On Monday February 12, Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) issued a statement on the death of a first-year student of Aburi Girls Senior High School (SHS). Eduwatch through the statement, commiserated with the bereaved family while recounting events leading to the tragic incident.

Investigations launched by the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death of the student, was welcomed, with Eduwatch urging the CID to pursue the matter to its full conclusion and makes it findings public. Eduwatch however expressed worry that the unfortunate event at Aburi Girls SHS was not the first, as since 2017, there had been at least four (4) widely reported deaths in secondary schools resulting from the wrongful exercise of discretion by school authorities in refusing to allow sick students to either seek treatment at home or send them to hospitals for treatment.

The statement identified the lack of explicit guidelines on health case management in SHSs, the abuse of discretionary power, the lack of accountability and standards to measure actions of duty bearers, the poor state of sick bays in some SHSs among others as the main causes of these unfortunate events.

To forestall the recurrence of such unfortunate events in our SHSs, Eduwatch among others rcommended that the Ghana Education Service liaises with the Ghana Health Service to develop a case management protocol for sick students in school, and mainstream the monitoring of the implementation of the protocols into indicators for supervision by the School Improvement and Support Officers and the Key Performance Indicators of school heads.

The full statement can be accessed via the link below:

https://africaeducationwatch.org/publication/statement-on-the-death-of-a-first-year-student-at-the-aburi-girls-shs

© Africa Education Watch

On Wednesday February 14, Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) held a stakeholder forum to discuss a draft Corporate Support Framework for Basic Education Infrastructure. The forum was held at the WACCI Auditorium - University of Ghana.

The forum was a sequel to an earlier convening held in December 2023 to disseminate the findings of an Eduwatch Desks Scoping Study, where participants underscored the urgent need for innovative approaches to address the vast desk deficits at the basic education level, through a strategic collaboration between local assemblies, corporate and faith-based organisations.

The draft Corporate Support Framework, which was developed through a collaboration between Eduwatch and the Office of the Head of Local Government Service (OHLGS), aims to guide local governments to mobilize and manage resources from the corporate/private sector to support education infrastructure provision at the local level. The draft Framework outlines among others, a governance structure to execute and supervise the implementation of the framework, a resource mobilization and distribution strategy, monitoring, reporting and accountability mechanisms to guide its operationalization, following its finalisation and adoption by the OHLGS, for implementation by local assemblies.

Following a presentation on the draft framework by Eduwatch's Executive Director, Kofi Asare, stakeholders made various inputs, particularly towards ensuring that the strategies proposed by Framework, upon completion, becomes appealing to the corporate entities to support, and takes into cognisance existing structure to avoid duplicitous roles. The Chief Director of the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council, Mrs Lillian Baeka, who delivered the keynote speech on behalf of the Chief Director of the OHLGS, expressed satisfaction with the draft framework, and committed to ensure its effective implementation after it is finalised.

Participants in the convening were drawn from the OHLGS, the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council, Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, local assemblies, corporate institutions, Faith-Based Organizations, Civil Society and the media.

The Corporate Support Framework is being developed as part of activities under the SERVE 3 project being implemented by Eduwatch with support from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and in partnership with STAR-Ghana Foundation, which aims among others to promote girls’ participation in education through improved access to desks in public basic schools.

© Africa Education Watch

One person has died while vehicles have been burnt in a violent clash between Osino Presby Senior High Technical Schools (SHTS) students and Nsuapemso residents in the Fanteakwa South District of the Eastern Region.

Police presence has since been beefed up in the school to avoid reprisal attack. The students of the Osino Presby SHTS allegedly beat up a student of the Nsutem SHTS on Monday February 19 on account of existing tension between the two schools.

Efforts by relatives of the Nsutem SHTS student to hold the assailants from the Osino Presby Senior High School accountable degenerated into violence. Residents caught up in the clash were subjected to severe beating, leaving one dead at the Osino Clinic.

Personnel of the Fanteakwa District Security Council and the Regional Security Council are liaising to keep calm in the area as they commence investigation to deal with any student found guilty.

Source: 3news.com

Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), has urged the government to prioritise investment in basic education infrastructure in the twilight of its tenure in office to address the dire situation that persists in the space.

The education policy think tank lamented that public basic education is neither truly free, compulsory nor universally accessible to all Ghanaians due to social constraints such as poverty, inadequate infrastructure, and low resource allocation to the commitments in the policy.

With data from the Ministry of Education (MoE) suggesting that over 2.3 million girls do not have seating and writing places, whilst some 5,000 basic schools exist under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures, infrastructure investment in this sector is very critical, requiring urgent attention.

The Executive Director of Eduwatch, Kofi Asare, has also called on the leadership of the two top political parties- the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to prioritise basic education infrastructure in their manifestos as they seek the political mandate to steer the affairs of the country for the next four years.

He mentioned that civil society organisations (CSOs) would continue to engage with the parties to influence their manifestos to ensure that they align with the broad vision of the education sector.

“Both of them are yet to launch their manifestos but we are already in touch with them in respect of their manifesto processes. We will be meeting the NDC education manifesto committee soon. We expect to see an adequate prioritisation of basic education infrastructure in the manifestos of the political parties,” he elaborated.

He expressed concern over the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s speech at his campaign launch which failed to mention any plan to address basic education infrastructure needs.

“Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia announced his education vision about a week ago and he did not mention support for basic education infrastructure. I was expecting to hear it feature prominently because of the inexcusable divide between the North and the South when it comes to basic education.

“We want to see much more priority being accorded the upgrading of education infrastructure in the deprived parts of this country- bearing in mind that over 5000 schools are still under trees and in dilapidated structures- the majority of which are located in the North East, Savannah, Oti, Northern and the Western North regions of the country,” he noted.

He made these remarks at a stakeholder engagement to deliberate on a drafted corporate support framework for basic education infrastructure.

The corporate support framework is to provide guidelines for local governments to harness and manage with transparency and accountability, resources mobilised from the corporate sector to support education infrastructure provision at the local level.

Board Member of Eduwatch, Madam Dorothy Konadu, in her remarks, underscored the need for the private sector to support government’s efforts at addressing the issue of desk inadequacy in the country’s public basic schools.

“While the government is supplying desks through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), the annual 15,000 witnessed in recent years is a drop in a bucket. We believe non-state actors must support.

“Collaboration between local assemblies, religious groups, civil society organizations and private sector institutions is critical if we are to address desk inadequacy in our public basic schools. The government alone has proven incapable of delivering on the education infrastructure required to serve free compulsory universal basic education to all Ghanaian children,” she noted.

Local governments are mandated to provide infrastructure for basic schools. However, increased demand for social and economic infrastructure and services in the face of limited internally generated funds, and delayed release of inadequate earmarked funds limits their ability to meet education infrastructure needs in their jurisdiction.

Source: thebftonline.com

A group of over 50 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in education, including Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) and the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST), are urging political parties to ensure that manifesto policies for education are aligned with the National Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2030.

This, they explained, would ensure continuity and completion of ongoing infrastructure and policy implementation programmes emphasising the importance of synergy and coherence in shaping an effective education system that aligns with the country’s broader development objectives.

In effect, the CSOs are urging the electorate and all stakeholders to keenly monitor party manifestoes and question policies that do not align with the national strategic policy.

Building on Ghana’s achievements in expanding education, the Education Strategic Plan 2028-2030 sets out the vision and policies for realising the ambition of transforming Ghana into a ‘learning nation’.

The Executive Director of Eduwatch, Kofi Asare, said: “Ahead of this election 2024, political parties have started developing and putting out their manifestoes. To ensure continuity toward achieving the education and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we - as critical stakeholders - call for the alignment of all manifestoes to the Education Strategic Plan 2018-2030”.

Education plays a fundamental role in the long-term development of a country. By aligning manifesto promises with the national education strategic plan, political parties are better positioned to contribute to sustainable development and ensure that their policies are informed by evidence-based strategies.

As an influential CSO dedicated to promoting educational reform and advocating for equitable and quality education, the Executive Director of IFEST, Peter Partey Anti, believes this alignment will ensure that education policies proposed by political parties are not developed in isolation, but are interconnected with broader national goals.

“As we approach elections, all political parties must prioritise the alignment of their manifesto promises with the national education strategic plan. There are specific targets that the country seeks to achieve by 2030, which tie in with global educational goals. It, therefore, becomes important that an education manifesto focuses on how to achieve their strategic goals set for 2030,” he added.

In 2024, Civil Society stakeholders renewed their commitment to continue working with the government to support the implementation of plans and policies in the education sector while demanding accountability for policy implementation and outcomes.

The stakeholders encouraged the Ministry of Education (MOE) to deepen civil society engagement in policies and their outcomes.

Over the years, political parties have been observed to tend to put together policies and promises that do not align with the long-term plans of the country, and most often leave some of these implementations half-way, which has not benefitted the country in any way. A classical example is the four-year/ three-year senior high school policies that were introduced back and forth.

The ESP

The ESP 2018–2030 lays out Ghana’s vision and goals for the education sector up to 2030, as well as detailed strategies for how these goals will be achieved. The document presents evidence-based priorities and policies formulated after wide-ranging consultations, ensuring that all education stakeholders in Ghana agree on the need for the delivery of quality education to the nation.

The ESP provides a clear roadmap for delivery in which all actors can see where their responsibilities and contributions lie, and what they will be held accountable for concerning the achievement of the vision.

The ESP gives an objective assessment of the state of education in Ghana, including a detailed analysis of each sub-sector, as well as setting out the demographic, macroeconomic and political contexts of the education sector.

The ESA provides the foundation and evidence for the ESP 2018–2030, presenting the strengths and weaknesses of the current system. The ESA is, therefore, structured around the same seven programme areas as the ESP, namely: basic education, secondary education, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), NFE, inclusive and special education, tertiary education, and education management.

Source: thebftonline.com

The Senior Housemaster of Kalpohin Senior High School in Tamale has been reported to the Northern Regional Police Command for negligence, resulting in the death of a student.

The 17-year-old student, who tragically passed away on Sunday night, was entrusted to his fellow students’ care to take him to the hospital after obtaining an exeat signed by the senior housemaster for medical attention.

Moses Baffoe, a resident of Tamale, witnessed the sick student vomiting at the school’s entrance while on his way home.

Baffoe made two unsuccessful attempts to get the attention of the senior housemaster to address the situation.

Upon the third attempt, the housemaster finally arrived at the school entrance, but by then, the student had already been taken to the Tamale Teaching Hospital for medical attention.

Subsequently, Mr. Baffoe reported the senior housemaster to the police for negligence, upon learning that the student had lost his life before reaching the hospital.

Source: citinewsroom.com

From Monday February 19 to Thursday February 22, Eduwatch participated in an ECOWAS Strategy Meeting of Oxfam and sub-regional partners in Abuja, Nigeria.

The aim of the meeting was to develop a comprehensive Civil Society Strategy to engage ECOWAS at both national and sub-regional levels on key developmental outcomes ranging including inequality, food security, climate and agriculture, good governance and regional integration.

Participants in the meeting were Oxfam and its partners in the West African subregion, including Eduwatch. Eduwatch was represented by our Executive Director, Kofi Asare.

©Africa Education Watch