Accra: The Campaign Against Privatization and Commercialization of Education (CAPCOE) has lauded the government's 2026 budgetary allocation to the education sector, describing it as a constructive step towards strengthening teacher preparation and learning outcomes.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Richard Kwashie Kovey, CAPCOE Convener, reacted to the budget statement, acknowledging its positive direction but emphasized that meaningful progress hinges on parallel improvements in the working conditions of teachers. He urged policymakers to address long-standing challenges related to infrastructure and professional support.
Mr. Kovey highlighted that teachers, as public sector workers, are set to receive a modest nine percent salary adjustment in 2026. He detailed that, in nominal terms, a public sector worker with a gross salary of GHs 3000.00 would see an increase of GHs 270.00 before tax and other mandatory deductions, while senior staff earning around GHs 7000.00 would experience a GHs 630.00 increase under similar conditions.
He further noted that teachers generally do not receive compensation for extra services like other public sector workers. Conditions of service for teachers fail to include allowances for accommodation, extra duty, risk, utility, dress, transport, or fuel, forcing them to finance these expenses from their basic salary.
Mr. Kovey pointed out the average cost of a single room with a porch in cities is about GHs 400.00, and the state's inability to account for such costs in teachers' wages could drive them toward costly loans and result in learning poverty due to loss of focus.
Nonetheless, he commended the government for allocating GHs 33.3 billion from the consolidated fund, supplemented by GHs 9.9 billion from the GETFund, totaling GHs 43.2 billion for the education sector.
Mr. Kovey urged the government to explore alternative funding for the no-fee stress policy for level 100 tertiary students, suggesting a freeze on GETFund allocations for the Students' Loan Trust Fund and scholarships, and instead fully commit GETFund accruals to address infrastructure needs across all school levels.
He noted that for the first time in over a decade, the government has allocated GHs 2 billion for constructing 200 new schools, comprising 200 KG blocks, 200 Primary six-unit classroom blocks, and 200 new three-unit junior school blocks, focusing on deprived communities lacking public schools.
The CAPCOE convener reported that the current number of schools under trees and in dilapidated structures nationwide stands at 5400. He emphasized the need for the 2027 budget to prioritize expanding infrastructure at basic and secondary levels to eliminate schools under trees in the short to medium term and to end shift and double track systems.