EduWatch decries inequities in education budget allocation

There are significant inequities in education spending among the various levels with more attention going to secondary education to the detriment of the other levels, Africa Education Watch has said.

The education policy research and advocacy organization stated this in its analysis of the 2023 education budget made available to the Ghana News Agency by Mr. Kofi Asare, the Executive Director of EduWatch.

The analysis noted that the inequities were evident in the proportion of the government's discretionary budget from Goods and Services and Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) that was going into secondary education, compared to basic education, special and inclusive education, and the other sub-sectors.

It said with the exception of the free SHS/TVET that received an increased allocation of about 30 per cent, basic education, special education, and tertiary education all experienced significant reductions in their Goods and Services budgets.

It added that basic education and special education were experiencing about a 40 per cent decline in allocation as compared to 2022.

EduWatch stated that a similar decline of 30 per cent in the management budget of the Ministry of Education and by extension, Ghana Education Service offices implied fewer funds for providing Teaching and Learning Resources and managing education at the district, regional and national levels in 2023.

This, it noted, has implications for quality assurance in the teaching and learning space.

On the distribution of CAPEX, it observed that it continued to discriminate against basic education, where the highest infrastructure deficit was recorded.

“This negatively affects the government's ability to remove the over 5,000 schools under trees, sheds, and dilapidated structures, and provide desks for the 40 per cent of pupils without desks in basic schools.”