The Ministry of Education and three of its agencies, Ghana Education Service, Teacher Education Unit and the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET), have trained some journalists drawn from the ten regions of Ghana.

The three-day training workshop was to help build the capacities of journalists to adequately and efficiently report on major reforms being undertaken by the ministry.

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By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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This is according to a Deputy Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Y4rCuYjUS7OCf9cnLDkhW9XrpuHTZL2i”]The funds are expected to cater for the provision of food by the National Buffer Stock, uniforms and other logistics in some 56 schools.

“We are paying all the suppliers on behalf of the schools, and in addition to that, we paid buffer stock. But we will also pay all the people who manufacture things like uniforms on behalf of the schools. All these payments will be deduced from the 80%, and the rest of the monies will go back to the schools,” the Deputy Minister said.

“We are working hard to make sure that all schools that have submitted their returns will get paid. I know that his week we are reconciling, we have 56 schools so I’m hoping that by the end of this week, we would have reconciled so that the following week, they’ll look at paying all those who have submitted their returns,” Mr. Adutwum added.

Free SHS challenges

The implementation of the policy has faced some challenges key amongst them being infrastructure and feeding for the beneficiaries.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government launched the flagship programme in September 2017, to increase access to education by removing the payment of fees from public Senior High Schools.

Despite the enthusiasm after the launch, the programme has been fraught with many challenges including lack of canteens, furniture and other infrastructure in most schools.

In some schools, students do not benefit from the government’s promised free lunch as part of the programme, but the government has said that it is working to address the challenges.

Some school heads have complained about government’s failure to release funds needed for the programme.

They said only 20% of the fees government absorbed had been paid to them, making the running of the school difficult.

Some, as a result of the situation, are unable to provide enough food for the Free SHS beneficiaries due to indebtedness to the caterers.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, whilst presenting the 2018 budget statement to Parliament on Wednesday, said government has allotted GHc9.26 billion to the education sector.

But SEND-Ghana in a statement said the allocation is insignificant to address the numerous infrastructural constraints of schools in the country, because a huge chunk of the amount will be used for payment of compensation.

[contextly_sidebar id=”HKyu6GbLJApafF18XKa3bi0OPF4M3J6u”]SEND-Ghana among other things also complained that the aftermath of the introduction of the free SHS policy which experienced increased enrollment “has exposed the infrastructural deficit and logistical challenges which is affecting the smooth implementation of the policy, and for that matter impeding sound academic work.”

The implementation the free Senior High School (SHS) policy recently suffered some setbacks as some school heads attempted to  charge extra fees for the procurement of facilities such as desks.

The head teachers of such schools were interdicted, while one of them at the La Presbyterian Senior High School in Accra, was transferred for asking parents of beneficiary students to pay for the purchase of plastic chairs to enable their wards sit in class.

The civil society group called on government to do everything possible to address such problems.

“The implementation of the Free Senior High School has led to increased enrolment at the SHS level from 300,195 students in the 2016/17 academic year to 396,951 students in the 2017/18 academic year, representing an increment of 32.2%. This development has exposed the infrastructural deficit and logistical challenges which is affecting the smooth implementation of the policy and for that matter impeding sound academic work. Yet government’s allocation to capital expenditure and goods and services were insignificant to address this situation,” the statement added.

SEND-Ghana again raised issues with budgetary allocation in other sectors including health, agriculture, sanitation, and child protection.

On agriculture, the civil society group raised concerns about government’s over reliance on oil revenue known as Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA), to shore up the drop in donor support, saying it might affect funding of the One-District One-Factory initiative, and other audacious promises made by government for the sector.

“A significant drop in donor funding (from 49% to 21.5%) was observed in the 2018 agriculture sector budget. The burden appears to have been shifted to Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA), increasing MOFA’s reliance on the fund from 18% in 2017 to 41.6% in 2018. Though government is gradually moving away from the reliance on donor funding, it is important not to over rely on ABFA given the volatile nature of oil prices on the world market. It is expected that a significant drop in world market prices of oil will affect funding to the sector, making it suffer predictability constraints,” the statement added. Click here for the full statement:

Budgetary allocation for Free SHS ‘woefully inadequate’ – Ablakwa

National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for the North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has already described the government’s budgetary allocation for Free SHS as woefully inadequate to support the programme.

According to him, government would need at least two billion cedis to support Free SHS in 2018, 800 million cedis more than the amount that was allocated to it in the budget.

You can’t rely on voluntary contributions for Free SHS- Ablakwa

Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has also said the government cannot afford to rely on voluntary contributions to fund education, particularly free SHS, as projections for those funds may not materialize.

The government announced that it would set up a fund to receive voluntary contributions from individuals to support the implementation of the free SHS programme and the educational sector as a whole.

However, this plan has been criticized by the Minority who believe this is an indication that government does not have the funds to properly implement its much-touted programme.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The Ministry recently received clearance from the Finance Ministry to replace, recruit and re-appoint 22,802 teaching and non-teaching staff for the 2017/2018 academic year in first and second cycle institutions across the country.

[contextly_sidebar id=”yzwDjlSkfLRFE8hXQUpR5pXPaZaGqZLT”]But the Public Relations Officer for the Distance Education Students, David Fianu, said their checks indicate that none of their members has been recruited, a situation he said has created a huge backlog of unemployed distance education graduates.

“Our question is on what grounds are they also saying that those who obtained their certificates by distance and sandwich will not be considered. We want to get an explanation of that statement. We don’t understand why they want to limit recruitment to only college students. The letter we had was that there was a limited recruitment for teaching staff. And in that letter they stated that candidates who obtained their certificates by distance and sandwich will not be considered.”

“Now we felt bad because the University of Cape Coast sets questions for college students.  The same university is preparing people from the distance programme. It means that we all get the same experience and all the necessary skills they need in the teaching field. So why will the Ghana Education Service now limit recruitment to only college students? That is our concern,” he added.

DESAG further charged the Ministry to explain the format it used for the recruit exercise.

We can’t employ more public sector workers

This comes on the back of government’s revelation that it can’t employ more public sector workers.

Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo, who made the disclosure in August 2017, said government does not have the capacity to employ more public servants.

“The public sector is full in terms of employment, [and] we can’t employ anybody in the public sector,” he said.

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By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the Ministry the decision was taken not because Mr. Salamat spoke to the media, but for charging unapproved fees under the government’s free Senior High School education policy.

Mr. Salamat has been transferred to the head office of the Ghana Education Service.

The school was recently in the news for allegedly levying fresh students about GHs 80, to purchase plastic chairs to be used due to the poor state of the existing ones.

Citi News’ visit to the school few weeks after the earlier report, saw the first year students sitting on cement blocks and wooden planks.

[contextly_sidebar id=”nZk0E0TIGk3jZQLLPsxOy50GIMTljMK1″]Mr. Slamat was interdicted over the issue, and subsequently transferred to the Ghana Education Service head office in Accra.

Earlier reports suggested that Mr. Salamat was transferred because his action was seen as sabotage of government’s much hyped free SHS education policy and for speaking to the media.

But speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, a Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum explained that, the La Presec headmaster “was transferred based on what he did and not speaking to the media.”

“If you are charging fees you want parents to pay, of course not, it’s not approved. We’ve given you resources and you have development levy which is contributions that were supposed to be made by parents. If you need anything, you can use part of the development levy to do that. Why do you have to go to the parents and ask them to pay something that the government has already paid? Nobody condones any behaviour or whatsoever that will punish any headmaster for talking to the media,” he added.

McDan CEO to rescue La Presby students

The Cheif Executive Officer of McDan Shipping, Daniel Makorley, put smiles on the faces of students of the school after he donated 100 desks to them.

According to McDan Shipping, the delivery was part of the first batch of the entire package promised the school.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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Mr. Salamat has been transferred to the head office of the Ghana Education Service for asking parents to pay GHc80 to procure plastic chairs for first year students, who had benefited from government’s free Senior High School education policy.

[contextly_sidebar id=”1Aq3pA0T36HK04f8Gyf57zu93gSMzdiO”]Earlier reports suggested that, he was transferred because his action was seen as sabotage of government’s much-hyped free SHS education policy, and for speaking to the media about the school’s challenges.

But clarifying the issue on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, a Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum explained that Mr. Salamat was transferred not because he spoke to the media.

He said, “If you are charging fees you want parents to pay, of course not, it’s not approved. We’ve given you resources and you have development levy which is contributions that were supposed to be made by parents. If you need anything, you can use part of the development levy to do that. Why do you have to go to the parents and ask them to pay something that the government has already paid? Nobody condones any behaviour or whatsoever that will punish any headmaster for talking to the media,” he added.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, the incoming President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu, argued that such transfers will make headteachers numb.

“What is going to happen is that, a lot of head teachers will be numbed and they will sit on the fence. They will not talk to anyone, they will not expose their problems and challenges to anyone, they will not get help, and at the end of the day, it is our boys and girls whom we have sent to school that will be suffering. If Mr. Salamat has been transferred because of the exposé at La PRESEC we are very unhappy about that, and want that transfer reversed,” Mr. Carbonu said.

Mr. Salamat had earlier been interdicted together with 18 other headmasters of second cycle schools nationwide for charging unapproved fees during the initial stages of the free SHS policy in September 2017.

Mr. Carbonu said such actions are not good for the running of government owned educational institutions the country.

“You will realize that because of the announcement that 19 head teachers have been interdicted, all heads of schools, I can assure you, have gone into the state of comatose…and that when you go there to find out about normal issues, they would not want to talk else they are transferred or victimized. If we push education to that level, we are all going to suffer for it,” he added.

Plight of La PRESEC students

The La PRESEC school was recently in the news for allegedly levying fresh students about GHs 80 to purchase plastic chairs to be used by the students due to the deplorable state of the existing ones.

The action generated public criticism with many accusing the headmaster, Samuel Salamat, of sabotaging the government’s Free SHS policy, but when Citi News visited the school, the situation was indeed dire.

Students spent the day seated on cement blocks and wooden boards due to the non-existence of desks in the school.

The situation, which was highlighted by the Citi News’ Anass Seidu attracted the CEO of McDan Shipping Company, Daniel Makorley, to donate 100 desks as a first tranche of donations to improve the school’s learning infrastructure.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The headmaster of the school, Samuel Salamat, is said to have been transferred to the Curriculum Research of Development Division (CRDD) at the Headquarters of the Ghana Education Service (G.E.S) in Accra.

[contextly_sidebar id=”BFgSB04x24E6MtrIF6BvxyznFfdqPGDA”]The transfer, an apparent punishment to Mr. Salamat, followed a stern warning issued to him by the Ministry of Education not to reveal challenges the school was being confronted with to the media.

Citi News in September 2017, reported that effective teaching and learning was being hampered at the La Presby Senior High School, as beneficiaries of government’s Free Senior High School program were forced to study in uncompleted buildings without marker boards and desks.

Students spent the day seated on cement blocks and wooden boards, due to the absence of desks in the school.

The situation, which was highlighted by the Citi News’ Anass Seidu attracted the CEO of McDan Shipping Company, Daniel Makorley, to donate 100 desks as a first tranche of donations to improve the school’s  infrastructure.

Ahead of the donation, the headmaster of the school lamented that the donation was going to see him being reprimanded by the Ministry.

GH¢80 levy

The school was recently in the news for allegedly levying fresh students about GHs 80, to purchase plastic chairs to be used by the students due to the deplorable state of the existing ones.

The action generated public criticism with many accusing the headmaster, Samuel Salamat, of sabotaging the government’s Free SHS policy, but when Citi News visited the school on Monday morning, the situation was indeed dire.

The Headmaster, Samuel Salamat, was subsequently invited by Ministry of Education to explain circumstances that led to him demanding the levy from parents.

He however continued to serve as the Headmaster of the school until he was transferred for allowing the media to cover issues in the school.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The students failed to score Grade 9 in either English or Mathematics in the exams.

[contextly_sidebar id=”UpEzBVr4j9R6t1LETB4ukXEcbsXt4eh6″]Although the date for the BECE resits have not been set yet, the Education Ministry assured the students who weren’t placed that they’ll get the opportunity to resit their papers

“Students who did resits are part of the students going to school this year. If you don’t get in you have an opportunity to resit and be part of the students placed next year” Deputy Education Minister, Yaw Osei Adutwum said.

With the introduction of the Free SHS Policy, there’s been a surge in interest in the numbers of students who have been placed in the various Senior High Schools (SHSs) this year, and those who will miss out.

However, a few of students who weren’t placed told Citi News‘ Philip Nii Lartey that they would not resit the papers even if they got a chance to do so.

“I don’t know [if I will resit the BECE]. I want to go to a technical school so I will go and work as a mason,” one of the students said.

“I will not write the papers again, I put my all into the initial exam,” another said.

Listen to the full report from Philip Nii Lartey

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The over two hundred students were unable to write this year’s English and RME papers due to a change in examination centre through no fault of theirs.

WAEC subsequently indicated that, the students will only be made to re-write the papers in February 2018.

[contextly_sidebar id=”EHXe7NIWAwGT3fO0Di6mISo5a11pmPAe”]But speaking to Citi News, the Minority Spokesperson on Education, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, said Parliament must compel the Ministry of Educaiton and WAEC to allow the students to write the papers this year.

“It was our expectation that the children will be given the opportunity to rewrite the two papers because whenever a paper is cancelled, WAEC quickly reorganizes itself and set new questions for the candidates. So we expected that having missed those two papers, WAEC should be able to organize the two for them just after the entire examination was over, but the Ministry of Education is not ready to do so. WAEC organizes the examination on behalf of the ministry of Education so it is the responsibility of the ministry to tell WAEC to organize the examination. The ministry is adamant; the minister seems not to worry about the plight of these children.”

He noted that, the committee will sit on Thursday to deliberate on the matter and will subsequently invite and question Mr. Opoku Prempeh on the matter.

“We are expecting the minister before our committee to brief us on what is preventing the ministry from ordering WAEC to conduct the examination for the children so that they could also join their colleagues in September to enter senior high school. During our meeting we will discuss issues concerning the BECE and that of the University of Education, so when we meet, we will send formally invite him to appear before the committee,” he added.

Meanwhile, the two largest teacher unions in Ghana, the Ghana National Association Teachers, GNAT, and the National Association of Graduate Teachers, NAGRAT, have lashed out at the two bodies for not showing enough interest in the matter.

GES must organize special exams if WAEC won’t 

The General Secretary of GNAT, David Ofori Acheampong, insisted that the Ghana Education Service must  force WAEC to organize the exams for the stranded candidates.

“So if you have realized that 200 students could not write the examination, what stops you from reorganizing another examination for them? They should organize supplementary exams for them immediately. That will show whether WAEC is versatile or not. WAEC conducts the examination on behalf of the Ghana government.”

He also asked GES to organize the examination for the candidates if WAEC proves difficult.

“The Ministry and Ghana Education Service should be firm. If it becomes the situation that WAEC is failing to conduct that examination the Ghana Education Service should ask its testing unit to organize some questions for the kids, let them write and be marked to enable the kids go to the secondary school,” Acheampong added.

GES must act fast

The Vice President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu, also charged GES to act fast to salvage the situation.

“It’s a matter that we don’t even need to be talking about that now. I believe that at the time that it occurred, they should have been proactive enough to have acted. You see, these are students that if they don’t write these two exams cannot proceed anywhere else. I understand that English language is part of it and English language is one of the qualifying subjects that will lead you to SHS and if it was not any fault of theirs that they could not write the examination, then the onus is on the GES to act immediately to salvage the situation,” Carbonu added.

Organise special BECE exams or face us in court

In a related development, an advocacy group, Child Rights International, has petitioned WAEC to organize a special exams for the stranded candidates immediately or face them in court.

“Please take notice that unless our clients receive a favourable response from you in this matter on or before the 5th day of July, 2017, we shall be obliged to commence legal proceedings against you for adequate remedy,” the group added in the petition.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The vehicles would be used in monitoring the programme, which aims at enhancing teaching and learning in Ghanaian schools.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vERJkhk4kcvN11RYEk5Pasu0YU1KzWMH”]Madam Cynthia Bosumtwi-Sam, Director, Basic Education Division, Ghana Education Service said the vehicles would be given to officials of the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, the National Council for Curriculum Assessment and the National Teaching Council.

“It will enable them to engage in effective monitoring and evaluation process in all the 100 districts that have been selected to benefit from the programme,” she said.

It would also aid the Ministry’s aim of strengthening and supporting human and institutional capacities to improve academic excellence in early grade reading as well as improve, expand and sustain reading outcomes,” she said.

Madam Bosumtwi-Sam said, learning especially reading was key in the life of every child and a priority to government hence the need for the Ministry to work with all contracted partners to ensure the effective implementation of PELA.

She said aside PELA, the Ministry had also initiated a reading festival as a strategy to encourage and stimulate children’s interest in reading and had also procured 4.3 million supplementary readers in Ghanaian and English languages for all public primary schools.

On the programme, Madam Bosumtwe-Sam said it was a collaboration between the USAID, the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service.

“It is aimed at supporting Ghana’s educational institutions with the goal of improving, expanding and sustaining learning outcomes for kindergarten through to grade three,” she said.

She said the programme was started in 2013 and is expected to end in 2019.

Madam Bosumtwi-sam stated that 100 districts excluding deprived districts were selected to participate in the programme based on their performance and enhancement in the educational sector.

She said measures were being put in place to take care of those in the deprived districts as well.

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Source: GNA

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