Free Education, But at What Cost? The Hidden Struggles of Ghana’s Public Schools and Neglected Learners With Parents Struggling to get their children into schools managed by the state is no joke.
The loud noise about basic education being free for all, leading to increased enrolment in numerous public schools, must be shelved. Politicians and government attempts through the Ghana Education Service to chase head teachers, teachers, and others who work in public basic schools also need to be shelved forever.
Free Education And The Hidden Struggles of Public Schools and Neglected Learners
With the reopening of school for the 2024-2025 academic year, parents and Ghanaians in general must ask themselves how these schools get all their basic essential supplies, especially teaching and learning materials such as teachers notebooks, chalk, and whiteboard markers, just a few to mention.
In addition, we need to answer the question, “How do basic public schools get financial resources to repair broken down desks so that their learners promoted to the various classes and those they intend to admit get a place to sit?”
While we are pondering over these, our educators and heads are to remain magicians in their respective schools to cover up for the government’s inefficiencies and slow pace of responding to their needs if the teachers are to deliver and do their work to impact knowledge for our children.
Our public basic schools have been neglected and polished at the same time to look as though there are no problems. The government of the day has, through the GES, attempted to make things look good to those outside the public school jurisdiction.
A report by Africa Education Watch in the long distant past showed that more than one million desks were needed for basic schools nationwide’. This statistic was released in March 2024. Education Watch furthered that the desk shortage is so severe that it is negatively impacting teaching and learning for several thousands of learners.
According to African Education Watch, Gushiegu Municipal has a desk deficit of 17,849, which translates into 180 dual desks or 360 mono desks. The question is, has the Ghana Education Services and the Ministry of Education provided the as at the end of last academic year, or has it been provided now that the new academic year has started or learners to the schools mentioned in the schools in the table below have started the new school year with the same desk deficiency?
Currently, a mono desk is priced between GHS300 and GHS350, while a dual desk is priced between GHS400 and GHS450.00.
Parents who are enrolling their wards have no choice but to incur this cost so that their wards will have a place to sit in the cities. In our deprived communities, you get as good as ours, and you can imagine the kind of items ranking from broken chairs, pieces of wood, and sandcrate blocks that learners will have to use as chairs and tables if they are lucky.
| School | Class | Number of Pupils | Number of Desks | Deficit | Desks Received (2022/23) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gushiegu Municipal (overall) | – | – | – | 17,849 desks | 180 dual desks |
| Gushiegu M/A Primary Block A | P4 | 57 | 15 | Deficit of 42 desks | 10 dual desks |
| Gushiegu M/A JHS | JHS 1 | 68 | 18 (9 dual, 9 mono) | Deficit of 50 desks | 5 dual desks |
| Maazijung JHS | – | 315 | 40 dual desks | Deficit of 275 desks | None |
| Gushiegu Demonstration Basic 2 | Basic 2 | 145 | 40 dual desks | Deficit of 105 desks | None |
| Gushiegu Demonstration Basic 3 | Basic 3 | 163 | 30 dual desks | Deficit of 133 desks | None |
What the Government Should Do:
Prioritize Basic School Funding: Enhance the annual budgets to basic aids such as desks; teachers’ notebooks; chalk; and whiteboard markers. They have recommended that more funds should be allocated to produce desks as GHC 60 million yearly according to Eduwatch.
Release Outstanding GETFund Resources: The timely release of the GETFund allocations for year 2023 and the early release of subsequent disbursement so that there will be no more experiencing of lack of stocks and non-provision of essentials such as school desks and other equipment.
Establish Maintenance Funds for Schools: Come up with fund to support schools to fix broken desks and other infrastructures and avoid putting it upon the parents.
READ: 2024 BECE Marking Starts Tomorrow
Engage Non-State Actors: Engage other private sector institutions, non governmental organizations and other non-state actors to supplement funding requirements for infrastructure development in schools especially in the hard to reach districts.
Improve Transparency and Accountability: Free education should be funded properly and there must be coherent and precise reports on how funds for this noble cause are utilized; any supplier who has sent supplies for these needy students should be promptly audited to avoid wastage and misuse of resources.
Target Underprivileged Areas: Target the disadvantaged groups and provide them with special services and funds for acquiring the basic need like desks and teaching materials. This also includes making specific provisions for schools in areas such as Gushiegu where a school’s desk requirement is largely insufficient.
Reassess “Free Education.” Messaging: Hearing wants the idea for free education but unfortunately, they should agree with the fact that the system comes with its disadvantages and that the government should ensure increase resource mobilization to correspond to the enhanced enrollment.
What the Government Should Not Do
Do Not Shift Costs to Parents: Do not make parents pay the cost of purchasing desks as well as other basic stationery since this defeats the spirit of free education and enhances inequality.
Do Not Ignore Teachers’ Needs: It should be halted that headteachers and educators are being chased for the shortcoming of the system. But talk with them as well as provide them with the tools that they require to empower their teaching.
To deal with the challenges of free education and the hidden struggles of public schools and neglected learners, the government must be proactive and act now.
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