The Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwah has called for an active stakeholder participation in education, which forms part of the SDG 4.
He explained that the Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG 4), requires aggressive policies and programmes that place citizens and Civil Society Organizations in major decision making processes in the educational sector.
Speaking at the launch of Global Action Week for Education 2018, organised by the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition in Accra, Prof Opoku-Amankwah said there was the need to strengthen citizen participation and accountability in education management to meet the needs and rights of children.
The programme’s theme, was “Strengthening Citizen Participation and Accountability in Education Management: A Milestone for Achieving SDG4”.
The SDG 4 ensures that all girls and boys complete free primary and secondary schooling by 2030. It also aims to provide equal access to affordable vocational training, to eliminate gender and wealth disparities, and achieve universal access to quality higher education.
However, Prof. Opoku-Amankwah said strengthening citizen participation in education management could not be rested only on advocacy, but through the identification of problems confronting the sector and providing alternative solutions.
“Participation also include the active involvement through consultation and providing feedback on issues to improve service delivery, accountability in education management, proper evaluation of institutional process and school administrative procedure to ensure quality education,” he said.
The objective of the GES in the National Medium Term Development Plan, he explained, was to increase inclusive and equitable access and participation in education at all levels and to improve management of education service delivery.
Mr. Bright Appiah, the Executive Council Chair, GNECC urged government to provide the enabling environment that would be convenient for students to improve teaching and learning in schools.
He said the Coalition was ready to support government in the attainment of the SDG4 and encouraged all to be involved in improving the country’s educational development agenda.
The Coalition, as part of activities lined-up for the Global Action Week, will organize programmes on specific areas of topics across the regions including education in urban slums, learning outcomes, inclusive education, education access and finance, among others.
By Wisdom Jonny-Nuekpe
