Localizing education

In 1980/1981, just before the reform began, education’s share of the national recurrent budget was 17 per cent, but by 1994 it had reached a peak of 41 per cent, with a budget of 187 billion Cedis ($100 million). Although it dropped to 35 per cent in 1997, the share of the education budget devoted to primary schooling climbed to 66 per cent this year, from 44 per cent in 1984. 

After a decade of reform, we are working to improve the quality of instruction, strengthen and decentralize management and make sure more children have a seat in the schoolroom. In 1996, we initiated a plan for Free, Compulsory and Universal Basic Education, or FCUBE, aimed at expanding access, improving teaching quality and increasing efficiency in administration. 

One of our main objectives is to localize education. District Education Oversight Committees and local School Management Committees have been established nationwide to participate in teacher recruitment and school upkeep. FCUBE also provides scholarships for girls. The quality of teaching is receiving a big boost with teacher colleges earmarked for renovations and new training programmes. 
 

One of the goals of Ghana's education reform programme is to get more girls in the classroom. In the rural town of Tamale in northern Ghana, a girl in primary school uses a stone for a seat.

A new curriculum is being developed, and our policy requiring that children be taught in their mother tongue for the first three years of primary school will be more vigorously pursued. The curriculum will continue to address new challenges and trends, such as teen pregnancy, drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, safe motherhood and the environment. Science resource centres are being established in all 110 districts, building know-how in science and computer literacy to prepare our children for the future—and the present. 

The challenges faced by all countries in fulfilling people’s human rights are substantial. Education is not only a fundamental right, it is also the best tool governments have for guaranteeing that their citizens have the ability to claim their other rights. 

In the early 1990s, more than one quarter of the 94 million children who enrolled in school in developing countries each year did not reach the fifth grade. More than 25 million girls and boys walked through the classroom door full of excitement and anticipation—only to have their hopes thwarted. That is a human tragedy. If we can find the will, we can create schools that fulfil their hopes and dreams. 
 

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