial Times.

© Africa Education Watch

Citizen’s Coalition Movement – a pressure group comprising the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), EGP, among others has held a round table discussion on the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government as presented to Parliament by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

The forum which was on the theme, “Interrogating Ghana’s 2023 budget and Economic Policy As Pathway to Economic Recovery’’ was held in Accra on Wednesday, December 15.

Addressing the participants, the Executive Director of CDD-Ghana, Prof. Kwesi Prempeh, who spoke on the governance aspect of the budget said Ghana’s repeated return of 17 times to the IMF tells how badly the state is being governed.

He said it is even worse the fact that the budget was not approved in parliament by concensus, rather a one sided party decision.

He lamented the fact that the current “Government seems to be more accountable to the IMF than its own citizens’’, a development he described as unfortunate, adding that “they have rather turned the country into a stadium of spectators rather than citizens”.

Taking a glance at the Education sector of the budget, the Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, highlighted the limited resource allocation to the sector when compared to previous years.

“This he noted is making education so difficult to run in the country and would be more difficult in the coming years,” he stated.

A panellist, Prof. Abena Oduro, noted that there was a very wide social protection gap and this comes under the administration of the Ministry of Gender, Women and Children Protection.

“Gender protection does not only protect women but it seems we are leaving boys behind. More consideration is being given to women and boys are dying in Silent,’’ she said.

She advised the government to be more considerate towards this ministry so as to curb more domestic abuses that would could come due to the hardships ahead.

“Extractive sector revenue optimization royalties and 7% oil asset should be brought to the budget,” stated Benjamin Boakye, Director of the African Center for Energy Policy (ACEP). He said this shows that the government is significantly relegating the Energy sector to the background.

Source: ghananewsonline.com.gh

On Sunday December 18, Eduwatch held a virtual meeting with education stakeholders to discuss the successes and challenges of the 2022 National Standardised Test (NST) as part of our efforts to improve the assessment system.

The participants which include teachers from both public and private schools, staff from district education directorates, and the President of the Ghana National Council of Private Schools, shared their experiences on the conduct of the examination for both Basic 2 and 4 pupils, and made recommendations for improvement in the NST.

Eduwatch will within the week submit a Memorandum on the issues discussed for an engagement with the Ministry of Education.

© Africa Education Watch

On Tuesday December 20, Eduwatch submitted a Memorandum to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NACCA), calling on the Council to organise a mop-up exercise for schools that were unable to take part in the just-ended National Standardized Test (NST) for Basic four (4) pupils. The non-participation of some schools emerged at a stakeholder review of the conduct of the 2022 NST organised by Eduwatch to discuss the successes and challenges as part of efforts to improve the NST.

Eduwatch also called for Civil Society involvement in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the Test, and a multi-stakeholder review of the NST 2022.

Kindly read the full statement via the link below:
https://africaeducationwatch.org/publication/organise-mop-up-exercise-for-schools-20122022

© Africa Education Watch

On Tuesday December 20, Management of Eduwatch held a final meeting with its staff to close the 2022 calendar year.

Eduwatch Executive Director, Kofi Asare expressed sincere gratitude to all staff for their hard work and dedication in the implementation of the organisation's programmes and projects in 2022. He urged all to maintain their dedication to ensure greater exploits in the ensuing year.

The organisation will be on Christmas break effective Wednesday December 21, 2022 to Monday January 9, 2023.

Happy Holidays!

© Africa Education Watch