The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) on Monday launched the 2022 Global Action Week for Education (GAWE) celebration.

The event, which has been themed, “Building Forward a Resilient Pre-Tertiary Education Through Inclusive Planning,” seeks to bring together relevant stakeholders to dialogue on actions for education in times of emergencies.

It also aims to increase domestic funding of education targeted at marginalised groups and extend education to all children.

Highlighting the importance of the occasion, the Chairperson for the occasion, Dr. Esther Oduraa Ofei-Aboagye said education is the backbone of a strong country.

She opined that the week-long celebration will help relevant stakeholders engage in discussions on how digitalisation can enhance equal learning opportunities.

“Here in Ghana, it has served a valuable purpose for signaling the importance of aligning our priorities to the development we aspire in education and has fostered a coherent voice among stakeholders.

“Considering the theme for this year’s celebration, it will help us prioritise increased domestic funding that will target the marginalised. We must look within, we can’t expect outsiders to build our children wherever they are,” she said.

Speaking at the launch on Monday, GNECC’s Chairperson, Joseph Atsu Homadzi called on the Education Ministry to as a matter of urgency release textbooks for the new curriculum.

The Education advocate said the lack of textbooks makes it difficult for children to acquire the desired quality of education.

“Since the introduction of the new curriculum in 2019, we are yet to receive the accompanying textbooks. I want to encourage the Ministry of Education to come out and work quickly on the production of textbooks so that the teachers and children can have it for effective teaching and learning.”

He also recommended that the Ghana Education Service and the Education Ministry make the books in copies that can be accessible and legible to children with special needs.

“I want to appeal that as they come up with the textbooks for students, brail copies must be available for the blind and large print for low vision children and must be developed in other accessible formats for other children with special needs,” he noted.

Mr. Homadzi further noted that policy makers and stakeholders have responsibilities to play in the education for children.

“Irrespective of the socio-cultural background of the child, education is a right and the State must guarantee that. So we want to remind stakeholders and policy makers that the Ghanaian child needs quality education, thus, we have a responsibility towards the Ghanaian child.”

Taking their turns, representatives of Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), who graced the occasion, pledged their unwavering support to the advocacy of GNECC for the benefit of the country’s education sector.