Unfunded NCCE gives GH¢100 to each district office for coronavirus education

The poor state of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has always been known but this coronavirus pandemic has further exposed how governments have been starving the commission of funding, thereby denying the Ghanaian taxpayer civic and other forms of education that it is mandated to be carried out.

The chairperson of the commission, Josephine Nkrumah revealed in a recent interview on state-owned Ghana Television that the commission’s allocation to its satellite districts across the country for anti-coronavirus education campaign is GH¢100.

“We were able to share with our staff GH¢100 per district to undertake their works,” she said, revealing further that donations from benevolent individuals and institutions have funded most of its public mandates.

“For funding, we have serious challenges and also logistical constraints. This year, for instance, we have not received any money at all from the government, this year our goods and services budget was GH¢7 million,” she said.

The chairperson appealed for public support to enable it to reach Ghanaians with its COVID-19 education campaign messages.

She urged institutions that may not be making use of their vehicles to lend them to the NCCE to intensify its public education.

The NCCE is the foremost institution that uses both local and English language to educate citizens about their civic rights and responsibilities.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, it has played a key role in educating communities on the need to observe precautionary measures.

Two weeks ago, the NCCE rolled-out a four-week COVID-19 public education campaign in the Eastern Region to equip citizens with the knowledge on how to contain the spread of the virus.

That campaign was heavily supported by the Church of Pentecost, which provided a mobile cinema van to sensitise citizens within the region.

As of Sunday, April 26, the number of cases recorded is 1550 with 155 recoveries and 11 deaths.