Political parties jostle over GETfund

The argument as to who established the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund) took center stage when Presidential candidates of the political parties with representation in Parliament met at a forum organised by the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) in Accra, last Saturday. GETFund was introduced in August 25, 2001, as a source of revenue to finance the education sector at all levels by government. The forum started with Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, Flagbearer of the Convention People's Party (CPP), who mounted the podium and gave credit to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the introduction of the GetFund.

The CPP Flagbearer indicated that when his party is voted into power, it would take advantage of the GETfund to solve problems facing students in public educational Institutions in the country, such as accommodation. He added that education from Kindergarten to Senior High School would be made free and compulsory.

According to Dr. Nduom, a CPP Administration would use science and technology to build the necessary human capital for industrialisation and social progress and as such, research would be actively supported by the state with tax incentives for industries that would use local research.

“Public schools from North to the South, East to West will be equipped in a standard, high quality manner, to provide opportunity for all of our children to reach their fullest potential”, he promised students. He also added that sports administration would be better organised at local, regional and national levels.

A boom in technological advancement in all aspects of development, a government in which District, Municipal and Metropolitan chief executives would be elected and Parliamentarians who are made Ministers of state would be made to resign, were some of the key highlights of what the renewed CPP government would do, he said.

He condemned the NPP Government for not doing much to avert the suffering of Ghanaians, saying “Ghanaians are experiencing in 2008 just like in 2000, a country with increasingly higher inflation, higher cost of borrowing, currency facing difficulties, high government debts to suppliers and contractors, low quality of education, railways system in crisis, power and water challenges, high unemployment and young people feeling there is no hope at home in their country.”

For this reason, he called on all to judge the CPP based on its past achievements under the leadership of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, saying “the key ingredient I am offering is a leadership that will work with a sense of urgency to do what needs to be done quickly and very well.” The NDC Flagbearer, who was represented by the Party's Communications Director, Hannah Tetteh, supported Dr. Nduom position that the GETfund was established by the NDC. She, however, said it has now been subjected to abuse.

According to her, “the NDC shall review the GETfund Act to decentralise the operations of the GETFund Board and broaden the involvement of all stakeholders and local institutions, including teachers' organizations and tertiary student representatives in prioritizing the use of the Fund.”

The Fund would further be used to expand and improve infrastructure in educational institutions for benefit of students, and particularly cover areas of academic research and residential facilities, research and students loan scheme among others, she added.

She assured the NUGS of construction of a modern office complex with resources from the GETFund for the organisation and its affiliate organs to encourage the Union to play a more strategic role in educational advancement.

She said, the NDC government when given the mandate would promote and improve pre-school, basic, second cycle, technical and vocational education and training, as well as tertiary, distance, special, non-formal and teacher education.

Ms. Tetteh noted that an Atta Mills government would tackle the brain drain problem facing the country through its thematic points of investing in people, in jobs and the economy for a better Ghana, stressing “it is the right of every child and young person to have access to quality education, not only to be able to earn a living, but also a nation of educated, skilled, well-informed and morally upright people that can build a just and prosperous society.”

She indicated that the NDC would not provide free education, and neither would it pursue a full cost recovery, explaining that under present circumstances, students or their families would make some contribution while government would continue to absorb greater percentage of the cost of tertiary education.

Regarding the school feeding programme, she conceded that it was a laudable idea but had been mismanaged.

The NDC would therefore review it to eliminate inefficiencies and opportunities for corruption and expand access to the programme nationwide.

When it got to the turn of Dr. Edward Mahama, he challenged Nduom's claim that the fund was establsihed by the NDC. He insisted the NDC cannot take credit for the GETFund because it was at a PNC conference in Kumasi, in 1998, that they proposed the idea of the Fund. He said “thank God for continuity in democracy, the NDC government made it into law and by the time it accumulated funds, they were out of government and the NPP is disbursing it.”

He condemned the New Educational Reform of the NPP government because in his words, “it is really not worth its while as it was hurried, ill-advised and haphazard.”

The PNC believes that a dramatic transformation and improvement in agriculture, health, industry and education would improve Ghana's economy, so his government would add the Senior High School to the basic category of the educational strata and made free.

Additionally, his government would establish an Educational Trust from proceeds of Ghana's oil reserve, establish at least one university in each region with specific areas of specialty within five years, to make Ghana a literate country.

The Communications Director of the Akuffo-Addo campaign team, Dr. Arthur Kennedy, who represented his Flagbearer, disagreed that the NDC should take credit for establishment of the GETfund, since under his leadership in 1987, the NUGS proposed the idea to be funded by government, but the PNDC government rejected it until 1998, when it decided to take up the idea.

Dwelling on current achievements of the NPP government under President Kufuor, he reiterated Akuffo-Addo's promise of a free and compulsory basic to senior high school education, by focusing on quality and putting the teacher at the center of the whole process.

The School Feeding Programme which is being piloted in two schools per district currently, would be extended to all schools in the next two years at a cost of GH¢287,606,241 per year and senior high school, which currently costs about GH¢92 million would be made free at an additional cost of GH¢75 million per year, he said.

According to him, the NPP government would establish a university in each region as soon as possible and upgrade all existing universities to international standards, adding that “the development of technology and/or research parks, will become “Business Incubation Centers” in partnership with private business and our government.”

This, he pointed out would translate good ideas from Universities into business ideas that can attract investment to create wealth and jobs and help drive the economy, while on the other hand find answers to the concerns of business.

The forum was to offer students in the country an opportunity to interact with the various aspirants, to know their policies regarding education and to enable them make informed decision, come December 7, 2008.