Deputy Education Minister advises donors against siloed funding in early childhood education

Deputy Minister for Education, Dr. Clement Abas Apaak, has advised development partners and education funders against fragmented funding approaches that separate early childhood education from broader foundational learning.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81) at a forum themed “Building Strong Foundations: Why ECCE Must Be Integrated into National Foundational Learning Strategies,” Dr. Apaak said isolated interventions could limit the impact of investments in education.

He challenged partners and funders to consider how different interventions connect across a child’s learning journey.

“Here I must respectfully challenge our partners and funders. Too often, funding is siloed. One grant finance reading in Primary 2. Another funds for a preschool pilot in three districts. A third focuses on early nutrition. Each has value, but together they risk creating what I call “islands of excellence in a sea of systemic fragmentation.””

Dr. Apaak urged funders to consider the links between early childhood development and learning outcomes in the early grades before directing resources to specific interventions.

“So before investing in early-grade reading or mathematics, ask two questions: What came before this? What comes after it?”

He said interventions that focus only on Primary One to Three without strengthening the early childhood ecosystem that prepares children for those grades risk limiting their overall impact.

“If you target only Primary 1 to 3 and ignore the early childhood ecosystem that feeds those grades, your impact will remain capped.”

His comments form part of a broader call for Ghana to integrate early childhood care and education (ECCE) into its national foundational learning strategy, rather than treating it as a separate component of the education system.

Dr. Apaak has previously stressed that a child’s early years provide the foundation for later learning, making coordination across early childhood, primary education, nutrition, families and communities important to sustained learning outcomes.

The UNGA81 forum brought together stakeholders to examine how countries can strengthen foundational learning by ensuring that early childhood education is properly connected to subsequent stages of schooling.