We need non-partisan education delivery system — International educational consultant

The Director of Programme at the Africa Education Gateway (AEG), Grant Bulmuo, has called for a non-partisan education delivery system in the country.

"This should be political proof against any political influence for the country to be able to consistently re-engineer our education from the foundation all through to the secondary level," he said.

Speaking at the launch of the 10th anniversary of the Ghana Super Teacher Conference (GSTC) in Accra last Saturday, Mr Bulmuo, who is also an internationally renowned education consultant said it “will take not less than 20 uninterrupted years of government involvement to re-engineer our education.”

The conference, which is a comprehensive educational capacity-building and leadership empowerment programme for teachers, managers of schools and education policymakers, will kick-start on November 4, 2023, and end on November 11, 2023.

It is being organised by AEG in partnership with Pearson and the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS).

The climax of the conference, which will be on November 11, will be the first-ever education festival in the country, at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).

The education festival is open to teachers and students in both public and private schools, as well as all stakeholders in education.

It is expected that more than 2,000 education practitioners such as teachers, managers of schools, students and other stakeholders will take part in the event.

Mr Bulmuo believes that "having this conference is a way to empower, educate and equip education professionals with practical and creative skills so that they can go to the classroom and make a difference."

He said the theme for the conference would be "Equity", explaining that the theme was chosen because there was so much disproportional access to resources in the educational sector in the country which must be addressed.

Mr Bulmuo said as long as there were imbalances in the educational system in the country, there would always be situations of some schools performing better than others.

"Those that are not doing well will be producing liabilities and there will be a drain on those doing well.

Therefore, it is essential that everybody understands that education is important everywhere," he added.

Year of Equity

He said the year of equity called for strengthening systems and structures in the country and made sure that everybody offered what they could do, "and that is what festival education is all about."

Mr Bulmuo said the conference, especially the festival, would be an opportunity for sharing best practices and a learning curve.

"Inequity in education anywhere in Ghana is a threat to our socio-economic security.

"Therefore, there must be equity.

Everybody must be involved.

We should not sit and accept inequality in whatever we do," Mr Bulmuo added.

Collaborators

In a brief remark, the Regional Development Manager of Pearson Edexcel, Gabriel Sowah, said there could not be a transformational education if the teachers, who were supposed to drive education, were not well-equipped to be able to deliver to the children.

The Greater Accra Regional Chairman of GNAPS, Dr Aisha Akrofi, described the GSTC as “an unparalleled platform for networking and collaboration”.