Before providing funding under the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP), the World Bank claims it confirmed that the Ministry of Education had trained teachers.
This assurance was included in the worldwide banking institution’s response to JoyNews.
The Education Committee of Parliament will look into charges that the Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, oversaw GALOP, which cost $1.2 million and employed 40,000 instructors. This comes after a JoyNews investigation discovered that the Ghana Education Service (GES) was completely ignorant of the training.
As part of its inquiry of the training of teachers stated by the Education Ministry, the World Bank formally wrote to the Director-General of GES to validate the training.
However, in a letter signed by Director-General Prof Opoku-Amankwa, he stated that he is “unaware that any such training has taken place.”
The letter also said that “GES is unaware of reports and correspondence between the Education Ministry and the World Bank, and is unable to respond to the Bank’s request in an informed manner.”
The said letter dated March 30, 2022 also asked the Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, “to advice and provide direction to enable the GES to respond appropriately to the enquiries from the World Bank.”
Dr. Clement Apaak, Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee, warned the country risks being blacklisted by the World Bank if the Minister fails to provide clarification on the matter.
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Emefa Apawu of JoyNews subsequently contacted the World Bank to inquire whether the Ministry of Education had provided it with the necessary information under the program.
The World Bank’s answer was as follows:
“The World Bank would like to confirm that under the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP), financing is disbursed against the achievement of pre-agreed and independently verified results.
According to the protocol, the Ministry of Education gave information on the number of instructors who had received distance learning education, which was validated by the Development Partners’ Group and accepted by the World Bank.
The financing was released upon this confirmation. The World Bank remains committed to supporting Ghana in its efforts to improve education for all.”
SOURCE: myjoyonline
