Public basic schools all around the nation require more than one million desks to enable successful teaching and learning, according to Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), a think tank and educational consultant.
It claimed that as of 2021, 2,330,893 students in basic schools lacked access to writing and sitting facilities.
Out of that figure, it claimed that 596,949 were in kindergarten, 1,308,479 were in primary school, and 425,465 were in junior high school (JHS), and that over a million desks were required to remedy the problem because the country used a twin desk policy at the elementary school level.
During a presentation during the Global Action Week for Education (GAWE) launch by the Ghana Ministry of Education, Divine Kpe, a Senior Programme Officer of Eduwatch, made this known during a presentation hosted in Accra by the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC).
Dr. Peter Obeng Asamoah, executive director of the Ghana Blind Union (GBU), served as its chairman.
The celebration's main objective was to raise awareness of the fourth and final Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which is to "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all."
Mr. Kpe said that the furniture shortage was a result of secondary infrastructure receiving more financing than the fundamental level.
He said that the large desk gap was one of the main reasons some parents chose not to take their kids to school, according to the data that was available.
He said, "The lack of desks in schools affects children's academic performance and may cause children to not feel comfortable staying in school, putting them at risk of dropping out of school."
Way ahead
In order to empower local residents to demand that local government take steps to solve the issue, Mr. Kpe asked the media and civil society organizations (CSOs) to inform the people and the government about the consequences of the desk situation in basic schools for achieving SDG 4.
He demanded that the GETFund's funding ceiling be removed and that the mechanism for allocating capital expenditures (CAPEX) be revised to better reflect the demands of basic education infrastructure.
message the government
Joshua Nyumuah, vice chairman of the GNECC, claimed that despite the government's best efforts, additional funding was required to enter the sector in order to prevent an "educational accident."
We must utilize all available resources to urge Ghana to take the necessary action since education is not a privilege but rather a human right that is established in SDG 4 and for which GNECC is fighting.
Stakeholders in the educational field and GNECC partners sent expressions of support.
ActionAid, Oxfam, CAMFED, the Ghana National Association of Teachers, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, the Ghana Education Service, and the Complementary Education Agency were among them.
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