ActionAid Ghana (AAG), a civil society organisation, has called on the Government to allocate 20 per cent of Ghana’s national budget to education with a portion dedicated to infrastructure and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in basic schools.
The call follows a survey conducted by AGG in some 14 schools in Ga South and West, which revealed a whopping 62 per cent of schools having no access to improved water sources such as pipe water, protected wells, boreholes and rainwater catchment system.
These include broken pipes, nonfunctional bole holes, and poor water catchment systems.
Most of the boreholes they depended on were located some meters away in the community, which was shared amongst the entire community members.
Madam She-Vera Anzagira, the Regional Programme Manager for Greater Accra, Volta and Oti, made the call at an accountability forum on WASH and education infrastructure in Accra, after the presentation of the findings.
“We are calling unapologetically for 20 per cent of Ghana’s national budget to be allocated to education, with a protected portion earmarked for infrastructure and WASH in basic schools,” she said, and called for a timely and transparent disbursement of the funds.
She advocated an increase in the number of schools with access to pipe water, protected wells, boreholes, and rainwater catchment systems, urging stakeholders to inspect and maintain water sources regularly to ensure they were functional in the schools.
Madam Anzagira said the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies must prioritise education and WASH in their medium-term development plans with meaningful participation from children and the entire school community to ensure ownership.
She said every new school infrastructure project must incorporated a gender-sensitive and inclusive design principles to facilitate the accessibility of all children.
She added that the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and the School Management Committees (SMCs) must be properly trained, resourced, and given real authority to monitor school infrastructure and report gaps.
Aside the lack of water in schools, the survey found that three percent of schools had access to water but in a very poor condition.
Ten percent of the respondents, however, said their access to water sources was adequate.