Mr. Donatus Akamugri Atanga, the Upper East Regional Minister, says the current education challenges in the country require a renewed sense of urgency and objectivity to address.

“As we are no doubt aware, education remains the pivot around which every facet of development evolves. Yet, our educational system for the past years has seen a serious decline at all levels,” he said.

Speaking on the theme “Transforming Education for a Sustainable Future” at the zonal National Education Forum for the Upper East and North East Regions, Mr. Atanga emphasised the need for strategic priorities.

The forum brought together stakeholders from the two regions, including leadership from various teacher unions, vice-chancellors, principals, lecturers from educational institutions, traditional rulers, the clergy, Directors of Education, parents, and students.

The Minister, a teacher by profession, called for consensus-building on curricula reforms, infrastructural investments, and interventions to expand access and improve educational outcomes.

He said the theme for the forum aligned perfectly with the government’s agenda to reset the country and underscored the need to integrate sustainability into curricula reforms and educational policies as a nation.

“This forum is, therefore, an opportunity to engage in open and constructive discussions to explore concise and actionable recommendations that will form the basis for a comprehensive reform agenda in building an inclusive, equitable, and transformative educational system for Ghana and the benefit of all Ghanaians.

“Together, we can deepen partnerships and transform our educational system into one that is inclusive and innovative to shape a sustainable future for generations to come,” Mr. Atanga told participants at the forum.

As President John Dramani Mahama indicated, the Minister urged stakeholders to envision an education system where schools were centres of innovation and learning to prepare students for examinations and lifelong learning.

He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the National Education Forum and the educational transformation of the country, insisting that “our education needs a holistic reset at all levels.”

Mr. Atanga thanked the Ministry of Education for spearheading the education forum as outlined in the National Democratic Congress’ 2024 manifesto and thanked members of the National Education Forum Planning Committee for working to ensure a robust education sector.

His counterpart, the North East Regional Minister, Mr. Ibrahim Tia, who chaired the forum, urged stakeholders to actively participate and contribute to discussions to influence the final outcome of the policy for improved quality education.

Stakeholders, as part of their contributions at the forum, said the Kindergarten (KG) level, which was the basic starting point for learning, had no experts in early childhood education to teach children. They advocated, among other things, for incentives for professional teachers to motivate them to teach at the basic level.

Professor Smile Gavua Dzisi, a Member of the National Education Forum Planning Committee, said the nationwide forum was intended to gather ideas from key stakeholders in education to transform the educational sector.

She said the engagement followed the successful launch of the National Education Forum by President John Dramani Mahama in Ho and indicated that members of the Committee were spread across the country to solicit inputs from stakeholders for the national policy.

“We want to see how we can actually use best practices to come up with the best education for Ghana for sustainable development,” Professor Dzisi said.