Remodelling Education for Sustainable Teaching and Learning

Education in the 21st century has taken a new dimension with emphasis on modernization and technology. Over the last few years, the Government of Ghana has aimed to improve education sector performance through its education reform programmes to strengthen service delivery and ensure that well-intentioned policy goals translate into improved learning outcomes and future workforce development. Improving access and quality of education in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic has made these efforts more challenging. The Ministry of Education has therefore aimed to identify ways to ensure education targets are achievable and sustainable through innovations and effective quality control systems for better planning, accountability, teaching, and learning.
 

The Evidence Summit, which forms part of the National Education Week (NEW), was held on September 29, 2021. The event brought together policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to a) share rigorous evidence that has been collected about innovative approaches to improving access to STEM education and use of digital technology in learning, in Ghana and internationally; and b) identify ways to build resilience in the education system for quality education delivery.

The Ministry of Education holds the National Education Week (NEW) annually to engage stakeholders in the review of sector performance and collectively strategize towards the attainment of sector targets in the ensuing year. The theme for NEW 2021 focused on “Reimagining Education for National Transformation." The Evidence Day of NEW provided a platform to discuss best practices and to draw out lessons for policy and education planning. Papers were presented, linked to this year’s NEW theme, across the sub-sectors of education from early grade to tertiary level. This assisted policymakers and sector practitioners with evidence to inform reform, planning, and policy implementation for improved service delivery.

About National Education Week (NEW)

The Ministry of Education (MoE) of Ghana, in partnership with other strategic agencies including IPA, organized the 2021 edition of the National Education Week (NEW) from September 28 to October 1, 2021 at the Labadi Beach Hotel and La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Accra under the theme "Reimagining Education for National Transformation."

The overarching goal of NEW 2021 was to re-focus the education sector’s attention on four key areas:

1. Education policy planning and accountability at the Regional, Municipal and District levels;
2. STEM education, especially for girls;
3. Digital learning leveraging on the use of technology, and;
4. Building resilient and sustainable systems in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic disruption.

The event lasted for 4 days with massive turnout and participation from all relevant stakeholders.

Day 1 – All 16 Regional Directors of Education (RDEs) presented on the state of education in their regions across various indicators such as performance, teacher deployment, and infrastructure. This was the first time RDEs were given such an opportunity, and for most people, it represented a highlight of the event as it enabled debates on the true state of education in Ghana.

Day 2 – IPA led the organization of the Evidence Day event. The event featured 18 research presentations, arranged under the four thematic areas of STEM & Early Childhood Education (ECE), Digital Learning, Sustainable and Resilient Systems, and Policy Planning and Management. Presentations helped bring to light rigorous evidence in these areas that fed into Technical Working Group deliberations on Day 3.

Day 3 – IPA co-steered the organization of the technical working group sessions. The sessions were organized along the lines of the four thematic areas. It enabled grouped participants to discuss issues in-depth and propose practical recommendations that the Ministry of Education (MOE) can take forward over the short term (within a year), medium-term (up to 3 years), and the long term.

Day 4 – The morning session featured presentations from the 4 Technical Working Groups and plenary discussions. A closing address was given by the Minister of Education to formally close NEW 2021. In his address, the Minister highlighted the Ministry’s vision to double STEM enrollment at all levels of education, strengthen digital learning and access, strengthen English as the language of instruction, create a leadership and management institution that will build the capacity of teachers to take up management and leadership roles, drive sector accountability at decentralized levels, and explore a national NEW event in 2022 that is preceded by regional and district events which will enable grassroots stakeholder participation by parents and communities.

Information about the previous Education Week in 2019 is available here.