The Chairperson of the National Education Forum Committee, Professor George KT Oduro, has expressed concern about the neglect of basic education.
According to him, prioritising basic education was crucial to lay a strong foundation and better prepare students for higher education.
Prof. Oduro made this remarks in Accra yesterday during the National Education Forum Validation Conference organised by the Ministry of Education to critically examine issues and challenges in the education sector and seek opinions from relevant stakeholders.
“One key issue relates to the fact that less attention has been given to basic education. And so there is a call on government to pay particular attention to that level”, he emphasised.
At the secondary school level, Prof. Oduro noted that recommendations were made proposing that parents who wished to enrol their children in boarding schools should bear the costs.
Also, another suggestion he raised was the need for the government to give one meal to all students, as a strategic measure to alleviate the financial burden on the government.
At the tertiary school level, Prof. Oduro stated that politicisation, which had characterised the governance of tertiary institution, was one issue which strongly came up.
“Stakeholders complain there is too much interference in activities of tertiary institutions, that governing councils are not allowed to operate as they should,” he said.
For his part, the Executive Director at Africa Education Watch, Mr Kofi Asare, emphasised the need for consensus-building and prioritisation of recommendations, given the numerous challenges facing the education sector.
“So this validation will be unique in the sense that beyond trying to validate or to confirm what the proposal might be, we will also try to build consensus on how to progress in respect of opposing recommendations,” he explained.
Mr Asare again proposed a framework for prioritisation, categorising issues into short-term (within a year), medium-term (2026-2029), and long-term (post-2029) goals to improve the education system in the country.
He said curriculum relevance was an issue, with some stakeholders in the education industry arguing that many programmes did not align with the needs of industry and the labour market.
The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, called for emphasis on cross-cutting issues, such as teacher mobility, curriculum, and infrastructure.
He also stressed the need for effective regulation and governance in the education sector.
BY AGNES OWUSU
