Cape Coast — The Director General of the Institute of Educational Planning and Administration of the University of Cape Coast, Dr Michael Boakye-Yiadom, has called for support from all sectors of the society in financing education in the country.
He noted that the support from stakeholders would contribute towards improving quality education.
He, therefore, called for the adoption of innovative ways towards getting everybody to be in school to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on education as well as support for financing education for enhanced quality.
Dr Boakye-Yiadom made the call at a forum held in Cape Coast on Tuesday to mark this year's International Day of Education held on the theme: "Invest in People, Prioritise Education".
It was organised by the Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, a UNESCO category two institution that focuses on training educational planners and administrators in collaboration with the Cape Coast office of the Ghana Education Service and the University Practice Senior High School.
Dr Boakye-Yiadom explained that the allocation of 12 per cent budgetary allocation for this year, the lowest in recent years, demonstrated the decline of budgetary support towards the education sector.
According to him, the government of Ghana during an international educational forum in 2001 pledged a minimum of 23 per cent of budgetary allocations to education.
He further noted the challenge of public funding of education for nations, including developing countries, and urged stakeholders to support the financing of education.
Dr Boakye-Yiadom underscored the need for investment at all levels of education in the areas of infrastructure and teacher development.
That, he explained, would contribute to increasing access as well as improving quality in education.
He, therefore, stressed the need for the country to assiduously work towards achieving the tenets of the Sustainable Development Goals on education.
He indicated that about 1.2 million Ghanaians between the ages of four and 17 were out of school.
Out of the number, he explained that almost one million had never been in school.
He appealed to all stakeholders to come up with strategies to sensitise individuals, both at local and national levels, about the importance of education.
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He explained that visits to some of the communities in and around Cape Coast revealed that some of the children were not in school because they still did not understand the importance of education.
Dr Boakye-Yiadom stated that the IEPA was considering developing mentors in the various communities nationwide to encourage their peers on the need for them to take education seriously.
He said if every young person in school encouraged one person to go to school, the problem would be almost solved.
The Cape Coast Metropolitan Director of Education, Ms Phyllis Krobea-Asante, in her address, explained that education was a prerequisite for the development of any society.
She called on government to increase the allocation of budgetary support to education from 12 per cent to 23 per cent.
She also called for the sustenance of interventions being made by the nation to prioritise education towards creating the needed human resource base for the nation's transformation.
"The best way to ensure growth and development as well as bridging the gap between the poor and the rich is through education," she said
