Stakeholders present at a National Forum on Girls’ Education have urged the government to increase its budget allocation towards education, with a particular focus on addressing the barriers that prevent young girls from accessing education in the country.
They noted that the current budget allocation towards basic education was insufficient, leading to many children missing out on formal education.
The barriers hindering girls’ access to education were identified as poverty, inadequate infrastructure, early marriage, sexual harassment, and early pregnancy.
The stakeholders further emphasized the need to construct more public educational infrastructure with sufficient school supplies, rather than solely relying on the private sector.
Regarding budget allocation, the stakeholders referenced an associate for change policy brief from 2022, which showed that the Ministry of Education’s Strategic Plan from 2018 to 2030 only committed one percent of its basic education budget to support the Complementary Basic Education programme.
They argued that this was not enough, especially as complementary education was entirely donor-funded until 2020, and the 2023 budget only allocated GH₵2.1 million for it.
The forum was organized by the Star Ghana Foundation (SGF) in Accra, aimed at exploring changes in barriers to girls’ education in the country and assessing existing strategies for promoting girls’ education, such as re-entry for pregnant schoolgirls.
The Project Manager at SGF, Dr Ernestina Tetteh, delivered a Scope Review on the Strategies for Promoting Girl’s Education in Ghana, noting that while several strategies and interventions had been implemented to improve education, the impact made so far could not be assessed due to a lack of coordination among non-state actors.
In terms of the review, Dr Tetteh mentioned that Ghana had achieved gender parity, but there was still a high gender disparity at higher levels.
Poverty and cost-related challenges remained the top barriers to girls’ access to education, with hygiene-related challenges and teenage pregnancy-related drop-out issues also identified.
Dr Tetteh recommended the provision of materials to support girls who return to school after pregnancy, a friendly environment with adequate hygiene and sanitation, and the allocation of a budget to ensure that these girls are enrolled, retained, and complete their education.
She further called for improved partnerships and coordination among stakeholders to effectively promote girls’ education.
Kofi Asare, the Executive Director of Africa Education Network, reiterated the need for an improved budget allocation that prioritizes education in the country, with an effective budget execution method adopted to ensure children receive quality education.
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