Budget For Textbooks And Others Decreased By 43%, According To Eduwatch CEO
An analysis of the Goods and Services budget of the MoE from which Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) and Free SHS are funded, comprising among others Teaching and Learning Resources, reveal a disturbing spectacle:
a. The allocation to FCUBE decreased by 43% from GHC 292 million in 2022 to GHC 167 million in 2023. Over 6 million children are involved here.
b. The allocation to fSHS/TVET increased by 28% from GHC 2.3 billion to about GHC 3 billion. About 1.3 million children are involved here.
See also: Tears Of Joy For Kofi Asare After Seeing Two Underprivileged Students Through University.
The Goods and Services budget is the source of Teaching and Learning Resources (TLRs), including the Capitation Grant, examination subsidy. feeding grants to special schools and the entire cost of free SHS, which is made up of food, uniforms and TLRs.
The cut willl be the reason why textbooks, learning materials, capitation grant, feeding grant for special schools willl continue to be in deficit supply or arrears.
Even more disturbing is the fact that, going by the trends in the past five years, not more than 60% of the paltry allocation may be released for execution by end of 2023.
See also: Cheating In BECE Is An Equity Intervention, Allow Us. Eduwatch Told
According to the Master Card Foundation (MCF), across the African continent, the potential for a trade off between free basic education and free secondary is real, due to resource constraints. Some 1 million children are not in basic school due to limited access opportunities.
MCF however advices that, the trade off, leading to the neglect of basic education, could be avoided if countries adopt cost efficient approaches to free secondary.
This trade off is pretty obvious in the 2023 budget.
We must improve cost efficiency under the free SHS programme. Shying away from the targetting conversation helps none; it only negatively hurts the delivery of free basic education, the largest social intervention programme in the education sector.
Source: Kofi Asare of Africa Education Watch
For information that you will not get on TV or radio:
Click here to join EDUCATIVE NEWS ROOM on WhatsApp
Click here to join EDUCATIVE NEWS ROOM on Telegram
Click here to join EDUCATIVE NEWS ROOM on Facebook
About Author
Join our social media platforms
Join Educative News Room for regular updates about related topics
Join Telegram or Join WhatsApp or Join Facebook or Join Twitter(X)