The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum, has launched a $14.39 million United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project to improve access to quality education in some low-cost private schools in some selected regions in the country.
The project is to benefit more than 52, 000 students in 213 schools.
According to the Education Minister, through the government’s effort in enhancing education, the sector had seen a very tremendous performance of students in the region, saying it was the best in the country.
He disclosed that over 2,100 teachers would receive professional development training, coaching and 1,278 would be supported to earn Diploma in Basic Education to improve their teaching.
The Deputy Mission Director of USAID, Ms Grace Lang, speaking at the launch said the activity was USAID’s first project into Ghana’s private school sector and was designed to expand access to quality education to the beneficiaries.
She said, the project was to “see every child in rural and disadvantaged communities have access to quality education.”
“The Ghana Advancing Partnership for improved Learning Activity will support those schools to improve education access, quality, and learning outcomes for students, and increase private sector investments in northern Ghana,” she added.
She said the activity would increase teacher certification and retention, strengthening school leadership capacity and quality, and use a comprehensive investment strategy to support school improvement.
According to the Deputy Mission Director, by the end of five years, the project would strengthen business skills for more than 200 school leaders, equip 400 teacher mentors with evidence-based classroom best practices to teach another 2,000 teachers, and certify 1,200 untrained teachers.
The Chief of Party for the USAID/Ghana Advancing Partnership for improved Learning Activity, Ms Salome Ong’ele, said, $3.9 million of the fund would be given to proprietors of the beneficiary schools to improve their educational services to vulnerable families, in order to cater for their wards in various communities in northern Ghana.
She said this would encourage parents to push their wards to attain better education.
The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shani Alhassan Saibu, commended the government of the United States for their continuous support to the people, especially children in the Northern Region.
FROM GEOFFREY BUTA, TAMALE