Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor, who disclosed this when he presented the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government for the 20 I 0 Fiscal Year, said the package was in pursuit of the government's commitment to protect the vulnerable and disadvantaged in society and give them equal opportunities. The minister said the initiative would begin in the 20 I 0 fiscal year, adding that the government also recognised the need for quality education for all children irrespective of where they resided. "The challenge, however, is getting teachers to deprived areas of the country in pursuit of this objective," he stated. He said in fulfillment of the President's pledge to Ghanaians, modalities for rewarding teachers who accepted posting to deprived areas were being worked out for implementation in the 2010 medium term. The minister also announced plans to construct and furnish 165 school buildings to accommodate primary and junior high schools under trees and 250 permanent structures for kindergartens.
"In the next three years, the government will provide permanent buildings for every school currently operating under a tree and also expand facilities in schools running a shift system," he stated.
According to him, presently, there were 2,349 kindergarten schools; 2,502 primary schools and 376 junior high schools in the country where classes were being held under trees. He said the initiative would be linked to job creation in the deprived communities where under tree schools are found, adding that construction of the schools will be localized and undertaken by the communities themselves. "It is expected that this initiative will provide some 14,700 jobs for masons, carpenters and other artisans while providing better school facilities for some 45,000 pupils," he added. The minister said effective solution to the education problems required more resources to be directed to the sector. He noted that to learn effectively, children needed affordable access to decent classrooms and laboratories, learner and teacher support materials, and quality instruction. Dr Duffuor said the government would focus on scaling up all existing intervention: in the health sector to improve access to health, particularly the Community-Based Health Planning and services (CHPS) Compound Programme. To this end, the CHPS Compound programme will be expanded by constructing additional 29 compounds to give access to health services for about 14,500 people," he said.
The Finance Minister also indicated that the establishment of new ambulance for each district in the country was being given serious attention.
He added that the idea of bringing all ambulance services under a National Ambulance Service was also receiving serious consideration by the government.
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