The African Education Watch (Eduwatch) says Ghana needs an additional GH¢45 billion in education financing to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) target of inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View, Executive Director of Eduwatch, Kofi Asare, said Ghana currently spends about three percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on education, below the 5.8 percent benchmark he cited from UNESCO for countries seeking to achieve the SDG 4 target.

According to him, the gap between Ghana’s current education spending and the required benchmark represents a financing shortfall of about 48 percent.

He said the funding deficit is contributing to challenges in the basic education sector, including inadequate teaching and learning materials, shortages of quality teachers, weak supervision and infrastructure deficits.

Mr Asare noted that about 10,000 schools are operating under sheds or in unapproved structures, citing figures from the Auditor-General’s report.

“It means that we need about 45 billion cedis in addition to the current 49 to meet the SDG 4 target by 2030. And so yes, it’s a huge financing gap. Of course, that is why we have 10,000 schools under tree sheds and operating in unapproved structures, according to the Auditor-General’s report. And that is why textbooks continue to be scarce in our basic schools, especially in the four core subjects,” he said.

He said the challenges would persist unless Ghana improves both the level of financing for education and the efficiency with which available funds are spent.