Pre-tertiary teacher unions are turning up the heat on government, calling for an urgent increase in education funding.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) say the current allocation of 15 percent of the national budget to education isn’t enough.
The union leaders are now rallying support as they launch a campaign together with Education International to push for a 20 percent budgetary allocation, which they say is critical to improving conditions in Ghana’s Basic and Secondary schools.
The African Union is urging member states to commit at least 20 percent of their national budgets to education, as part of efforts to boost development across the continent.
While countries like Senegal, Zimbabwe, and Angola have already met—or even surpassed—that target, Ghana continues to lag behind, allocating just 15 percent to education.
Experts say this persistent underfunding is a growing concern. In the past nine years, Ghana’s education budget has fluctuated between 9 and 10 percent, far below the AU benchmark.
In 2024, government earmarked 4 billion cedis for the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, an amount education stakeholders describe as grossly inadequate.
This year, an estimated 10 billion cedis has been allocated from the GETFund to sustain the programme. Despite these investments, conditions in many schools remain dire.
Now, GNAT, NAGRAT, TEWU, and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers are mounting pressure on government to increase financing for the education sector.
Richard Kwashie Kovey, a coordinator at NAGRAT said, “We are calling on government to make resources available by removing a chunk of the GETFund to finance education.”
Africa representative for Education International, Dr. Dennis Sinyolo, urged Ghana to continue improving standards in education.
“In sub–Saharan Africa we have a big problem in terms of teaching standards, our teachers are not sufficiently qualified. I would like to commend the government of Ghana for improving teaching standards,” he said.
The Executive Director for Eduwatch Ghana, Kofi Asare believes government should consider funding fees using oil revenue.
“When you take the GETFund budget only 39 percent for basic education, about 10 billion cedis is for free SHS, let’s mount pressure for government to fund free SHS from oil revenue instead of the GETFund budget,” he suggested.
The General Secretary of TEWU, King James Azortibah said, education remains a powerful tool to addressing socio-economic challenges in the country.
As pressure mounts, education stakeholders are hopeful that Ghana will align with continental goals and prioritize education in the national budget.
