Conducive educational environment needed to achieve SDG 4 – GNECC

The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), a civil society organization, has advocated the creation of a more conducive educational environment to accelerate the nation’s attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Four.

The SDG 4 enjoins countries to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, while also promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.

“In spite of the gains made over the years in addressing our educational deficit at the basic level, GNECC is of the opinion that a lot more still have to be done for the realization of our aspirations,” Mr. John Kwadwo Owusu, Ashanti Regional Coordinator of the Coalition, noted.

Addressing a stakeholders’ forum in Kumasi, he pointed out that: “Often, the school environment is not conducive for learning - classes are overcrowded, water and sanitation facilities are lacking, and books are in short supply.”

He cited how textbooks such as those relating to English language were woefully inadequate in serving the needs of basic schools, saying this was a disincentive to promoting literacy in the country.

Additionally, the delay in releasing the Capitation Grant also comes with its own challenges as it affected the smooth running of the beneficiary schools, especially in attending to their pressing needs.

The forum was organized by GNECC on the theme “Taking Action to Address Inequalities and Exclusion in Education for the Achievement of SDG Four - My Education: My Right.”

It was part of activities to mark this year’s ‘Global Action Week’, a platform used to highlight key issues affecting quality education delivery for redress.

Mr. Owusu said as at 2016, the net enrolment ratio reached 92 per cent at the primary level, and 50 per cent at the Junior High School level, saying studies indicated that girls were disproportionately disadvantaged, especially during the transition to the senior secondary education.

He stressed the need for the nation to place basic education as a priority in both policy and practice, and further entreated the private sector to invest resources in the development of educational tools and facilities for progress.

Mr. Samuel Oppong-Amoah, an educationist, said it behooves on stakeholders to work in unison to eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education.

It was also important that by 2030, the nation worked assiduously for all youth and a substantial proportion of adults to achieve literacy and numeracy.