Africa Education Watch (AEW) has led a delegation of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Ghana, including ActionAid, World Vision, the SGD 4 Platform and the Ghana TVET Coalition, to present the Civil Society Education Manifesto 2020 to the Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Hon. Freddie Blay.

In the Education Manifesto, the CSOs call for a free TVET policy for both the formal and informal sector. The CSOs also call for the extension of free compulsory universal basic education to the nursery stage, increased budgetary allocation to education from 13 percent to 20 percent of the national budget. The CSO Education Manifesto calls for the introduction of a local language policy that permits flexibility in instruction by adopting local languages to teach children in the lower primary, especially in indigenous communities. The manifesto also calls for the scrapping of teacher trainee allowance policy, for it to be replaced with student’s loans and scholarships.

Hon. Freddie Blay welcomed the policy suggestions and encouraged further engagement with the Education Committee of the Party.

Over 30 CSOs including Oxfam, Northern Network for Education Development (NNED), Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Plan Ghana among others took part in the deliberations leading to the development of the manifesto. The manifesto is on policies that should command the priority attention of political parties as they develop their election manifestoes ahead of the December 2020 elections.

It was noted that the CSOs will make a similar presentation to the National Democratic Congress.

Source: Modern Ghana

Photo source: Sean MacEntee