Current Events
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.
Complementary Education Agency (CEA) signed Memorandum of Understanding with Care International-Ghana. The Ag. Executive Director, Mr. Francis Asumadu and Mr. Philip K. A Deh signed on behalf of CEA while the Country Director, Rose Tchwenko and Mercy Sika Krow signed on behalf of Care Ghana. The ceremony was witnessed by other staff.
LAUNCHING OF COMPLEMENTARY EDUCATION AGENCY OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION.
Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum.
The Complementary Education Agency, a division of the Ministry of Education, is set to outdoor its educational programme dubbed “Complementary Education,” Friday, March 11, 2022.
The ceremony which would be held at the GNAT Hall in Accra, according to the Agency, would be honoured by the sector Minister, Dr Yaw Adutwum.
Complementary Education is a remodel of what was formally called Non-formal Education.
The programme has been in existence since the inception of the First Republic but was officially incorporated into the Ministry’s functions in 1987 when the government at the time under the leadership of Jerry John Rawlings saw the need to reform the sector.
The programme has been providing education in various areas to people, particularly adults. This was at the time when the literacy rate among the adult demography was very low in the country.
Adults undertaking an educational course
The programme was therefore supported by the World Bank to provide education to the adult groups to raise the literacy rate of the country.
However, since the World Bank’s withdrawal of its support to the government, the programme has been dwindling until the Akufo-Addo government took the initiative to revitalise it, taking into consideration the need for all to have some form of education to improve upon the quality of their lives.
A bill, Complementary Education Bill 2019, was in effect passed by the 7th Parliament on October 16, 2020.
The bill was to establish the Complementary Education Agency to see to the provision of educational programmes outside the formal education system in the country.
Per clause 3 of the bill, the agency will formulate policies and guidelines to advance complementary education, it will monitor and evaluate the implementation of approved learning activities in the complementary education sector and develop partnerships to enhance complementary education and occupational skill development.
Speaking on the Anopa Bofoↄ show hosted by Kofi Adoma Nwanwani, the Acting Head of Public Relations of the 
Agency, Patrick Twumasi, said the programme to be implemented for children at the basic Junior High School levels and adults, would include skill development and professional training to complement the formal education.
According to him, though the programme is to serve as a complement for formal education and would provide the mentioned services, it is not independent of formal education. Thus, a student undertaking formal education cannot quit and join the non-formal education because he probably is not performing well.
“There will be restrictions laid on the non-formal education which will make it complementary but not independent to compete with the formal education which is structured,” he stated in Twi on the show.
Patrick Twumasi
The Acting Director, Francis Asumadu, stressed that the programme is to serve as an alternative means to pursue higher learning without going through structured stages as is typical of the formal educational system.
“The formal education is so structured such that it takes few people to jump from say like six to JHS; it is difficult to make it into SHS when you haven’t been through the primary education.
“The new system comes to provide an alternative system where without a stage one can still pursue other levels of education to achieve the results he seeks” the acting Director said.
Francis Asumadu, the acting Director of Complementary Education Agency
Touching on the various levels of education, he noted that for the basic education, children who may not have had formal education before would be taught in their mother tongue and their performance would determine what stage they will be placed−whether class 3 or 4−to continue their basic education.
On JHS students, he mentioned that on completion of the programme they will be awarded certificates that will help them enrol in any formal education institution to retake their final examinations to help them advance into Senior High School.
About the adults, their education would cut across sectors of the economy, thus for those into business, they may take courses that are finance-oriented to educate them on finance management among others, likewise for other sectors.
The programme according to the agency would be held in three sessions: morning, afternoon and evening. This is to ensure that no person needing their services is left behind
COMPLEMENTARY EDUCATION AGENCY (CEA) SOON TO GO DIGITAL
The agency as part of its mandate in rendering complementary education services to the Ghanaian public, has decided to go digital by uploading its facilitation and learning materials (primers) online.
Lessons learnt from COVID- 19 pandemic have necessitated this paradigm shift from face- to- face teaching and learning to digitalization. In line with this, the ministry of education has directed CENDLOS to include CEA digitalization agenda in their new learning passport project.
This project would enable CEA learners to access functional literacy information in Ghanaian languages and English language on the learning passport platform.
Also, earnest preparations are being done by CEA to provide identification codes/ numbers for its beneficiaries to enable them access the Learning Passport initiative.
Complementary Education Introduce New Literacy Cycle.
CEA has moved the implementation of the National Functional Literacy Program(NFLP) from 21 months to 12 months’ literacy cycle. The new cycle begins in January and ends in December every year. January is used to climax the yearlong community entry and training of facilitators, actual classes begin in first week of February every year.
CEA has adopted first Tuesday in the month of February every year to be observed as “MY FIRST DAY IN CEA CLASS “.
Management arrived at this decision (the literacy cycle) after an elaborated discussion of the literacy cycle at the just ended senior management meeting at Camp Martin’s Hotel in Kumasi.
The abridge is necessary to make the program more robust, effective and convenient for its beneficiaries to endure fluidity in lifelong learning.
With this initiatives, facilitators are expected to engage learners at class level for five times per week and each engagement duration, is shifted from 2hrs to 3hrs per meeting.
CEA READY TO IMPLEMENT COMPLEMENTARY BASIC EDUCATION (CBE).
The Complementary Education Agency (CEA) joined the United Kingdom’s (UK) Department for International Development (DFID) and Implementing Partners (IPs) in a three day Complementary Basic Education (CBE) Progress review meeting for cycle 5 at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel in Accra.
Complementary Basic Education (CBE) is an intervention to rope in out-of-school children (OOSC) between the ages of 8-14. These children are facilitated in their mother tongue for nine months. The graduates are then transitioned into formal education. Based on assessment some of the children start formal education at primary class three or four.
In a speech, the Hon. Minister for Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku-Prempeh lauded Civil Society and School for Life (SFL) for starting and sustaining the programme. He indicated that CBE as an intervention is not here to stay forever, but to help out-of-school children (OOSC) join their colleagues in the formal school.
Mr. Enoch Cobinna, the Chief Director of the Minister of Education also indicated that since the inspection of CBE in 2013, 248,556 out of-school children (OOSC) have transited to the formal school. He appreciated the National Steering Committee members, which he chairs for their dedication and commitment to the intervention.
Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom (UK) has through CBE been offering support to disadvantaged as well as disabled children.
CBE, hence, offer second chance to under privileged children to get enrolled into formal school.
The Private Sector and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) came up for special commendation for their enormous contribution toward the success in the implementation of the CBE intervention.
Mr. Francis Asumadu, Ag, Executive Director of Complementary Education Agency (CEA) thanked the Crown Agents, United States of Agency for International Development (USAID) and Implementing Partners (IPs) for inviting the Division to participate in the review for cycle 5. He indicated that, the experience was engaging as the education. Mr. Asumadu, stated that the Agency was ready to continue with the implementation of the Complementary Basic Education (CBE) intervention, which process is not at much variance with the Complementary Education practise.