The Managing Director in charge of World Bank Operations, Ms Anna Bjerde, has expressed satisfaction with the progresses made in the implementation of the Ghana Accountability and Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP).
According to her, the project has resulted in improved reading and comprehension skills among pupils due to strong teacher-student engagement.
Ms. Anna Bjerde, expressed her satisfaction when she led a World Bank delegation to visit various projects financed by the World Bank in Accra.
The trip took the team to seven out of the 28 basic schools in the Weija Gbawe Municipality benefitting from the GALOP project.
New Gbawe Municipal Basic School, one of the participating schools, achieved excellent results during the 2021 National Standardized Test for primary four pupils.
Their scores surpassed the national average, with 83 per cent in English and 57 per cent in Mathematics, compared to the respective national averages of 54 per cent and 46 per cent.
As part of GALOP, teachers have received training in differentiated learning and targeted instruction, which includes teaching reading and numeracy skills to children and developing teaching and learning materials.
Ms Bjerde was satisfied with the outcome of the project, saying, “What I saw at the school was very engaging, especially with the teachers and the pupils, and the excellent skills exhibited by the teachers to keep the pupils motivated in learning.”
She stated that building strong human capital was an important ingredient in ensuring sustainable development, adding that promoting technical and vocational training would create job opportunities for the youth.
She said the World Bank would work to scale up the project across the country to improve teaching and learning.
“Going forward, we will ask the teachers if they need any support to improve the implementation of the projects,” and urged the government to work on the ratio of teachers to pupils to enable the teachers to fully understand the educational needs of pupils and develop innovative ways to address them.
The Deputy Minister for Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, stated that GALOP has received a total funding of $150 million from the International Development Association (IDA) and $60.7 million from Trust Funds. The funding covers the period from 2019 to 2025.
He explained that the primary objective of GALOP is to enhance the quality of education in underperforming basic schools while promoting equity and accountability within the education sector in Ghana.
Rev. Fordjour highlighted that the project has provided support to 10,500 schools nationwide. Additionally, he noted that 81 per cent of primary schools benefiting from GALOP now have a pupil-trained-teacher ratio below 50:1. This represents an increase from the baseline of 75 per cent in 2019.
The Minister emphasized that Ghana is committed to transforming its education system and preparing students to meet the learning outcomes of the 21st century.
Ghana has been receiving support from the World Bank since 1957, and the current active portfolio consists of 21 projects amounting to $3.6 billion.
These projects encompass various sectors, including nutrition, education, finance, social protection, jobs, and digital development.
