Tamale: School for Life, an NGO operating in the Northern region, has called for deliberate, well-resourced, and accountable actions to place social inclusion at the center of the country's basic education system. Hajia Wedad Sayibu, Director of the organization, emphasized that equity in education could not be achieved if vulnerable and marginalized children continued to be left behind.
According to Ghana News Agency, Hajia Sayibu made the call at the second edition of the National Convening on Social Inclusion in Basic Education, held in Tamale, under the theme: 'Building Inclusive Societies Through Education: The Role of National and Sub-National Actors'. The meeting was organized in partnership with the Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA) and YEFL-Ghana under the Citizen-led Actions for Education Accountability and Responsiveness (CLEAR) project.
The project is being implemented in six districts, including Tatali-Sangule and Nanumba North in the Northern Region, North East Gonja in the Savannah Region, Wa West in the Upper West Region, Talensi District in the Upper East Region, and the East Mamprusi Municipality in the North East Region. The project aims to build and sustain advocacy around issues of quality and equity in basic education by collaborating with relevant stakeholders and citizen groups.
The meeting brought together key stakeholders in the education sector, civil society organizations, development partners, traditional leaders, and representatives of the media. Hajia Sayibu noted that despite progress in improving access to basic education in Ghana, deep and persistent disparities in social inclusion continued to undermine the learning experiences of many children.
She pointed out that for equity in education to be meaningful, social inclusion must be central, emphasizing that equity is not only about enrollment numbers or infrastructure but also about addressing social and cultural barriers that prevent some children from fully participating in learning. School for Life's 30 years of work in underserved communities, beginning in Northern Ghana through the Complementary Basic Education Programme, had exposed gender disparities and systemic exclusion affecting girls, children with disabilities, and minority groups such as Fulbe communities.
Hajia Sayibu highlighted that many schools still lacked ramps, disability-friendly classrooms, and basic facilities for learners with special needs, while policy design and implementation often failed to reflect the lived realities of marginalized groups. She expressed the need for the National Stakeholders Convening on Social Inclusion in Basic Education as a platform to speak honestly, share community evidence, influence policy, and inspire collective action.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Education, acknowledged the structural challenges facing Ghana's education system, especially at the basic level, and assured stakeholders of the government's commitment to strengthening foundational learning. He noted that funding concentration on secondary education in recent years had weakened basic education and widened disparities between the north and south, as well as between rural and urban areas.
The Minister announced that about 180 million US dollars had been secured from development partners, including the World Bank and the Jacobs Foundation, to support foundational learning. Civil society organizations like School for Life would be engaged in the implementation process. He also revealed ongoing curriculum reforms from kindergarten to junior high school to introduce financial literacy, ethical integrity, digital skills, coding, and artificial intelligence at the foundational level while expanding Ghanaian language instruction to include Ghanaian Sign Language.
On inclusive education financing, Mr. Iddrisu disclosed proposed amendments to the GETFund Act to support free education for learners with special needs and persons with disabilities from 2026, including funding for feeding, assistive devices, and specialized learning environments. During a panel discussion, Ms. Bavina Safia Musah, a Development Consultant, highlighted that children with disabilities, girls, and Fulbe children faced different forms of exclusion requiring targeted and sustained attention.
She noted that Ghana did not lack gender-inclusive education policies but suffered from weak, under-resourced, and unaccountable implementation. Mr. Zulyaden Amadu, Programme Manager in-charge of CLEAR project at School for Life, shared Community Score Card findings from beneficiary schools, revealing committed teachers and some community engagement as strengths, but gaps in teacher deployment, teaching materials, gender-responsive facilities, disability access, and transparency in the use of capitation grants.
Professor Amin Alhassan, Director-General, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, who chaired the meeting, underscored the need for evidence-based dialogue and sustained accountability to translate policy commitments into improved learning outcomes for children. The convening also served as a media engagement platform to encourage journalists to focus their reporting on children, teachers, parents, and marginalized communities while tracking policy commitments and budgetary allocations aimed at advancing social inclusion in basic education.