Minister Haruna Iddrisu and Dr. Clement Apaak Champion Educational Resilience and Global Partnerships for Ghana

Ghana is asserting its leadership in the regional education sector by hosting high-level international forums and seeking strategic global partnerships to overhaul foundational learning. Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has announced that Accra will host the 2nd High-Level Conference on Scaling Education Initiatives in Emergencies (ACCELERATE+) on September 29-30, 2026. The conference aims to address the educational disruptions affecting 72 million children globally, with a specific focus on the West African sub-region. Minister Iddrisu emphasized the urgency of the gathering by citing recent local crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Akosombo Dam spillage, which highlighted the vulnerabilities of the current school system.

The ACCELERATE+ conference, to be held at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, will bring together researchers, financiers, and education ministers to develop resilient education systems capable of surviving future crises. Key objectives include the development of innovative digital learning tools for vulnerable communities and the creation of sustainable financing strategies. Minister Iddrisu underscored the high stakes of these discussions, noting that a lost year of schooling does not recover on its own and requiring a unified policy communiqué to drive tangible outcomes across the region.

In tandem with these emergency preparedness efforts, Deputy Minister for Education Dr. Clement Abas Apaak recently addressed the global community at the 81st United Nations General Assembly to advocate for foundational learning. Dr. Apaak declared Ghana’s openness to new partnerships with international organizations to enhance early childhood education through play-based approaches in the revised basic school curriculum. By collaborating with partners like Lively Minds and Right To Play, the government intends to secure long-term academic success and cost savings by ensuring students master core competencies at the earliest stages of their development.

Furthering this vision of educational transformation, the 2026 Global Changemakers Summit is set to take place on November 21 at the GNAT Hall in Accra. Organized by Empowerment Through Education, the summit—themed “Audacity to Change the World”—will provide masterclasses and leadership training for the youth. Collectively, these initiatives represent a multi-tiered strategy by the Ministry of Education to not only protect schooling during emergencies but also to empower the next generation of leaders through foundational reforms and proactive civic engagement.