A professor at the University of Ghana, Jonathan Fletcher, has said that the financing of education should be all hands-on-deck affairs and not the responsibility of the government alone.
He adds that in order to achieve Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which states that “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all,” all stakeholders must come together to support education financing.
Speaking at a Media General-organized Thought Leadership Forum on Financing of Basic Education in Ghana on Thursday, November 9, he noted that “we know of the District Assembly Common Fund, we know of the MPs Common Fund, MMDCE’s IGFs, and Getfund.
“Should it be the sole responsibility of any government? In addition to these, we need to look for other sources. In other countries, individual philanthropists and communities come together, and families and households come in to provide support.
“We should see education as an all-hands-on-deck affair to achieve Goal 4; government alone can’t do that.”
Prof. Fletcher is proposing that managers of education should pay active attention to inequality.
“Inequality in education, we need to look very carefully; if education is free and compulsory, children in cities and urban areas go to school and children in rural areas.”