A human rights advocacy NGO called ActionAid Ghana has urged the government to take concrete steps to finance public, equitable, inclusive, and free education.
"Government must take decisive, forward-thinking, and expedient actions to reconfigure budget allocations in favor of the education sector and secure the future of our teeming youngsters who are in danger of being left behind," it stated.
ActionAid Ghana expressed concern that the low budgetary allocation might hinder efforts to build and upgrade gender- and child-friendly educational facilities that ensure secure, non-violent, inclusive, and productive learning environments for all.
It stated that budgetary allocation would drop from 4% to 3% of GDP and 15%. The government's overall spending fell short of the 2030 education framework's targets in 2022 and 2023 by 5% to 12.97%, respectively.
In addition to promoting lifelong opportunities for all, Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aims to ensure that "all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and high-quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes by 2030.".
Additionally, as part of the Education 2030 Framework for Action, UNESCO member states agreed to devote four to six percent of their GDP and/or at least fifteen to twenty percent of their total public spending to all forms of education, with a particular emphasis on basic education.
With 27% of all government spending going toward education in 2012—equivalent to 8% of GDP—Ghana saw the highest allocation of educational spending overall in recent memory.
A significant portion of that year's budgetary allocation for education—47.5 percent—went to basic education, with the majority going toward the funding of new elementary and middle schools.
Sadly, Ghana's allocations for education spending have not increased above 24%.
The state's decision to delegate its responsibility for financing education to private sector providers has resulted in a continuing challenge with public education funding in Ghana, which is largely the result of budgetary demands from competing economic sectors.
Over time, this has had a negative impact on the availability and standard of public basic education.
So, in honor of the fifth International Education Day, which has as its theme: "To invest in people, prioritize education. ActionAid Ghana urged the Ministry of Finance and Education to "address the unacceptable low budgetary allocation to the education sector.".
In a statement, Mr. John Nkaw, Country Director for ActionAid Ghana, said: "While acknowledging that parliament has passed the tax exemptions bill into law, we believe that the expenditure gap can be addressed if the government improves domestic resource mobilization by enforcing provisions of the tax exemption bill, curbs tax leakages, and increases the efficiency of educational investments to raise enough money for education financing. ".
He added that the government's funding for education was ultimately negatively impacted by tax incentives and other illicit losses to the taxpayer, but that the resources mobilized could be used to upgrade the facilities for students in schools, provide food for students, and hire more teachers.
According to a statement from ActionAid, "education is a human right, a public good, and a public responsibility as enshrined in Article 25 of the 1992 Constitution which guarantees that, all persons shall have the right to equal educational opportunities and facilities and with a view to achieving the full realization of that right.". ”.
ActionAid Ghana bemoaned the outlook for basic education, which had an average annual expenditure growth set at 3% less than the anticipated rate of inflation.
As a result, it was stated, without increased investments, Ghana might not succeed in achieving the desired gender equality and as a result, might not achieve the goal of ending the poverty cycle that was leaving millions of children, youth, and adults behind.