Africa Education Watch urges government to create basic education policy

Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) has called on the Ghanaian government to develop and implement a comprehensive, fully costed policy for public basic schools. The advocacy group argues that such a policy is essential to streamline the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) initiative, which has lacked a formal guiding framework for over two decades. Without a clear policy, the group warns that the management of basic education remains disorganized, with overlapping responsibilities among various stakeholders that lead to inefficiencies in the sector.

A recent study conducted by Eduwatch revealed significant financial burdens on parents, despite the constitutional mandate for free education. The research, which sampled 200 parents from multiple districts across the country, found that 99% of respondents had paid out-of-pocket for at least one item that should have been publicly financed. These hidden costs cover ten different items, ranging from school equipment to administrative fees, resulting in a median annual expenditure of GH₵620.67 per child.

Eduwatch notes that these high costs undermine the very essence of the "free" component of the FCUBE programme. The absence of a defined policy creates a vacuum where schools often resort to charging parents for essential resources that the state has failed to provide. This lack of financial clarity not only places a strain on low-income households but also complicates the roles of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and local education authorities, who operate without clear parameters on what is strictly funded by the state.

The group emphasizes that the current situation poses a direct threat to Ghana's ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Four, which aims for inclusive and equitable quality education for all. By establishing a fully costed policy, the government would be able to define the exact parameters of what is free and ensure that funding gaps are systematically addressed. Eduwatch is pushing for this framework to bring transparency to the education sector and ensure that every Ghanaian child can access basic education without financial barriers.