An education-focused think tank, Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) is calling on the Ministry of Education to deploy virtual learning interventions in districts affected by the spillage of the Akosombo dam.
It further called on the ministry to support the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS), by deploying pre-recorded learning content and energy-efficient mobile learning devices to the affected areas.
In a statement issued on October 22, Eduwatch suggested, “In the interim, we call on the Ministry of Education to support the Ghana Education Service and the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS) to deploy pre-recorded learning content used during the COVID-19 school closure on media networks and energy-efficient mobile learning devices in the affected areas.”
Eduwatch called on the Education Ministry to speed up the process of implementing an Education In Emergency (EIE) Plan in the troubled areas.
“We call on the Ministry of Education to speed up the process of finalizing, resourcing, and implementing an EIE Plan for Ghana. We call for the regular support of Education Development Partners and Non-Governmental Organizations towards providing education aid and restoring education service in the affected districts.”
It further entreated District Assemblies to work closely with Education Directors to identify safe shelters for students to gather and participate in virtual learning.
“We urge District Assemblies to work closely with Education Directors to identify safe shelters for students to gather and participate in the virtual learning deployment under the guidance of teachers and facilitators,” Eduwatch said in its statement.
Read below the statement by Eduwatch
For immediate release
DEPLOY VIRTUAL LEARNING INTERVENTIONS TO DISTRICTS AFFECTED BY THE AKOSOMBO DAM’S SPILLAGE AND ADOPT AN EDUCATION IN EMERGENCY PLAN.
Eduwatch, having monitored the disruption to education caused by the spillage of the Akosombo dam, makes the following observations and recommendations:
1. Eduwatch sympathises with the effected families and assure them of our support.
2. Education service has been disrupted for two weeks in some districts/communities.
While the impact of the dam’s spillage on education is more pronounced in North Tongu, South Tongu, and Pru East, other districts remain at risk of being affected, as the spillage continues. This situation calls into question the education sector’s emergency preparedness.
3. In 2020, during the COVID-19 crisis, Eduwatch called for the adoption and operationalization of an Education In Emergency (EIE) Plan for Ghana; a Plan that provides the necessary values, guidelines and processes that must be followed by Education Sector Institutions and Local Governments in the event of a disaster that
has the potential to disrupt education systems in any district in Ghana.
Unfortunately, this call is yet to fully materialize, as the process of developing an EIE Plan for Ghana has dragged for years. An EIE Plan should recognise that education is an immediate and urgent basic need in crisis contexts, just like food and health services, and must be an integral part of any humanitarian response. It is critical that people’s right to education is not hampered in times of emergency.
4. In the interim, we call on the Ministry of Education to support the Ghana Education Service and the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS) to deploy pre-recorded learning content used during the COVID-19 school closure on media networks and energy efficient mobile learning devices in the
affected areas.
5. We urge District Assemblies to work closely with Education Directors to identify safe shelters for students to gather and participate in the virtual learning deployment under the guidance of teachers or facilitators.
6. We call on the Ministry of Education to speed up the process of finalizing, resourcing, and implementing an EIE Plan for Ghana.
7. We call for the regular support of Education Development Partners and Non-Governmental Organizations towards providing education aid and restoring education service in the affected districts.