World Bank clears Education Minister in $1.2m training funds controversy

The World Bank has cleared Ghana’s Education Minister of any wrongdoing in the alleged embezzlement of the 1.2 million dollars funds meant for the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP).

Per the bank’s records, the Ministry of Education’s claims of training over 40,000 teachers under the project were verified before the funds were released.

The Education Committee of Parliament moved to probe the allegations after some reports indicated that the Ghana Education Service was unaware of the training.

In a response to a query from Accra-based Joy News, the World Bank said its “financing is disbursed against the achievement of pre-agreed and independently verified results.”

“As per the protocol, the Ministry of Education provided the details of the number of teachers trained in using distance learning methods, which were verified by the Development Partners’ Group and accepted by the World Bank.”

“The financing was released upon this confirmation. The World Bank remains committed to supporting Ghana in its efforts to improve education for all.”

The man at the centre of the accusation, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, also noted that “all the questions they brought to us were responded to.”

“It is generally the procedure, whenever you do the project, what they do is that they ask you, how did you do this; how did you do that, and you respond. When you respond to their satisfaction, they pay you.”

“It is a resource-linked indicator project. If you have any problem, the money will not be released. They expect you to do the project, then they pay. So if you are under investigation, they won’t pay you,” the minister explained.

source:Citi Newsroom