Teacher Unions call for amendment of Ghana Education Act,
Teacher unions in education and civil society organisations has called on government to make the necessary amendments to existing regulatory regimes for private schools.
The Unions say, when this is done it would reflect its obligations consistent with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) four.
Mr Stanislaus Nabomi, General Secretary of National Association of Graduate Teacher (NAGRAT), speaking at an event to review the National Strategic Plan on Commercialisation of Education in Ghana said the growing commercialisation and privatisation of education has received endorsement from some development partners.
He said most recently, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) expressed concern about the private education in the country developing very quickly without the necessary supervision regarding the condition enrolment, quality of education provided among others.
He said the threat posed by commercialisation has also been recognised by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, adding that soon it may not be an exaggeration to say that privatisation is supplanting public education instead of supplementing it.
He said Omega school franchise in the country was an example of this trend, which was a chain of ‘low-fee’ private school targeting poorest families.
“The chain has grown to over 38 schools delivering schooling to over 20,000 students across the country; they claim that their model is affordable ‘pay-as-you-learn’,” he added.
Mr Nabomi said Omega’s operation were driven by profit motive and the expansion of the school was a manifestation of the growing commercialisation and privatisation of education in Ghana and it is a threat to the achievement of the UN SDG adopted in 2015.
Mr Samuel Frank Dadzie, Secretary, the National Steering Committee Against Commercialisation and Privatisation of Education in Ghana said commercialisation and privatisation makes education a commodity and students customers.
He called on government to increase investment in infrastructure in public schools, especially at the basic level.
He said education unions must demand an increase in investment in teacher education including continuous professional development.
Mr Angelo Gavrielatos, Executive Director, Education International, commended the teacher Unions for their advocacy role to reserve the commercialisation of education in Ghana.
He, therefore, called on governments to implement and enforce legislation framework to ensure the achievement of quality education.
Source: GNA