Schools infrastructural upscale for quality learning - SEND Ghana

There is the need to ensure that the infrastructural needs of schools, especially those in the most deprived areas, are well addressed, Madam Harriet Nuamah Agyemang, Senior Programme Officer, SEND Ghana has stated.

She emphasised the need to address inequality in the educational system, which has created a situation where some students are much more privileged than others, by finding themselves in well-endowed institutions.

Madam Agyemang stated this in Accra during a National Engagement to address inequality amongst educational institutions in the country.

The programme was organised by SEND Ghana and was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education, and a cross-section of stakeholders in the educational sector.

She said the education of the individual is at the core of socio-economic growth, it is therefore unfortunate that some schools, especially in the rural areas, were in dire need of infrastructural development.

These infrastructural short-falls have a negative effect on students in those schools, concerning their learning needs, and eventual performance in final year examination.

Madam Agyemang said it was worth noting that one key means of bridging the gap between the rich and poor, was education, adding that if this was done effectively, "the country will be the overall winner".

She urged the government and all other stakeholders in the educational sector, to keep brainstorming on ways to ensure quality education for all, towards securing the socio-economic growth of the country.

Mr Moses Gemeh, Principal Programme Officer, Ministry of Education, said the Ministry was liaising with SEND Ghana to address inequalities in the educational system, to ensure that all children had equal access to quality education.

He said currently the Ministry was in the process of training teachers on how to handle students, by their respective learning needs.

Mr Gemeh observed that sometimes, some students fell behind in their studies, only because they needed a different teaching approach.

He said addressing these needs and several others, was crucial to halting situations that unfairly set some students ahead of others.

Dr Emmanuel Ayifah, Deputy Country Director, SEND Ghana, said the forum was to bring up challenges facing the education sector and to also share ideas on the best way to resolve these challenges.

He said the dialogue was not going to end with the close of the forum, adding that there would be a further visitation to the rightful authorities, towards ensuring that the country's educational institutions, irrespective of where they might be located, were well resourced enough to ensure, that the educational needs of students are well catered for.