The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has used his revered office to secure a mouthwatering financial package from the World Bank to support the transformation of education in the country.
Through the intervention of the Asante Monarch, whose fame is known across the globe, the World Bank has decided to reverse its decision of cancelling a whopping US$174 million financial support to Ghana’s educational sector.
This positive news was disclosed by the Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, aka Napo, who led a powerful team from his Ministry to the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on Wednesday to thank the Otumfuo for his influential role in securing the funds.
Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh and other top members of the Ministry in a group photograph with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
WB Financial Support
Christened the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP), the financial support from the World Bank seeks to offer the needed financial cushion to greatly enhance the standards of education in the country.
GALOP is financed jointly by the World Bank’s International Development Agency (IDA-US$ 150 million credit) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE-US$23.9 million grant). It specifically seeks to improve educational standards.
Key Areas
The main areas that GALOP seeks to improve are strengthening teaching and learning through support and resources for teachers, and strengthening school support, management and resourcing.
Other key areas that GALOP targets to also improve are strengthening accountability systems for learning, and technical assistance, institutional strengthening, monitoring and research.
Unfortunately, at the eleventh hour when all was set, the World Bank decided not to release the cash.
However, when the Asantehene visited the World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC, the United States, in 2019, the bank reversed its decision.
Otumfuo’s Intervention
The Education Minister said when the issue came up, he made a passionate appeal to the Otumfuo to use his high office to save the situation and the Asantehene did not hesitate in intervening for Ghana.
“I appealed to the Asantehene, who was about to travel to the World Bank in America to intervene for us. And I am happy to announce that Otumfuo has intervened for the World Bank to support us with such a huge amount,” he pointed out.
According to him, his ministry has so far met all the conditions of the financial support as the necessary documents have been signed to that effect, saying “we are here today to thank Otumfuo and Asanteman for their intervention which will greatly improve educational standards”.
Otumfuo’s Speech
The Asantehene, on his part, recounted how Napo passionately appealed to him to intervene so that the World Bank would not cancel the financial package, saying “Napo was almost in tears.”
According to him, Napo lamented that if the World Bank decided to cancel the financial support, it would greatly affect the development of education “and so I also took the matter seriously and intervened for Mother Ghana”.
The Asantehene stated that he was happy with the way Napo and his officials were developing education in the country and urged them to sustain the good works.