Officials of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and the Education Financing and Partnership Initiative (EFPI) have explained what the two initiatives are about, how they operate and the various activities they undertake.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show, Deputy Director of GETFund Adwoa Amankwah Boateng Appiah, Senior Manager of EFPI Shine Hakeem Torsu and Principal Manager of Corporate Affairs Bailon Afful explained how EFPI came about and some of the interventions undertaken by GETFund.

According to the officials, the mandate of GETFund is to provide supplementary government funding for educational infrastructure and facilities within the public sector, from the pre-tertiary to tertiary levels.

They said the Fund also provides some scholarship support for tertiary and post-tertiary education.

Mr Bailon Afful, however, stressed that scholarships account for only a small portion of GETFund’s activities, contrary to the perception that the Fund is mainly focused on scholarships.

“Everyone thinks GETFund is all about scholarships, but scholarships are about 5% of what GETFund does. What we do at GETFund is providing infrastructural support, and we know government alone cannot do it,” he said.

How EFPI came about

Mr Afful further explained that when the new administrator of GETFund, Paul Agyei, was employed in February 2005, he tapped into an aspect of the Act where there was an “element of funding” that had not been utilised in the past.

He said this led to the formation of the fundraising department.

“Within the fundraising department, we formed the Education Financing and Partnership Initiative,” he added.

Madam Adwoa Amankwah Boateng Appiah also explained the purpose of EFPI, saying it was established to complement government funding for education.

“Education Financing and Partnership Initiative is a GETFund initiative that was designed to complement what we are receiving from the government,” she said.

According to her, EFPI was not established to replace government funding but rather to provide additional support.

“EFPI is not there to replace what government is giving them, but it is only there to support what they are receiving,” she added.

Areas of focus

Mr Torsu outlined some of the major areas the initiative is focusing on.

He said these include building educational infrastructure, particularly classrooms; supporting Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET); improving STEM education; and providing essential needs such as furniture and other educational materials.

The officials also noted that the GETFund levy remains a vital part of the government’s support for education, which the Fund continues to utilise.

However, they said there was more that could be done to support the education sector.

They explained that EFPI was therefore introduced to bring on board the private sector, alumni associations, religious bodies, and individuals to support and complement what the government is already doing.