Day: June 10, 2023

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Ghana Education Coalition calls for sustainable source of financing basic education

The Bono Regional Chapter of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) has called on the government to find sustainable sources of financing basic education in the country to make it more accessible to children of school-going age. According to Mr Kobina Afena-Sam, the Bono Regional Chairman of the Coalition, access to quality basic and formal education remained constitutional provision which and no Ghanaian child should be denied. Denying school-going age children access to quality education was not only abuse of their human rights, but also an affront to the 1992 constitution, he stated. Mr Afena-Sam made the call at the Regional Council meeting of the GNECC held in Sunyani. He expressed worry that many basic schools in the region were still bedeviled with challenges including inadequate physical infrastructure, text books and furniture as well as lack of teachers. These challenges, he added, were impeding the growth and development of education in the region and also affecting academic performances of school children. Mr Afena-Sam said the country's over-reliance on donor, foreign and development partners to financing basic education was unsustainable, hence the need for the government to consider and find resources locally to implement educational programmes. Research, he added was key element of facilitating education growth and development, saying the Coalition intended to set up a regional research unit that would conduct vigorous research work into basic education in the region. This would well-position the coalition to identify and help tackle the pressing challenges confronting basic education in the region. 'In fact we are more concern about the welfare of the child. So we need to use the media space and intensify advocacy, raise funds to address the teething challenges impeding the growth of basic education,' Mr Afena-Sam stated. Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, the Bono Regional Coordinator of the GNECC, urged the members to also champion the course of menstrual hygiene at the community level. He reiterated appeals by the civil society to the government to remove taxes on sanitary pads to make them affordable for girls. Mr Ahenu said at the community level, many girls failed to go to school during menstruation, a situation that was lowering the interest of some girls in education. 'The government must do more and improve sanitary facilities in basic schools so that girls can change and clean themsleves whenever they are in their menstrual periods, ' he stated.

Source: Ghana News Agency

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Hotto, Tjiueza out of Brave Warriors squad for Burundi

National senior football team coach Collin Benjamin said three of the players who started against Cameroon in their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in March this year, will miss out in their final match due to injuries.

Namibia is currently at the top of Group C of the 2023 Ivory Coast AFCON qualifiers with five points. They only need a point from their next match against Burundi on 22 June 2023 to reach the AFCON finals.

In an interview with Nampa, Benjamin said his squad has been hit with a few injuries, but he is confident other players will do the work.

“From the 11 players that started in the Cameroon games in March, we have two that are out, Deon Hotto is fighting with a groin issue and ankle injury, and Prins Tjiueza pulled a ligament during the play-offs at his club,” he said.

The coach added that centre-back Denzil Haoseb is also a doubt as the player is nursing a knee injury.

“With these players injured it allows others to step up. I am confident that we can still get the right attitude and formation to pull this off. This will be one of the most important games the Brave Warriors will compete in over the last four years, so we should not have any other excuses,” Benjamin said.

Benjamin noted that the training camp with the locally based players has been going well, with a focus on fitness.

“The players are showing good commitment, as a technical team we are impressed with their professionalism. The foreign-based players will only start on Saturday, and we will have a week to go before travelling to Burundi,” he said.

With the senior Council of Southern African Football Association (COSAFA) Cup also scheduled immediately after the AFCON qualifiers, the coach said they have a bigger pool of players to represent the country and at the moment all their focus will be on the AFCON qualifiers.

“One cannot dance two weddings at the same time. Therefore we are focused on the Burundi squad and tactics as well as formation, because this is the only time that some of these players will represent the country at an AFCON if we qualify,” he said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency