Full keynote speech delivered at the DSF event to mark International Day of The African Child.

Honorable Dr. Zenator Agyeman-Rawlings, Hon. George Annan, Fiifi Coleman, Mr. Wear Ghana, Reps from the various organisations represented here, all protocol observed, ladies and gentlemen.

I’ll begin with a poem:

Education education education 

Education is a very long way to go

Education is a mighty hard journey to travel 

Education is like thousands of miles to travel 

Of course a thousand mile journey beginning with the very first step 

Disappointment, frustration, failure, etc 

Awaits you as you travel through the world of education 

Never give up 

Better education is the guarantee of future security

you can get it if you really want.

I recited this poem at a speech and prize giving day in primary 4 when I was 8 years old. I had been rehearsing it for at least two weeks. This poem forced me to stop and think about what education really meant for the first time in my life. Before then I was only going to school because the adults in my life asked me to. But I started to understand the importance of education; of life long learning; and to make it a priority in my life. 

Later in life, it would become woven into my ideology of what education should be. And today, every time I begin a new project, meet new people or am part of a new discussion concerning education, I would remember the lines in this poem:

Education is a mighty hard journey to travel.

It is the guarantee of future security and you can get it if you really want. 

And wanting it, I did.

But I had my own personal challenges in my education journey. Lack of adequate library and reading facilities, lack of financial resources, inadequate trained teachers, etc. 

what kept me going and reaching higher and higher was the sense of personal responsibility. A decision to grow to become relevant for myself, and for my society. 

Unfortunately, it isn’t every person that wants education as badly as I did, that gets it. That is because there are several factors that come into play in the pursuit of a good education.

Today some of the factors that has affected education in Ghana include:

Gender 

Financial and social standing  

Disability status 

Geographical location 

Etc. 

What this means is that a cross section of Ghanaian children get good education, and others don’t. But they will all compete in the same job market in the future. That is why when you think about education, it is important to think about inclusivity. 

Inclusivity simply means that no matter a child’s social standing, what resources they have or do not have, whatever challenges they may be facing, they are given equal opportunity for good education like everyone else. 

This is so vital that it forms part of the UN global goals for sustainable development. the SDG goal 4 states that we must Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

In Ghana, many great efforts have been made towards inclusivity over the years. Policies such as Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA), the Education Strategic Plan (2010-2020), the Education Act among others all had been instituted to ensure inclusivity in education. Now, we also have free basic and secondary school education. 

But evidently, it is still not enough. That is why as citizens we also have a responsibility to contribute our quota in whatever way we can to support development in the education sector in Ghana. 

I want to use this opportunity to say a big thank you to the organisations and educational institutions who have offered their resources in partnership with my foundation, the NDB Foundation to support the efforts towards inclusive education in Ghana: Media General, The Laweh Open University, The Regional Maritime University, The Office of the Ga Mantse HRM King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, The Ghana Library Authority, Trinity Oil Company Limited, Everpure Ghana, Kasapreko Company Limited, Databank Foundation, Food For All Africa and Menscook. Kudos also to DFS for the efforts that you’re making. 

Still, there is so much more that can be done. 

And so as school children, it is important that we do not take for granted, the opportunity to get quality education. Remember that you are doing it for yourself, for your future. And I hope that when we are out of here, adults and children alike, we will all become ambassadors in our own small ways, to the course of promoting good quality education in our communities. 

Thank you.