The Ministry of Education on Monday said it was on track in the programme to provide quality education and make it more accessible at the basic level.

"The Ministry is working feverishly to meet the conditionalities, that qualify countries to take advantage of the Fast Track Initiative." The initiative, which is a collaborative activity involving the Ministry, World Bank, European Union, UNESCO and the Multilateral Development Banks is aimed at accelerating the pace of progress on quality and accessible education at the basic level.

A statement signed by Mr Ahmed Ayuba, Special Assistant to the Minister of Education mentioned a key component of the condition as, the development of a sector-wide plan for the entire education system. Additionally, it said the Ministry, after consultation with the World Bank had decided to use in the final development of the sector plan, reports of the Presidential Review Committee and the Ministry's Internal Review Committee.

"The reports of the two Committees are ready and the Ministry is in the process of incorporating relevant sections into the sector-wide plan." It said recognising the importance of the whole process, the Ministry has tasked the Chief Director of Education, Ghana Education Service (GES) and Development partners to ensure the necessary processes were in place by January 2003.

The statement debunked earlier media reports that the country was on the verge of losing funds of the Ministry's inability to reach benchmark necessary for accessing funds under the Fast Track Initiative.