Overly Ambitious NDC 2012 Manifesto Promises:  Quality Education Lingers High

Mr. Bright Appiah

A new report on Civil Society Evaluation of Promises under Education of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) 2012 Manifesto indicates that government has failed to deliver on all the promises it made in addressing the infrastructural and financial gap in the educational sector.

The 2016 report, which was launched by Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) indicates that whereas some promises were partially fulfilled others were achieved in a manner that yielded low positive outcomes in terms of quality which in effect slowed progress and improvement of the educational sector as envisaged by the 2012 manifesto of the ruling NDC.

The Chairman of GNECC, Mr. Bright Appiah said the manifesto assessment identifies resource constraints to be a major challenge that affected the implementation of all the education promises, especially within an era where Ghana was going through an IMF programme.

He indicated that resource constraints obviously led to the partial or no implementation of some key promises, including the rural allowance for teachers, construction of ten Colleges of Education, increase in the Capitation Grant, the elimination of all schools under trees and the construction of 200 community day Senior High Schools.

According to him, among the recommendations made by the Coalition is the need to make manifesto promises more precise, measurable, modest and achievable, bearing in mind the four year time frame for implementation as well as the resource constraints of the Ghanaian economy.

Mr. Appiah noted that GNECC and partners undertook the review of the implementation of the NDC 2012 Education Manifesto with the view of ascertaining the extent to which the NDC government has been accountable in the context of its own manifesto based on which it was voted into office in December 2012.

He noted that 2016 also marks the beginning of another 4-year period for which the NDC and NPP are making new proposals to the electorates and a scrutiny of these promises or proposals is crucial to ensure that political parties address the most important and urgent issues in relation to education.

According to him, the report acknowledges that the NDC 2012 Education Manifesto has witnessed some significant implementation.

“Notable among the major promises fulfilled in the manifesto are the near elimination of the shift system, the operationalization of the National Inspectorate Board, the introduction of the fee free SHS for day students, the overhauling of the TVET landscape coupled with its rebranding and the supply of teaching and learning aids and the expansion of the Ghana School Feeding Programme.,” he stated.

Mr. Bright Appiah emphasized that the report evaluates the 2016 manifestoes of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to ascertain the extent to which the promises being made respond to current challenges and recommendations in key development frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and AU Agenda 2063.

According to him, the focus on the NDC manifesto was based on the principle of accountability, since it is only proper for Civil Society to assess the implementation of a manifesto of a government in power.

He added that the second part of the report evaluates the promises made by the two major political parties to find out the extent to which the proposals or promises in the documents respond to the current challenges in the education and how they seek to achieve international commitments like the SDGs and AU Agenda 2063 in relation to the development of education.

Mr. Bright Appiah intimated that National Democratic Congress (NDC) has a total of 67 promises under education out of which 35 related to pre-tertiary education were assessed.

He added that the New Patriotic Party on the other hand makes 25 promises related to education out of which 20 pre-tertiary related were assessed.

Mr. Appiah indicated that the report shows that a considerable number of promises align to national and international frameworks on education however very few are time-bound and measurable.

He added that not much is said about Education Decentralization which will lead to a transformation education management in Ghana and is expected to help improve learning outcomes.

According to him, the manifestoes of both parties are silent on measures aimed towards reducing inequities in access to quality education, for instance, support for programmes which support children who are out of school such as the Complementary Basic Education (CBE) programme.

He posited that the analysis also points to possible challenges in implementing the promises taking into consideration the experience with implementing policies and programmes within the sector.

Beyond the review, it is expected that issues raised in this report will guide and generate discussions about education promises of political parties in the context of their contextual relevance, practicability, measurability among others.

Speaking on the methodology, Ms. Veronica Dzeagu, National Coordinator of GNECC indicated that in undertaking the research for the report, the 2012 and 2016 manifestoes of the NDC and NPP, education policy documents, relevant performance reports of government agencies and Ministries, global and regional frameworks for the development of education (Sustainable Development Goals and AU Agenda 2063) and other relevant secondary data were reviewed.

She stated that the criteria used for the assessment include contextual relevance, practicability, measurability and compliance with the SDG, Agenda 2063 and current education strategies.

According to her, interviews were also conducted with duty bearers and stakeholders to ascertain the extent of implementation of past promises.

Mr. Leroy McNara, an Executive Council Member of GNECC, emphasized that the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) is a network of over 200 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), professional bodies and individuals committed to promoting free quality and enjoyable basic education as a fundamental human right for every Ghanaian child.

He added that the Coalition represents the voice of the voiceless through advocating and urging government and its implementing agencies to design appropriate policies, programmes and interventions as well as allocate adequate resources to education development.

Mr. Nara noted that as part of its education governance and accountability thematic strategy, GNECC has been involved in reviewing the implementation of educational plans and policies in Ghana.

He indicated that one of such exercises is the review of political party manifestoes to reflect the real context of education and thereafter, tracking the successful party’s manifesto in government.

“This is aimed at ensuring promises in education manifestoes of parties in government are not broken,” he intimated.