Education Minister Betty Mould Iddrisu has called for a national debate on financing education in the country. Ghana spends over nine percent of its GDP on education, three percent more than the average worldwide. Speaking on Joy FM's Super Morning Show, Mrs. Betty Mould Iddrisu said the current state financing structure is not sustainable. “I have asked my colleagues at the ministry to design a debate over this year on how [we can] finance education in Ghana. Where are we going to? Can we continue in what is clearly an unsustainable manner in financing education?” she asked. The minister said while the government “has more than lived up to its responsibilities,…for example, in terms of university education, can we continue – not only giving almost free university, tertiary education – but also providing students loans.” A report released by the Ghana Education Service this month indicates that 64 per cent of pupils across the country cannot read and write. Responding to the report, the Education Minister said her minister will soon set up two education councils to regulate teaching standards and also oversee the decentralization of education in the country. Source: Joy News/Ghana