Vice President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Cabonu is asking government to target the poor and vulnerable in its social intervention programs in the educational sector.
He argued that government policies such as the distribution of free uniforms and sandals do not make the needed impact and increases the cost of the program because they are spread across the board.
Speaking on the Ghana Report on Viasat1, Cabonu said that targeted implementation of the policies will be of utmost benefit to the nation while cutting down the cost of government expenditure on such schemes.
He said “when we deliver free things and we don’t deliver quality things, at the end of the day, we would have to start all over again.”
“Interventions are very important but I believe in targeted intervention. You make intervention to people who actually will value the intervention you make.
So it is not every child in this country who would need free sandals, it is not every child in this country who will need free school bags, there are children in this country who will actually need such intervention, why don’t we identify them and target them and they will be able to appreciate it so that the extra resources can be pushed to other very important areas,” he added. Free sandals, uniform
Government has among others, distributed free shoes, uniforms and textbooks to school children across the country.
This, government says is part of its social intervention programs aimed at reducing the burden on poor parents in taking care of their wards.
However several critics including a former Minister of Education, Professor Dominic Fobih argued that such interventions only improve school enrollment but does not improve the quality of education.
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