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REPORT ON STUDY TOUR TO BURKINA FASO ON THE OPERATIONS OF
SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
1.0
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
The education sector in Ghana recognises teacher absenteeism as one of the major causes of continuous poor student learning outcome. As a result, a number of initiatives have been undertaken to equip school head teachers and other members of the school management committees (SMCs) to ensure that they perform their functions properly to reduce the incidence of teacher absenteeism. These initiatives included construction of teachers’ bungalows in hard to reach communities, provision of cooking utensils, bicycles and motorbikes to teachers in remote areas. Notwithstanding all these interventions, the problem still persists in the public education sector where head teachers are not held accountable for the poor performance of their pupils/students.
The same situation cannot be said about the private education sector where learning outcomes of students are generally high and teacher absenteeism is comparably low despite the low salaries being paid by the proprietors. This could be associated with the active involvement of parents in education delivery and the ability of heads of these private institutions to sanction non-performing teachers (employees), which cannot be found in the public sector where school heads and SMCs have little authority or are not functioning at all. Weak supervision by district officers also compounds the situation, thus making school head teachers and their teachers less committed to teaching and learning.
The introduction of capitation grant, school performance improvement plan (SPIP) and school performance appraisal meetings (SPAM) have still not helped to improve school management and performance as had been identified by some studies. This implies that the accountability structure in public schools have some critical deficiencies which does not ensure quality delivery of education.
2 1.2 Objective of the Tour
The team’s visit was to get a first-hand opportunity to:
1. learn how the SMCs in Burkina Faso have been activated, lessons learnt from the implementation of the COGES project and the challenges being encountered.
2. identify suitable interventions for replication in Ghana.
1.3 The Delegation
Participants of the study tour were selected from the district, regional and national directorates of the Ghana Education Service (GES). They were made up of the following officials:
1) Mr. Stephen Adu – Ag. Deputy Director-General, M&S, GES & Director Basic Education
2) Mr. Daizuke Kanazawa – JICA Expert, GES HQ
3) Mr. Richard Ayitey – Community Participation Co-ord. (CPC), BED, GES HQ 4) Mr. Yusif Sulemana – AUDEM, BED, GES HQ
5) Mr. Paul A. Apanga – Regional Director, GES, Northern Region 6) Mr. Ibrahim Sebiyam – CSSPS Co-ordinator, GES, Northern Region 7) Mr. Kwesi Hutchful – Metro Director, GES, Tema Metro
8) Ms. Rose A. S. Nkrumah – Basic Schools Co-ordinator, GES, Tema Metro 9) Mr. John K. Kumah – District Director, GES, Savelugu-Nanton District 10)Mr. Alhassan S. Mahamadu – GES, Savelugu-Nanton District
Ms. Benedicta N. Biney, the DG of GES and Mr. Fred Birikorang were also expected to join but cancelled their participation due to some pressing issues.
1.4. Itinerary
20-Jul Sat Tamale/Kumasi - Accra 21-Jul sun Accra - Ouagadougou 22-23 Jul Site visits in Burkina Faso 24-Jul wed Ouagadougou - Accra 25-Jul Thu Accra - Tamale
1.5. Points to be Studied:
MOE: Overview of education in Burkina Faso (access, quality and
management) especially on the current status of COGES and its major challenges
Project Office: Details of the "School for All" project (activities, duration, inputs, results and future challenges)
Public schools: Visiting top ranking and lowest ranking schools in urban and rural areas and hearing from principals and COGES members about how their schools are managed and what are their challenges.
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2.0 Activities Undertaken during the Tour
This section highlights the activities undertaken during the 3-day visit to Burkina Faso. The 10-man delegation arrived in Burkina Faso on July 21, 2013 and was received by Ms. Yoko Matsuya and Kikue Sugimoto Fall from the PACOGES team and Ms. Akiko Kinoshita from JICA Burkina Faso Office who led the team to Hotel Koulouba in the city of Ouagadougou. The team lodged at this hotel for their entire stay in Burkina Faso from 21st – 24th January 2013.
2.1 JICA Burkina Faso Office
On the 22nd July, 2013, the team paid a courtesy call on JICA Burkina Faso where the Chief Representative, Mr. Hiromichi Morishita welcomed us. He explained that the COGES (SMC) project was being implemented in that country with technical and financial support from JICA. Mr. Morishita outlined the three characteristics of the project to the team as follows:
i. democratic election of members of COGES. ii. development of Action Plan.
iii. design of sustainable monitoring and evaluation system.
He was quick to add that the project is faced with two main challenges as the Burkinabe government takes over the extension of the project nationwide from 2014. These problems are:
a) ability to manage the COGES, and
b) low motivation of members of the committees.
Mr. Stephen Adu, the leader of the Ghanaian delegation and the acting Deputy Director-General, expressed the team’s gratitude to JICA for the opportunity given us to visit Burkina Faso to share with them experiences on the operations of SMC. He indicated that the team’s visit was to study the success story of COGES, with special interest on the democratic election of COGES, preparation of school improvement plans (SIP i.e. SPIPS) and the sustainability of the project.
Mr. Adu then gave an overview of SMC in Ghana. He outlined that SMC in Ghana have been based on the concept of decentralisation but however, bemoaned the inability of the concept to move into full gear owing to inadequate resources at the district level. If decentralisation is fully implemented, district directors of education will be implementers while Ghana Education Service-Headquarters will be coordinating the activities of the districts and the regions, he opined.
Other members of the delegation also complemented Mr. Adu’s explanations by sharing with our Burkinabe colleagues the role of the Directorates of Education (from district to national headquarters) within the decentralised system. Among them were:
i. the operations of senior high schools (SHS) were under a Board of Governors, whose main role is to supervise the policy implementation of activities of the school.
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iii. appointment of heads of second cycle institutions by the Director-General of GES is made through the recommendations of the Regional Directors.
iv. organisation of sports and cultural activities to ensure unity and development. v. provision of Teaching and Learning Materials (TLMs) to all public schools. vi. collation of district activities for regional and national assessment.
2.2 Ministry of National Education and Literacy (MENA)
There was a change in programme as the delegation could not meet the Secretary-General of the MENA to pay a courtesy call and discuss issues on Basic Education.
2.3 Briefing of PACOGES
This gave the delegation an opportunity to begin the next schedule at the DRDP conference hall where they met members of the national COGES Project (PACOGES). There was a presentation on school-based management (SBM). This created an opportunity for the delegation to be taken through the concept and structure of COGES through the PACOGES experience.
2.4 School Visits
The delegation visited four COGES during their stay and they comprised two rural and two urban:
Nambe in Koubri district (best performing rural COGES in the district)
Tanzega also in Koubri district (worst performing rural COGES in the district) Gounghin Nord in Manega district (best performing urban COGES in the district)
Samadin in Ouagadougou district (worst performing urban COGES in the district)During these visits, the delegation met the following groups: • members of COGES
• mayor’s representatives • directors of school • teachers
• representatives of teacher unions
• focal point/chief of basic education district (CEB) • focal point, Kadiogo
• traditional authorities
• presidents/members of parents school association (APE) and AME • chairpersons of village development committee
• PACOGES
5 2.5 Visit to CCC
The delegation also visited one of the communal councils of COGES (CCC) at Ourgou, Manega. Present at the meeting with CCC were
• secretary general
• external relations officer • treasurer
• monitoring officer • inspector on BE • advisor on BE
• first deputy from municipal office. 2.6 Presentation on SMCs in Ghana
The delegation later made a presentation on decentralisation and SMCs in Ghana at the DRDP conference centre. In attendance were the PACOGES, COGES and JICA officials. There were questions and answers on the presentation.
2.7 Debriefing at MENA This is described in Section 4.
3.0. Findings and Observations during the Tour
3.1. Overall picture of COGES in Burkina Faso1) Membership of COGES
Membership is opened to anyone who is a resident of the community, morally sound and of good social behaviour as well as being available to serve his/her community. The elected members drive the activities of the COGES and they holder the following executive positions as president, secretary general (held by the school principal), treasurer, secretary of activities and communication, girls education, 2 auditors and a monitoring officer. Additional members appointed to augment the executive committee are the mayor or his/her representative, a representative each of social union, NGOs and other associations, head of teachers, mother school association (AME) and parents school association (APE i.e. PTA).
2) Election of COGES Members
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election are the mayor, the chief inspector of schools and a representative of the central government delegation.
3) Tenure of Office:
Three (3) years for the executive committee members except the principal of the school who is the secretary general of the COGES.
4) Function of COGES
develop and validate an action plan (school improvement plan) for schools. raise funds to implement activities in the action plan.
provide monitoring and evaluation, all geared towards improving quality and access to education of children.
sensitise parents to encourage them to enrol their children in school, especially the girl-child.
assist needy children within the community to complete their education.
support schools to organise remedial classes for pupils writing primary six completion certificate examination.
reward best performing pupils and teachers at the end of the academic year. organise General Assembly meetings four times in a year:
November; to develop COGES action plan and submit it to CCC to ensure consistency with community development plan,
February; undertake mid-term assessment of the plan,
July; annual assessment on academic performance and girls enrolment, and September; identify delayed activities for support.
5) Sanctioning of Members
There are no sanctions for non-performing members. However, each COGES had its own informal mechanism of sanctioning non-cooperating members which differ from one geographical area to the other. Amongst them are that contributors are named at the general assemblies and praised for their commitment while no name is mentioned about inactive members.
6) Motivating Factors for COGES Members
Though members of the COGES do not receive any incentive for their efforts, it is worthy to note that a basic motivating factor for them is to ensure a better future for their children through education, which they hope would also guarantee rapid development of their communities. Also, they are greatly motivated by their selection through democratic process.
7) Prevalence of COGES in Burkina Faso
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the process of scaling up the establishment of COGES in the remaining 10 regions from 2014.
3.2. Findings through School Visits
The delegation visited two better performing schools and worse performing schools in terms of results of the primary education leaving certificate examination. The worse performing ones were faced with the problem of overlapping interventions between APE and COGES. Community members therefore became reluctant to respond to requests for contributions by the two bodies since they were run by the same persons. Thus, the COGES were not able to execute any activity because they could not raise funds from their main donors: community members. This problem could be attributed mainly to the fact that the philosophy of COGES in those communities was not understood even though two follow-up trainings were organised by the project co-ordinators.
Other factors contributing to the poor performance were due to misuse of funds by APE which resulted in lost of trust by parents, thereby refusing the COGES the needed support, inactivity of some members as well as the inability of co-ordinators to effectively monitor operations of the COGES within their jurisdiction. Again, parents’ lack of interest in their children’s learning achievements has been seen to be a contributory factor. This is partly due to non-availability of community ownership of schools since parents were of the view that delivery of education is the responsibility of government.
On the other hand, in the better performing schools, the delegation observed that community members were well aware of problems in schools, even test results of individual schools, through General Assemblies and other opportunities and actively participated in school management which is highly transparent to the community. APEs were quite supportive for the COGES and funds were well collected from community in the forms of cash and in-kind.
One common feature of the COGES project in Burkina Faso and the SMC concept in Ghana is that one does not need to have a child in a school before he/she becomes a member of the committee. However, members of COGES contribute to raise funds to execute their action plans just as being done by the parent teachers association (PTA) in Ghana.
3.3. Finding on the Communal Council of COGES (CCC)
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One major achievement of the CCC was the steady increases in primary school enrolment and the primary completion rate. This could be attributed to their efforts in community sensitisation on enrolment of children, especially the girl-child in schools. This was attained as a result of the co-ordination of activities of schools which hither to was absent. The functions of the CCC are to:
organise experience sharing day for COGES so that weak ones could emulate the good practices of the successful ones.
intervene when member COGES go into crisis.
raise funds by seeking support from the municipality and other institutions for members whose activities cannot be funded by their communities. They also organise COGES markets where levies are collected to boast the funds of members.
organise competitions in health, sanitation and hygiene among their schools. organise end-of-year award schemes.
encourage COGES to prioritise enrolment drive campaigns especially on the girl-child in their communities.
4.0. Courtesy call on Secretary General of MENA and conclusive remarks
The delegation in the company of their Burkinabe colleagues paid a courtesy call to the Secretary General of MENA, Mr. Winson Emmanuel Goabaga, to thank him for the hospitality and share experiences on the lessons learnt by the two countries. Mr. Goabaga was delighted that Ghana selected his country for this important tour and hoped the visit would solidify and enhance the existing co-operation between the two neighbours.
The national PACOGES coordinator briefed the Secretary General about the mission of the delegation. She talked about the key lessons learnt from Ghana’s presentation on decentralisation and SMC as follows:
i. provision of subsidy to schools should not encompass every primary school in their country so as to weaken community participation in education delivery.
ii. involvement of the entire community in the preparation of SPIP and organisation of SPAM.
iii. profiling of candidates to be included in the SMC. iv. the rich database on decentralisation.
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learning of the two languages at their ends since that shouldn't divide the countries hence the need to appreciate the role diligently played by the interpreter.
Mr. Adu then briefed the Secretary General about the four COGES and the CCC visited. The leader of the delegation indicated that many lessons were learnt from the project that should further be investigated to strengthen community participation in education delivery in Ghana taking into consideration the different context under which education is delivered in the two countries. These were:
1. Transparency in the way schools are being managed, whereby the community through the general assembly system is encouraged to be actively involved in the management of the school.
2. The concept of the Communal Council of COGES was also found to be very useful and in a way seen as recognition of the role of COGES at the higher level of authority. It was seen to be a source of motivation to encourage the COGES to work hard.
3. The concept of mid-term and annual review system was also found to be very useful. He added that this concept is noted in Ghana for projects, especially with development partners.
4. The last critical observation was the high level of commitment and dedication from the COGES which was manifested during the delegation’s frank and open interactions with them.
He however, cautioned Burkina Faso thatGhana used to have very strong and committed SMC at the initial stages of its inception but with time the tempo had been coming down. This he said was a lesson for them to take note of and to ensure that they don't fall into the trap we find ourselves in today. But fortunately for Ghana, he noted, the country is seriously pursuing a decentralised system for which when complete, will provide opportunity for the local government to strengthen the commitment of communities in the management of schools.
Again, Mr. Adu cautioned that they should be wary of signing international conventions of social mitigating interventions which advocates for free school fees, free school feeding, free school uniforms and free exercise books that if not pro-poor targeted could undermine the full participation of communities in the management of schools.
10 Key Contacts
Mr. Winson Emmanuel Goabaga Secretary General, MENA Email: [email protected]
Madam Fatimata Komfe Tassembedo National Co-ordinator, PACOGES, MENA Email: [email protected]
Ms. Yoko Matsuya Chief Advisor and JICA Expert, PACOGES Email: [email protected]
Ms. Kikue Sugimoto Fall JICA Expert, PACOGES Email: [email protected]
Ms. Keiko Murakami JICA Burkina Faso
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Pascal Komboigo PACOGES
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Joel Kiemde PACOGES
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Karim Dipama Focal Point, PACOGES, MENA
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Yabiri Kabore Focal Point, Kadiogo Province, MENA Email: [email protected]
Mr. Mahamadou Sani Tapsoba Interpreter, Diversifia Ltd. Email: [email protected]
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Annex 1: Program of Ghanaian Study Tour in Burkina Faso
Day Time Venue Activity Responsible/Participants
21 July (Sun)
Arrive in Ouagadougou
22 July (Mon)
Day 1
7h30 - 8h00 Hotel → JICA
8h00 - 8h30 JICA/Burkina Courtesy visit to JICA Burkina JICA/Burkina
9h00 -10h00 MENA Courtesy visit to MENA
Discussion on basic education
MENA, Secretary General of MENA,
General Director of Basic Education
PACOGES
No show from MENA
10h15 -12h30 Conference room, DRDP Presentation by Ghanaian side (Decentralization
of education and SBM/SMCs in Ghana)
Presentation by Burkina side (SBM in Burkina
Faso through PAOCGES experience)
Exchanges
National Focal Point, PACOGES
12h30 -14h00 Conference room, DRDP Lunch National Focal Point, PACOGES
14h00 -14h45 Ouagadougou → Koubri
14h45 -15h45 COGES Nambe
(Koubri) (Rural COGES))
Exchanges on establishment of COGES, activities, and functionality of COGES
COGES, Director of school teacher,
Teachers
Focal Point / Kadiogo, Focal Point / CEB
PACOGES
15h45 -16h00 COGES Nambe →
COGES Tanzega
16h00 -17h00 COGES Tanzega
(Koubri)
Exchanges on establishment of COGES, activities, and functionality of COGES
COGES, Director of school teacher,
Teachers
Focal Point / Kadiogo, Focal Point / CEB
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(Rural COGES)
17h00 -17h45 Tanzega(Koubri) →
Ouagadougou
17h45 Hotel
23 July (Tue)
Day 2
7h30 - 8h30 Hotel →Ourgou-Manega
8h30 -10h00 Communal council of
Ourgou-Manega (CCC)
Exchanges on role, functions, and activities of CCC Chief of CEB, Focal Point / CEB, Member
of CCC
PACOGES
10h00 -11h00 Ourgou-Manega →
Ouagadougou
11h00 -12h30 COGES Gounghin Nord
D (Urban COGES)
Exchanges on the school management through community participation and improvement of quality of learning
Director of school, Teachers, member of
COGES, President APE/AME
Chief of CEB, Focal Point / CED,
Members of CCC, PACOGES
12h30 -14h30 Conference room, DRDP Lunch
(watching film on the activities of COGES and its impact, exchanges)
Chief of CEB Ouaga 2, Focal Point/
Provincial Office, Director of school, Teachers, Presidents COGES / APE / AME of Gounghin Nord D
PACOGES
14h30 -15h00
Conference room, DRDP
Summary of study tour (presentation by Ghana side) National Focal Point, PACOGES
15h00 -16h00 Reflection and exchanges (What are the mains keys to
been activated SMCs? How to activate the SMCs in Ghana?)
National Focal Point, PACOGES
16h30 -17h00 Exchanges (Presentation by Ghana side : Program on
the school grant in Ghana)
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24 July (Wed)
Day 3
10h00 -11h30 COGES Samadin
(Urban COGES)
Exchanges on establishment of COGES, activities, and functionality of COGES
Director of school, Teachers, member of
COGES, President APE/AME
Focal Point / Kaiogo, Focal Point / CEB
PACOGES
11h30 -12h00 →MENA
12h00 -13h00 MENA Courtesy visit to MENA (Summary) MENA, Secretary General of MENA,
Director of Basic Education of MENA
National Focal Point, PACOGES
17h10 Ouagadougou → Ghana Depart from Ouagadougou Airport
Note:
AME: Mother school association
APE: Parents school association
CCC: Municipal/Communal Coordination of COGESs
CEB: Basic Education District
COGES: School based management committee
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Annex 2: Study Tour to Burkina Faso on school management committee (21-24 July 2013) Discussion memo
22 July 2013
PACOGES
In total 1520 COGES established and supported in the country. It will be expanded nationwide in 2014. While executive committee members (president, treasurer, secretary of activity and communication, girls education, 2 auditors, monitoring officer, and secretary general = school principal) are elected, others are appointed (mayor or his/her representative, representatives of social union, NGO, PTA, Mother-School association, school principal and head of teachers).
Eligibility: morally credible, residents, available for work, good social behaviour COGES members have three year term,
Supervision of election is done by central government, mayor or his/her representative, education inspector.
Non cooperation impose no penalty. But contributors are named in general assemblies and praised. COGES members receive no financial incentives.
PACOGES is extended for five months from Oct 2013.
22 July 2013
COGES Nambre (rural school, 220 students, primary leaving certificate exam: 59.46%)
Attendance: Chair of Village Development Committee, Chief of village, Chair of PTA, COGES treasurer, representative of mayor, school director,
Discussions:
1) responsibilities and achievements of COGES Established in SY 2010/11,
three classrooms built, basement rehabilitated, school kitchen built, incentive of teachers provided for extra classes, food provided additional to government provision, water in classrooms served, sanitation maintained,
good collaboration with PTA
2) what motivate COGES members to work for COGES wants to provide more education to children, expects more positive impact on their lives,
they are greatly motivated through the election process.
COGES will be nationalised from 2014.
16 3) challenges of school and COGES
contributions from community are small (100, 500, 1000 F each), more advocacy needed, so far no government support given to the school,
4) Financial status
Total expenditure: 124,000 F last year + in kind contributions (sands, cements, stones, foods, labour, etc)
100% from community support
money used for construction of classes, canteen, water facilities 5) Others
What Primary Certificate Rate dropped last year? - sudden increase of students forced teachers to teach in multi-grade, which led to deteriorate quality of class teaching,
22 July 2013
COGES Tansega (rural school, 582 students, primary leaving certificate exam: 61.73%) this is an application school (teacher trainees sent)
Attendance: school director, assistant teachers x 3 out of 8, 3 COGES members (treasurer, girls mobilisation, and other),
Discussions:
1) responsibilities and achievements of COGES Established on 10 December 2010,
encouraging parents to send their children to school, giving award (stationary) to best students, pay teachers for extra classes,
2) what motivate COGES members to work for COGES good future of children, showing their commitment, 3) challenges of school and COGES
PTA and COGES are run by same persons, overlapping of interventions between PTA and COGES, community members reluctant to respond to contribution requests from both PTA and COGES, 4) Financial status
total expense last year: zero
main source is contribution from parents, sometimes asking contribution to companies (envelops, etc), philosophy of COGES not understood by community though follow up training provided by the project two times a year, problems posed by authorities, no monitoring, no show of COGES members, PTA collects certain amount of money from parents (2,000 F x 582 students x more than 50%),
23 July 2013
Communal Council of COGES (CCC), Ourgou-Manega
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Attendance: Secretary General of CCC, external relation officer of CCC, treasurer of CCC, monitoring officer of CCC, Inspector on BE, Advisor on BE, First deputy of municipal office
Discussions:
Outline of CCC: established on 24 Mar 2012, covering 20 schools, members of CCC also elected, Activities: experience sharing day, 64 benches provided to some schools, school latrine contest (cleanness), support for school exam, award day to students, conducted
before COGES established there was no coordination of schools,
in school there are four general assembly per year (Nov: developing COGES action plan and submit it to CCC for consistency checking with commune development plan, Feb: mid-term assessment with various partners, July: annual assessment on such as academic performance and girls enrolment, Sep: identify delayed activities)
CCC complies action plans of all schools which compiled 79 activities last year, of which 24 are related to quality.
Total budget 3.6 million F which will be 100% completed. This is why 20 activities additionally included. Since the CCC was established, steady increase of primary leaving certificate rate,
Commune development plan is a five year development plan with 853,700,000 F of total budget, out of which 166,500,000 F (19.5%) is for education. Activities include building classrooms, teacher
accommodation, literacy centres, and providing school supplies and rehabilitating buildings,
COGES under the coverage of this CCC are all functional. Among their action plans, those that cannot be fully funded by themselves are brought to municipality to seek their support.
Some COGES in old schools have problems but the CCC conducts sensitisation of community, shares experience and solutions of other COGES to support them.
Sometimes COGES markets are organised and small levies are collected. Integral communalisation policy introduced 7 years ago
strengthened budgetary support to municipality, which enables support for COGES whose needs vary.
CCC and COGES members love for work and for community. This is why they volunteer themselves. Good to see during the elections. They are so excited and have strong desire to be elected.
23 July 2013
COGES Gounghin Nord D (urban school, 430 students, 98%)
Attendance: Presidents of COGES, PTA, MSA, teachers, head of school, inspector of CEPS. 1) responsibilities and achievements of COGES
COGES established three years ago.
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Main activities include: repairing boards, planting trees, building latrines, giving incentives to teachers for preparing for tests and for giving complementary classes to weaker students, organising night classes supported by elder students for G6 tests, giving extra classes during vacation, sensitisation for enrolment, rehabilitating movable assets (tables, chairs, etc), disseminate test results to community for their awareness.
PTA promoted creation of COGES, contribute a lot, very supportive. 2) what motivate COGES members to work for COGES
School is future of the community. This is why they volunteer themselves. 3) challenges of school and COGES
Funds are limited, do not satisfy all the needs. Sensitisation on COGES was initially challenging.
Difficult to retain people in meetings as they are busy with their works In-kind contribution very limited. Instead, people tend to donate cash. Funding sources need to be diversified.
4) Financial status
1st year: 300,000 F collected from community, individuals and associations and 203,700 F spent. 2nd year: 240,500 F spent (including left over from previous year and physical contribution). 3rd year: 124,300 F spent on functioning of COGES, construction, rehab.
5) Others
COGES are only for public schools. In this area, 33 private against 30 public. Primary leaving certificate exam: 98% (53/54) in 2011/12, 92% (49/53) in 2012/13
PTA in this school very strong. Parents exactly know who are absent and failed in exams. COGES positively affected by the PTA. In other neighbouring school, PTA misused their funds and lost trust of parents. COGES has therefore no support from parents.
24 July 2013
COGES Samadin B/C/D (urban school)
Attendance: President of COGES, school directors of B and C, COGES treasurer, representative of teacher union, teachers in B and C, vice chair of PTA B,
1) responsibilities and achievements of COGES Established in 2011.
Main activities include: community sensitisation, supporting educational aspects, repair, providing sanitation/latrines, electricity connected, test exam for national exam, teacher support.
Planned but not funded yet include: provision of water, blackboard, walls, health centre, 2) what motivate COGES members to work for COGES
not asked due to time constraints, 3) challenges of school and COGES
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20,000 F + physical contribution received out of 180,000 F planned. 5) Others
Ownership not available in community. People understand that schools are given by government. People does not trust COGES and school system. Lack of initiatives, lack of attention to learning achievements of students.
24 July 2013
Secretary General, MENA
Good to have opportunity for mutual learning with Ghana.
COGES is a critical tool for decentralisation, helps interaction between community and school. "Free provision of education" is a dangerous concept. Gov cannot do all.
Better understanding of education by community is the key. Need to continuously sensitise people.
