Before the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, crucial stakeholders in the education sector and numerous others who have been following the evolving issues in the sector were divided about the possible actions of the government on the issues. This was particularly inclined on the impact of COVID-19 on education and to propose relieving programs to ameliorate the accreditation of the sector.
Concerns over the quality of literacy in seminaries, school teacher licensing and reclamation process, reports on fiscal challenges plague were many of the issues that fuelled peoples’ prospects of the budget. The issue of abandoned academic structure systems has been at the center stage in public policy conversations on several media platforms.
Health and safety issues
Turning to the substantial matters, the first issue addressed in the budget is the prioritization of health and safety issues, especially during the COVID-19 period. Since the emergence of COVID-19, scholars have served from both online and in-person literacy and instruction administrations.
Fumigation, disinfecting, provision of nose masks, logistics, and affiliated accouterments led to public health strategies to control the spread of the contagion. Improving knowledge through Library service and perfecting literacy for the scholars especially in knowledge is one of the biggest highlights of the budget.
Monitoring and shadowing pupil performance
Monitoring and keeping a portfolio of scholarly learning is important to perfecting overall literacy. It is also for the government to continue to demonstrate a sense of commitment. It’s heart-warming to learn that the budget will fund the conduct of the demoiselle edition of the National Norms Assessment Test (NSAT) for all 4 Primary pupils in public introductory seminaries to assess their proficiency in knowledge and numeracy in December 2021, and that of Primary 2 and 6 in 2022.
ICT in education
The ICT programme will give computer-grounded results to consolidate literacy and also train preceptors to effectively integrate ICT pedagogies. The issue of schoolteacher licensing, in which the National Teaching Council (NTC) is heavily involved, remains an important ideal to streamlining the professional and career progression.
The governance seeks to ensure that every child has a good school teacher. The Minister’s advertisement that an aggregate of licenses has been issued to preceptors reflects a good signal to school-teacher professionalization, development, and growth.
Budget allocation
Overall, this time’s education budget allocation is the loftiest seen, and analysis of it shows a 13.8% chance point increase from the former time. When compared to the 2020 allocation, the 2022 allocation has increased by a 53.4 chance point increase (from GHC11, in 2020 to GHC17, in 2022).
It’s clear that the government is committed to erecting a largely knowledgeable society in a not-too-distant future. It has moved beyond bare political rhetoric to resource mobilisation and realistic policy perpetration. The 2022 budget, really, attempts to address the significant points demanded to ameliorate literacy issues in educational institutions.
