CSOs are Seeking Answers on GHC9m GETFund Arrears.

A collective of over fifty civil society organizations (CSOs) in the field of education, including Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) and Institute for Education Studies (IFEST), are requesting the release of approximately GHC9 million in budgetary arrears pertaining to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), which they allege remain unaccounted for.

They explained that the amount should have been disbursed in 2023 for basic education infrastructure. Therefore, they are requesting the immediate release of the funds.

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For the fiscal year 2023, the government allocated GH1.87 billion to GETFund, a statutory funding vehicle for the development and maintenance of essential academic facilities and infrastructures. From this, GHC15 million  were allocated for the basic level, especially the procurement of desks.

Nonetheless, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) only disbursed GHC6million out of the total GHC15million to the fund, leaving a larger portion, namely GHC9million, unaccounted for.

The Chief School Officers characterized the occurrence as concerning, noting that a significant number of schools are currently without desks for their students as a result of the delay.

Eduwatch Executive Director Kofi Asare stated that with only GH6 million released late in 2023, no desk was purchased from the GETFund allocation in that year, further aggravating the desk shortage.

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The allocation for basic school furniture from the GETFund for the year 2023 has not been fully executed. With only 6 million GH released late in 2023, no desk was purchased from the 2023 GETFund allocation in that year. The Ministry of Education must expedite the procurement of desks for basic schools with an initial allocation of GH6million, he stated.

The absence of desk menace.

According to a recent report by Eduwatch, 2.3 million pupils are deprived of desks in basic schools. A scoping study on the impact of desk deficits in public basic schools estimated that the government would require some GH330 million to address the desk deficit in public basic schools.

This investment is necessary to ensure that the approximately 2.3 million pupils across the primary and junior high school levels have access to learning desks.

Apart from the 33 million required to fill the current desk deficit, about 19 million is needed to provide the 54,800 desks needed each year for growth in pupils’ numbers.

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This portrays a bleak outlook regarding the prospects of basic education, particularly in light of the modest allocation of GH15million in 2023, which has yet to be fully disbursed.

Kofi Asare stated that if the current average investment of GH18million in furniture at the basic education level persists, it will take Ghana approximately 18 years to address the desk deficit.

The capping of GETFund.

The Chief Security Officers (CSOs) deemed the financial ministry’s refusal to distribute the total GETFund allocations over the past three years as unacceptable, given that the government has already capped the fund since 2017.

Since 2020, the CSOs have called on the government to remove the cap on the GETFund’s receivables since the restriction denies the statutory funding vehicle for educational projects.

Since 2017, the 25 percent cap on the GETFund has placed undue pressure on the fund and is hindering the development of education infrastructure.