“Out of GHC60 million needed for Capitation Grant under Free Basic Education in 2023, only GHC11 million was budgeted,” Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) has bemoaned.

In a tweet, Eduwatch believes it’s entirely predictable that from history, only 60% out of the paltry GHC11 million Budget may be released by government.

It said the situation is quite worrying because government keeps showing great weakness in funding basic education.

“The future of Basic Education rests on parents’ support; a conversation long overdue,” Eduwatch noted.

The Capitation Grant was introduced in the 2003/2004 academic year to offer Free, Compulsory, Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) for all school-going children of Ghana.

This is in fulfillment of Article 25(1) (a) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, which states that: “Basic education shall be free, compulsory and available to all”.

The scheme was thus introduced to replace all fees paid by parents in public basic schools in order to expand access and to support school performance improvement efforts by the schools.