Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) has called on the government to take necessary steps to improve the poor performance of pupils at the basic level. The Coalition in a statement signed by its National Co-ordinator, Leslie Tettey, said even though its appreciates the various interventions by the government in the education sector, little is being done to address the issue of poor learning outcomes at the basic level. “The Coalition is therefore calling on government to take steps to address poor performance at the basic level, by initiating specific programmes on similar scales (budgetary support) to address the long known measures that will improve learning outcomes at the basic level. We believe that if this issue is not tackled with all the seriousness it deserves, the gains in access may decline in the near future because most parents/guardians may have a perception that, there is no value in sending their children to school and may consider it ‘a waste of time’.” Below is the full statement GHANA NATIONAL EDUCATION CAMPAIGN COALITION – GNECC PRESS STATEMENT IN REACTION TO THE PRESIDENT’S STATE OF NATION ADDRESS 2012 The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition has followed with keen interest the State of the Nation Address delivered by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Ghana, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills. As an education network, we appreciate the various government interventions in the education sector; however, we have noticed that, little is being done by Government to address the issue of poor learning outcomes at the basic level. According to the National Education Assessment (NEA) tests in 2009, less than 30% of primary school children reach proficiency levels in English and Mathematics. In 2011, over 40% of candidates who sat for the BECE failed the examination and could not gain placement in any of the second cycle institutions, representing a below average performance. Enrollment rates have however increased at the basic level. This clearly shows a gain in access without any corresponding action to improve learning. Our concern is that most of the current basic education interventions such as the Capitation Grant, School Feeding Programme, Free School Uniforms, have all sought to increase access and participation. While these investments are commendable, they are being done without due consideration to equally critical issues which could improve the quality of basic education. The Coalition’s assessment indicates that key drivers for improvement in quality currently receive less attention in terms of policy and budgetary support. These include key issues such as effective teacher deployment (quality of teachers in deprived districts); effective supervision, availability and effective utilization of teaching and learning materials including textbooks, and the provision of gender friendly school environments. In our view these are critical to ensure improvement in learning outcomes and deserve better attention in the face of current poor performance levels in public basic schools. The Coalition is therefore calling on government to take steps to address poor performance at the basic level, by initiating specific programmes on similar scales (budgetary support) to address the long known measures that will improve learning outcomes at the basic level. We believe that if this issue is not tackled with all the seriousness it deserves, the gains in access may decline in the near future because most parents/guardians may have a perception that, there is no value in sending their children to school and may consider it “a waste of time”. The Coalition also has the following concerns: Basic School Infrastructure Development The President indicated that, 1,700 classroom blocks for schools under trees have been awarded for construction and when completed will reduce the 4,320 schools under trees that existed in 2009 to about 40%. While these efforts are laudable, the Coalition views the pace at which schools under trees are being replaced as very slow and worrying. We call on Government to invest more in this area to achieve the necessary success that we all anticipate. We also wish to call for due diligence by the appropriate supervisory agencies on these projects towards ensuring that quality and standards of the work are not compromised. Also, the new structures must be gender and disability friendly. Free School Uniforms and Teaching and Learning Materials Policy The Coalition is calling for transparency in the allocation and distribution of all educational resources including free school uniforms to pupils in public basic schools. We are concerned that since the introduction of the free school uniform programme in 2009, Government has not made public any clear guidelines for distribution leaving the intervention opens to exploitation and waste at the expense of the tax payer. Our concern stems from evidence of leakages in the distribution of educational materials. A research conducted by GNECC in 2010 on the distribution of educational materials including textbooks indicated variances recorded between the number of book dispatched by District Education Offices and those received by schools. We therefore call for effective monitoring systems at all levels to ensure value for money on the valuable educational resources that are meant for enhancing learning in schools. We urge Government to provide the appropriate support to the state agencies mandated to monitor the distribution and utilization of these vital resources. It is the earnest hope of GNECC that Government will make good its promise not to compromise on its mandated commitments to economic governance including the provision of quality basic education for all at the expense of electioneering campaigning. Signed Leslie Tettey National Co-ordinator Thursday, February 23, 2012