GNECC AGM Communique

Last week the Ghanaian organization that I am placed with, the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), held its Annual General Meeting (AGM), and out of that a communiqué was drafted to state the position of the coalition especially during this critical election time in Ghana.  I was part of the drafting team for this communiqué, which has now been published in the newspaper.

The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), a network of civil society organizations and individuals in all ten regions, that focuses on the right of every Ghanaian child to enjoyable free compulsory universal basic education (FCUBE), held its Annual General Meeting from the 11^th – 12^th of October, 2012 at Kingsby Hotel, Accra under the theme, Emerging Education Needs: How Equipped is GNECC/ Civil Society?

The meeting recognized the efforts already being made by government and other key stakeholders in Ghana towards ensuring access to quality basic education through pro-poor policies such as:

- The increase in the Capitation Grant

- The School Feeding Programme

- The provision of free school uniforms and exercise books

- Improvement in basic school infrastructure

GNECC reaffirms the important contribution that civil society can make towards this goal through research, advocacy and mobilization.

In order to further the goal of FCUBE, we advocate the government and other key stakeholders for the following:

- That all political parties adopt the recommendations  contained in the Civil Society Education Manifesto 2012, particularly the sections related to basic education including;

- Improved infrastructure that is disability friendly,

- Attracting and retaining trained teachers, especially at the KG and lower primary level, particularly in deprived districts,

- Improved teacher supervision to reduce teacher absenteeism and laxity on the job,

- Addressing the low BECE pass rates due to poor foundation in numeracy and literacy.

- Government support for local level school governance structures (PTAs, SMCs) in education delivery for improved community partnership and ownership.

- Strengthen collaboration with civil society for effective implementation, monitoring and evaluation of education programmes, especially the newly approved Global Partnership for Education (GPE) fund of $75.5 million for improving education outcomes in 57 most deprived districts.

As guaranteed by our Constitution, free, quality, basic education is a right of all Ghanaians. GNECC and civil society, at both the national and local level, are ready to play their proper role in ensuring that this becomes a reality for all our children.