Education International Research
are no strong regulations to appraise the quality of private education providers. There is a great risk that further privatisation of Ghana’s education systems could lead the government to abdicate its responsibility to ensure quality education for all, including those in hard to reach areas. 18
Ghana Partnership Schools (GPS) Project One public-private partnership initiative, the Ghana Partnership Schools (GPS) Project, plans to hand over control of 100 kindergartens, primary schools and junior high schools in the Ashanti, Northern, Central and Greater Accra regions to private organisations, funded by loans and grants from the World Bank and the Global Partnership for Education. The pilot is set to run for three years beginning in September 2019, after which it will be expanded and institutionalised. Absolute Return for Kids (Ark), a UK organisation that runs “academies” (privately operated, government-funded schools) in the UK and is now involved in “partnering and advising governments [on PPPs] across several nations” 19 as the Education Partnerships Group, is currently providing advice to the Ghanaian government on implementing the program 20. Previously, Ark advised the Liberian government on the controversial Partnership Schools for Liberia 21 project — a failed experiment with the aim of privatising Liberia’s primary education system. In 2017, Ark cosponsored a visit to the UK by a group of Ghanaian Ministry of Education officials to study PPP implementation.22 Ark’s PPP advice to Ghana is being funded by the IDP Foundation 23, which appears to view the PPP as a good stepping stone to more low-fee private schools in Ghana. The proposed PPP programme in Ghana has been met by strong opposition from EI’s member organisations in Ghana, who point out that they have not been involved in the two-year planning process of the project. They have served notice that they will resist any attempt by the government to privatise, commercialise and commodify public education in the country.24
The Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) The EOF would like to partner with the Ghanaian government to facilitate the use of development impact bonds in the country’s education system. Investors would profit from the achievement of positive education outcomes by education service providers (both non-commercial and commercial) in Ghana, with returns paid for by taxpayers at home or in donor countries. At the time of writing, it still remains to be seen whether or not this will be operationalised. However, it is clear that engagement with the fund will not contribute to the government’s vision of self financing quality public education. In August 2018, education unions and the civil society coalition for education in Ghana25 released a statement denouncing the EOF. The statement expressed deep concern about the fund, noting that the fund’s focus on non-state actors “will contribute to commercialisation and commodification of education, legitimise profit-making in the provision of education and weaken efforts to strengthen and expand the provision of inclusive and equitable quality free education for all consistent with SDG 4”. GRO.EI-IE
Educators call on governments to operationalise “Ghana beyond aid” Ghanaian education unions call on their government to “wean itself from donor funding and its concomitant conditionalities” and to “operationalise the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ mantra by plugging the loopholes in tax mobilisation, eliminating harmful tax exemptions and prioritising its expenditure by investing in human capital development of the country through education”. As an alliance of unions in the education sector, educators are taking action to lobby the government to live up to its commitment to ensure that education reform is guided by national priorities.
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See: http://www.ghananewsagency.org/print/137947 Junemann, C. and Ball, O. 2019. In Sheep’s clothing: Philanthropy and the Privatisation of the “Democratic” State. Education International. p. 33 See: https://epg.org.uk/projects/ghana/ S ee: https://www.unite4education.org/global-response/the-partnership-schools-for-liberia-a-critical-analysis/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_ medium=email&utm_content=EI+Global+Response+Newsletter&utm_campaign=EI+Global+Response+Newsletter Junemann, C. and Ball, O. 2019. In Sheep’s clothing: Philanthropy and the privatisation of the ‘democratic’ state. Education International. p. 81 See grant information here: http://www.idpfoundation.org/grantmaking/grant-recipients/ark-epg S ee: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ghananews-teacher-unions-raise-red-flag-over-govt-plans-to-privatise-public-education.html?_cl dee=YW5nZWxvLmdhdnJpZWxhdG9zQGVpLWllLm9yZw%3d%3d&recipientid=contact-0ccea2bcb4a0e411b1c5005056ad0002-02db7ed032794b2782d0 bc164890f013&esid=fe73b25c-1ac0-4d89-a7ec-56da5cf90bb9 National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Teachers & Educational Workers Union of Ghana (TEWU)