Gaps persist in education funding despite gains – Eduwatch
The 2025 Annual Education Policy Monitoring Report has recommended that the government should increase funding and investment to strengthen education infrastructure in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). It noted that the continued underfunding of TVET, despite its crucial role in industrialisation and youth employment is worrying, stressing that in 2025, pre-tertiary TVET received … The post Gaps persist in education funding despite gains – Eduwatch appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
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The 2025 Annual Education Policy Monitoring Report has recommended that the government should increase funding and investment to strengthen education infrastructure in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
It noted that the continued underfunding of TVET, despite its crucial role in industrialisation and youth employment is worrying, stressing that in 2025, pre-tertiary TVET received only 2.5 per cent of the main education budget.
In a press statement released yesterday in Accra after the launch of the report by the Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), however, commended the government for improvements in education financing and service delivery.
It added that there is also enhanced Capitation Grant disbursement, the expansion and quality improvements in the Ghana School Feeding Programme, new basic school infrastructure projects, and the rollout of the Free Sanitary Pads Programme.
The statement said these interventions support school-level financing, learner participation, and access, particularly for girls.
It also underscored the importance of sustaining these gains through timely disbursement, more targeted efforts, and greater implementation efficiency.
The statement pointed out that the current allocation of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) does not adequately address educational deprivation.
The statement further explained that while the government’s directive requiring District Assemblies to allocate 20 per cent of DACF transfers to basic education infrastructure is commendable, districts with some of the highest infrastructure deficits continue to receive relatively low amounts, averaging about GH¢2 million by December 2025.
It said for instance, Zabzugu, Nabdam, Bongo and Tatale, which record high infrastructure and furniture deficits, received an average of about GH¢2 million whilst Adentan, La Nkwantanang Madina, Ledzokuku, and Ga East, with lower deficits, received an average of about GH¢4 million over the same period.
The statement cautioned that this allocation pattern risks widening infrastructure inequality instead of bridging it.
“Eduwatch, therefore, calls on the government to revise the DACF allocation formula to include indicators of educational deprivation such as classroom deficits, furniture shortages, and infrastructure gaps. A needs-based mechanism will ensure districts with the greatest deficits receive proportionately higher support and expedite furniture procurement for basic and secondary schools,” the statement elaborated.
The report also highlights issues of poor ventilation and inadequate lighting in some newly constructed basic schools and recommends that assemblies strictly enforce the Ministry of Education’s standardised and inclusive school infrastructure designs, in close collaboration with District Education Offices, to enhance technical oversight.
“Eduwatch, therefore, calls for a gradual increase to at least 6 per cent supported by investments in workshops, equipment, teacher recruitment, and Workplace Experience Learning,” it added.
BY BERNARD BENGHAN
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The post Gaps persist in education funding despite gains – Eduwatch appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
