Government Targets 10000 Most Disadvantaged Schools – Minister

The Minister for Education, Hon. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has disclosed that the Government of Ghana, under its Ghana Accountability and Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP), seeks to improve the quality of low performing basic education schools and strengthen education sector equity and accountability in Ghana.

The project is targeting 10000 most disadvantaged schools based on examination performance. It will also support the training of teachers, manage class sizes and improve systems for accountability, national assessments, and teacher management.

The Minister made this revelation when he addressed the 9th Innovation Africa Ministerial Summit currently underway in Accra. He stated that the various GALOP disbursement indicators translates into real, practical means by which the government aims to improve teaching and learning in our schools and ultimately drive up learning outcomes. The total project funding amounts to US$ 174m, of which US$150m is from the World Bank International Development Association and US$ 23.9m is a GPE Grant.

Dr. Prempeh, who is also the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, further set out the government’s initiatives in addressing the challenges the government inherited in the education sector when it took over the reins of the country in January 2017. These initiatives include curriculum reform, improving access to SHS through the Free SHS programme, supply of teaching and learning material, teacher education and professionalization initiatives and school inspection and accountability through the National Inspectorate Board, among others.

Dr. Prempeh also revealed that the African Union through the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and African Development Bank is operationalizing the African Education Fund to facilitate the skills needed for Africa’s industrialization and that Ghana has pledged UD$2 million to the Fund.

The summit, which has attracted over 250 ministers, officials and private sector officials from Africa and beyond, is being organized by AfricaBrains and seeks to explore the nexus between education and technology in a bid to improve learning outcomes through innovative means. It will be addressed tomorrow by President Akufo-Addo and will run until Thursday.