GETFund Facilities For Schools Abandoned    21-Mar-2013

Majority of the science laboratories and library facilities provided by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) has been abandoned. This was revealed in a survey conducted in 200 educational institutions in five regions which revealed that 13 per cent of computer laboratories and 17 per cent of libraries provided by the GETFund were not in use. Also, half of the urinals and 60 per cent of the toilet facilities provided were also not in use at the time of the survey. Reasons gathered from school authorities at the time of the survey were that they were still waiting for the Minister of Education to formally inaugurate the facilities. The regions were Greater Accra, Eastern, Ashanti, Northern and Brong Ahafo. Again, 47 per cent of the schools did not have water supply, while water supply in 30 per cent of the schools was rated very poor . On the issue of disability, 44 per cent of the single structure classrooms were not accessible by pupils with disability because the structures were not disability friendly. This was contained in the findings of a research report on school infrastructure in public primary schools and its relationship with access for girls and children with disability conducted by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD)-Ghana. The research, funded by STAR-Ghana, was in collaboration with the Ghana Society for the Physically Disabled and the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association. It was aimed at investigating the extent to which the use of District Assemblies’ Common Fund had helped solve the issue of infrastructure in schools and also highlight priority areas which needed immediate attention. The survey indicated that 87 per cent out of the 200 schools had single structure classrooms, seven per cent had administrative blocks, 62 per cent had urinals and 70 per cent had toilet facilities. In terms of the availability of emergency systems, majority of the schools showed no sign of emergency systems available in the school. Addressing the gathering at a validation workshop in Accra yesterday, the Senior Research Fellow at CDD-Ghana, Ambassador Francis Tsegah, said in 2012 the Ministry of Education reported indicated that annually the country spent approximately 6.3 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which was equivalent to 25.8 per cent of total government expenditure, on education. Despite that investment, he said, the educational sector was still fraught with several inefficiencies, citing the fact that public schools continued to suffer infrastructure shortage and challenges. Also, the lack of toilet facilities and potable water, identified as a major barrier to retention at the primary and junior high school level, continued to plague the educational system. “In rural areas, learning time is often lost when pupils, especially girls, have to travel long distances to fetch water during school hours,” he added. Subsequently, the report made some recommendations, including the need to develop and enforce norms and standards for basic school infrastructure in the country. It also suggested that the Ministry of Education strengthen and if possible review the mandate of the Infrastructure Coordination Unit for it to be able to adopt a common basic educational infrastructure policy for the country.