The Africa Education Watch has called on Government to recommit to adequate and equitable financing of education on the occasion of the International Day of Education.

It said though the government had expressed its commitment to transform education, that required adequate and equitable financing.

“… The recent 40 per cent budgetary cut to basic education (Goods and Services) does not support the transformation agenda of the government.

“To transform education, government must increase the current 12 per cent allocation of national education budget to 23 per cent, in line with the President’s commitment at the 2022 United Nations Transforming Education Summit,” the Africa Education Watch said in a press release copied to the Ghana News Agency.

According to the statement, there still remained one million children out of school, approximately nine per cent of children aged four to 16.

The statement added that quality in the delivery of education remained a challenge, as about 87 per cent of children aged 10 could not read and understand age-appropriate sentences by 2018.

It, therefore, called on Government to ensure that 10 per cent of the goods and services budget and 33 per cent of the infrastructure budget of the education sector be committed to basic education.

Ghana joins the rest of the world to mark this year’s International Day of Education which falls on January 24.

Five years ago, the United Nations proclaimed January 24 as International Day of Education, to acknowledge and celebrate the role of education as a tool for peace and development.

The fifth International Day of Education is celebrated under the theme “to invest in people, prioritize education”.

Building on the global momentum generated by the UN Transforming Education Summit in September 2022, the 2023 calls for maintaining strong political mobilisation around education and chart the way to translate commitments and global initiatives into action.

The day enjoins countries to prioritise education to accelerate progress towards all the Sustainable Development Goals against the backdrop of a global recession, growing inequalities and the climate crisis.