Breaking: Education Minister fingered in $1.2 million ‘phantom’ training scandal

Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum is the Education Minister The Ministry of Education has refuted allegations leveled against the sector minister over a training scheme scandal worth $1.2 million. Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, was cited in an alleged phantom World Bank training scheme of teachers costing $1.2 million.

The World Bank as part of its investigations to establish the training of the teachers as claimed by the Ministry of Education, wrote officially to the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, GES, to confirm when the said training took place.

But Prof Kwasi Opoku Amankwa, Director-General, GES, before he could respond to the World Bank letter, wrote to the Ministry asking for clarity of the training of over 40,000 teachers on the digital literacy platform under the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP).

Prof Opoku Amankwa in his letter to the ministry stated that he is “unaware that any such training has taken place.”

The letter also added, “GES is unaware of reports and correspondence between the Education Ministry and the World Bank and is unable to make an informed response to the Banks request.”

The GES boss further asked the sector Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum “to advice and provide direction to enable the GES to respond appropriately to the inquiries from the World Bank.” The Ministry stated that the allegations are false, however stating the background of the said training scheme as follows.

“Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP) uses Results Based Financing (RBF) instrument where project funds are disbursed contingent on the achievement of pre-agreed results and independent verification of results.

ii. In 2020, the Ministry secured an additional $15m as COVID-19 Global Partnerships for Education Accelerated Funding to better respond to disruptions to education due to COVID-19.

Under this component, one Performance Based Condition (PBC) against which disbursement is tied is Teachers Trained in Digital Literacy. The MoE was expected to train 40,000 teachers in Digital Literacy to trigger disbursement of $1.2 million.”

The Ministry in response to media reports has noted emphatically that, “The World Bank has not written to Ghana Education Service (GES) or any other Agency of the Ministry to confirm the achievement of results. Evidence of teachers trained is available on the NTC teacher training platform and the KA Technologies Platform.”

Here is the full statement below MINISTER FOR EDUCATION REFUTES ALLEGATION OF $1.2 MILLION SCANDAL.

The Ministry’s attention has been drawn to a publication making the rounds online in which the publishers wrongly interpreted the facts regarding the training of teachers in Digital Literacy under the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP).

For purpose(s) of clarity, the facts of the matter are as follows: BACKGROUND

Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP) uses Results Based Financing (RBF) instrument where project funds are disbursed contingent on the achievement of pre-agreed results and independent verification of results.

ii. In 2020, the Ministry secured additional $15m as COVID-19 Global Partnerships for Education Accelerated Funding to better respond to disruptions to education due to COVID-19.

Under this component, one Performance Based Condition (PBC) against which disbursement is tied is Teachers Trained in Digital Literacy. The MoE was expected to train 40,000 teachers in Digital Literacy to trigger disbursement of $1.2 million. ACTION TAKEN

iv. In collaboration with Ghana Education Service (GES), KA Technologies had been engaged to supply laptops to, and train teachers in digital literacy. To ensure efficiency in the utilization of sector resources, the Ministry leveraged the teacher training platform developed by KA Technologies (see https://kanton.katechnologiesgh.com) and National Teaching Council (NTC) platforms (see http://elearning.ntc.gov.gh) for the provision of digital literacy training.

Based on evidence from the Kanton platform, a total of 41,860 Teachers had registered as participating in digital literacy training on the KA Technologies platform as of November 30, 2021. Out of this total, 40,042 had been through at least a course on digital literacy. Similarly, teachers had accessed the NTC platform and were participating in the training.

INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION

vi. Independent Verification of the Ministry’s Report on achievement was done by the Education Sector Development Partners as the requirement of the project.

vii. The Development Partners’ Group was taken through a presentation on the teacher training platform, courses mounted, teachers registered and the courses taken. Furthermore, the Partners were given access for their independent engagement with the platform. viii. Issues raised by the Development Partners such as the adequacy of the content on the teachers’ training platforms were addressed in a series of engagements with the Development Partners Group.

IX. Following these engagements, the Education Sector Development Partners in a letter dated March 25, 2022, officially communicated their verification and confirmation of achievement of PBC 7.2B. Among others, the Group noted that documentation provided by the MoE to the Chair of the Development Partners Group shows that, as of November 30, 2021, a total of 41,860 Teachers from 685 schools across the country have registered on the platform and 40,042 have completed at least of five digital literacy courses.

Consequently, the World Bank transferred $1.2m to the Ministry after their internal clearance of the PBC. The funds will be programmed for GALOP implementation activities in the next budget cycle as per project implementation arrangements.

xi. Beyond the submission of the report and verification, many more teachers have been trained on both the KA Technologies and NTC developed platforms. KA Technologies platforms have 148,510 signed-up uses. Similarly, 43,988 teachers had been trained on the NTC platform as of May 26, 2022.

MEDIA DISCUSSION

xii. The World Bank has not written to the Ghana Education Service (GES) or any other Agency of the Ministry to confirm the achievement of results. Evidence of teachers trained is available on the NTC teacher training platform and the KA Technologies Platform.