It said this would accelerate progress towards sustainable development.

This was contained in a statement issued by the organisation, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Tamale to mark this year’s International Day of Education.

It was signed by Mr Alhassan Mohammed Awal, Executive Director of Norsaac.

The statement said, “Despite progress in recent years, available data suggest that 60 per cent of basic school pupils continue to secondary education leaving far too many children without the opportunity to reach their full potential.”

It said, “Additionally, there are currently 452,238 out-of-school children of secondary school-going-age in Ghana, who are at risk of missing out on vital education and socio-economic opportunities.”

It said, “Young people with disabilities in particular encounter several challenges in accessing junior high school and senior high school education even though Ghana prides herself on having a disability-inclusive educational system.”

It said, “Over the years, governments’ responses to improving the education sector in Ghana have been inconsistent and lack the needed commitment. This continues to slow progress toward achieving universal basic education in the country.”

The statement said, “The delayed release of the Capitation Grant, inadequate financing of basic and special education, high infrastructure deficit in primary and junior high schools, and lack of adequate teachers in basic schools in deprived communities are all major challenges facing the education sector in Ghana.”

It added that “A classical efficiency issue in the education sector is the unnecessary creation of a secretariat for the Free Senior High School Programme and the reliance on the National Food Buffer Stock Company to supply food to all schools across the country.”

The statement therefore, called on the government to institute pragmatic measures to review the Free SHS/TVET Policy “To address issues of quality education, uninterrupted academic calendar, improve partnership with parents and sustained feeding of students.”

It called on government to scrap the centralised feeding of students under the Free SHS by allowing district assemblies to partner with the Ghana Education Service to feed schools.

It also called on the government to increase resourcing of education and efficiency adding “This includes investing in the training and development of teachers including more special education teachers and support staff. This

has even become more important following the introduction of a new educational system in the country.”

It said, “On this International Day of Education, 2023 let us commit to working together and investing in education to ensure that all children in Ghana have access to quality education and the opportunity to reach their full potential.”