By
Anthony Apubeo, GNA
Bolgatanga, Aug. 18,
GNA – Action Aid Ghana, an advocacy Non- Governmental Organization (NGO), has
called on the government to make education more equitable and inclusive for all
young people, to accelerate the effort to attain the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs).
It said quality
education was transformative and key to unlocking the potentials of all young
citizens, hence the need to invest strategically through sustainable financing
to make it accessible and gender responsive.
The NGO made the
call at a ceremony in Bolgatanga held to commemorate the 2019 International
Youth Day which brought together stakeholders from public and private sectors
as well as youth groups.
It was organized
under the theme: “Transforming education: promoting gender-responsive public
education”.
The International
Youth Day, established by the United Nations in 2000, seeks to recognize the
role of young people as essential partners in change and further serve as an
opportunity to raise awareness on the challenges confronting their development.
Mr Akuka Yakubu, the
Programme Officer, Action Aid Ghana, said the youth are agents of societal
change in a world driven by technological innovation and so the educational
system of the country would be more beneficial if it was made free from the
basic level to the tertiary level.
“We must challenge
the privatization of education; demand enhanced living wages and decent work
for our teachers and lecturers; and plan the school curricula to ensure it
shapes young minds for social justice rather than free market fundamentalism”.
He urged government
to adopt pragmatic measures including fair and progressive tax systems,
tackling illicit financial flows and reducing public debts among others, to
sustainably mobilize resources to fund quality and inclusive public education.
Action Aid Ghana,
over the years has worked to promote quality education especially in rural
communities by providing girl-friendly school infrastructure, furniture,
teaching and learning materials and capacity building programmes for some
stakeholders in education, he added.
Ms Priscilla Nyaaba,
the Executive Director of Youth Harvest Foundation, who chaired the function,
called for restructuring of the tertiary educational system to focus more on
technical and vocational training so as to make graduates more responsive to
current demands of the industry.
The Young Urban
Women Movement (YUWM) and other youth groups being supported by Action Aid
Ghana, called on stakeholders to address the issue of unpaid care work to
enable girls have enough time to focus on their education.
In a speech read on
her behalf by Ms Yvonne Wochua, Assistant Director of Administration at the
Regional Coordinating Council, Madam Tangoba Abayage, the Upper East Regional
Minister, said a gender responsive system was an effective weapon in tackling
discrimination and attaining the SDGs, particularly goals four and five.
The Regional
Minister advised the youth to eschew social vices such as “extremism and
terrorism and work towards developing themselves and the country.
The event was
characterized by route march by the youth on the principal streets of
Bolgatanga.
GNA
