The Center for Socioeconomic Studies (CSS) is demanding clear timelines for the resolution of the continuing unavailability of textbooks for basic school students almost three years after the Nana Akufo-Addo led government introduced a new curriculum.
The demand comes in the wake of reports that government has asked schools to abandon the new curriculum for the old one a year into its use.
Think tank, CSS said the development paints government as grossly irresponsible as the situation affects the Ghanaian child’s right to education.
Teachers have been complaining of the unavailability of the text books as they argue it has made teaching and learning difficult.
In a statement issued by a Research fellow Albert Wotorgbui, CSS said the unavailability of the textbooks is consistent with declining budgetary allocations to the education sector.
“Worryingly, the total expenditure on education has seen an unfortunate consistent decline from a relatively high of 19.49% of total expenditure in 2017, to 15.98% in 2019, 16.08% in 2020, and now to a very low budgetary allocation of 12.11% of total budgeted expenditure for 2021,” the think tank stated.
The think tank said the declining funding to the education sector has affected budgetary allocation to the two institutions responsible for the development textbooks and the teaching and learning materials that were supposed to accompany the new curriculum.
“Again, it is important to note that in nominal terms, the 2021 budgetary allocation of GHC15.63 billion to the Education Ministry is approximately equal to the total expenditure of GHC15.55 billion in 2020; a year in which the total expenditures of the Ghana Book Development Council and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment were GHC1.37 million and GHC1.23 million respectively.”
“This insufficient budgetary allocation to both institutions responsible for the development and provision of these textbooks and the accompanying relevant teaching and learning materials yielded no results in 2020, suggesting similar outcomes and with basically the same budgetary allocation, 2021 promises nothing worthy, to talk of solving the problem,” CSS stated.
The CSS is therefore demanding an explanation and clear timetable for the resolution of the situation which has existed for almost three years.
“To this end, the CSS is demanding from the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service an explanation as to why this unfortunate situation persists for nearly three years down the line and the institution of immediate steps to address this debilitating situation.”
“The Ministry and the GES must provide Ghanaians as a matter of urgency a timeline for the resolution of this situation in order to prevent further deterioration of Ghana’s basic education,” the think tank demanded.
Story: Sena Nombo/Radiogoldlive.com
