Mid-year budget review: We expect 100% increment in capitation grant-Eduwatch

The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (EduWatch), Mr Kofi Asare, has entreated the government to announce a 100% increment in the capitation grant for basic schools nationwide in the mid-year budget review.

The capitation grant covers the extra cost and levies (such as examination, facilities management, security charges, games and sports) that parents usually pay as “school fees” in public schools.

According to Mr Asare, this will help mitigate the challenges associated with access to universal education in the country.

“We expect to hear a 100% increment in the capitation grant from ¢10 to ¢20,” he said. “We also want an assurance from the Finance Minister that the disbursement regime where the grant is disbursed as a token ends and that there is a clear disbursement roadmap to assure stakeholders that the grant will not be in arrears.”

“We also want to hear from the Ministry of Finance about plans to pay the arrears that have accumulated over the years. Some headteachers have taken loans to run schools, and they are owing in their communities. We don’t want to encourage that,” he added.

The executive director also called on the government to announce a supplementary budget to support the provision of desks.

“One of the biggest challenges in the education sector is the issue of desks. Over two million children have been struggling with the issue of desks. We’ve seen some efforts by some stakeholders, district assemblies, and others to support, but the most recent data we have from the Ministry of Education suggests that we need one million desks. So we want to see some real commitment made in the supplementary budget to support the limited amount of funding that was made available for the procurement of desks in the GETFund Formula,” he added.

The capitation grant was introduced in Ghana in 2005 to facilitate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal(MDG) of primary education for all. It is also to ensure that basic education is free for all – no payment of school or tuition fees.