2017 Global Education Monitoring Report launched

The 2017 edition of the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report has been launched in Accra, with the Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, promising that the government will use the report as a learning curve and institute accountability measures to address lapses in the education sector.

“We need to change the direction in which our education is going in order to gain a better footing,” he said.

The report seeks to monitor progress being made towards attaining Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 that relates to achieving inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

Titled: “Accountability in education: Meeting our commitments,” the report examined how all relevant stakeholders could make education more effective, efficient and equitable.

It looked at mechanisms that were used to hold governments, schools, teachers, parents, the international community and the private sector accountable for inclusive, equitable and quality education.

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Accountability

The report stated among other things that teachers and schools must not be blamed for the failures in the education systems of a country.

It said holding teachers accountable for poor examination performances was often unjust and not constructive.

According to the report, accountability methods should hold all stakeholders, including the community, parents and particularly the government, accountable for the educational system since they are responsible for creating a strong and supportive educational system.

Dr Prempeh said the quality of education the country was yearning for depended not only on the government but on support from all other stakeholders.

The overview

Giving an overview of the report, the Dean of the College of Education and Leadership at the University of Ghana, Prof. Jonathan Fletcher, said the SDG 4 could be achieved through collective efforts.

He stated that although the government had the responsibility of ensuring that the country met the global education goal, schools had the responsibility to comply with the government’s regulations, ensure improved students’ performance and monitor teachers performances as well, while teachers had the responsibility to teach and engage in continuing professional development.

The Director of the GEM Report, Mr Manos Antoninis, stressed in his statement that “using student test scores to sanction teachers and schools make it more likely they will adjust their behaviour to protect themselves, which means leaving the weakest learners behind.”