LIST OF ACRONYMS
Acronym Meaning
BECE Basic Education Certificate Examination
CAPEX Capital Expenditure
Eduwatch Africa Education Watch
EMIS Education Management Information System
ESP Education Strategic Plan (2018-2030)
FSHS Free Senior High School
GALOP Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project
GER Gross Enrollment Rate
GES Ghana Education Service
GETFund Ghana Education Trust Fund
GoG Government of Ghana
GPE Global Partnership for Education
GSFP Ghana School Feeding Programme
ICT Information Communication Technology
IGF Internally Generated Funds
JHS Junior High School
KG Kindergarten
MoE Ministry of Education
MOGCSP Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection
NER Net Enrollment Rate
NST National Standardize Test
PA Parents’ Association
PTA Parent Teacher Association
PTR
Pupil Teacher Ratio
SBC Standard-Based Curriculum
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
SfL School for Life
SMC School Management Committee
SPIP School Performance Improvement Plan
STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
TLRs Teaching and Learning Resources
UN United Nations
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
WASH Water Sanitation and Hygiene
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction and Background
The “CSOs Report on the State of Public Basic Education in Ghana” was commissioned by School for Life (SfL) in collaboration with Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), as part of the Citizen-Led Action for Educational Accountability and Responsiveness in Ghana (CLEAR) project. The project is being implemented by SfL, GDCA and YEfL-Ghana in six (6) selected Municipalities and Districts from all five (5) regions of Northern Ghana, with funding support from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) under the Education Out Loud.
This report aims to assess the effectiveness of Government of Ghana’ s (GoG) investments and key programmes in public basic education for the year 2023. It identifies critical gaps in the sub-sector and makes policy recommendations to address these gaps while making appropriate linkages to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – particularly Goal 4, Ghana’s Education Strategic Plan (ESP 2018 - 2030) and its medium-term implementation progress. The report also assesses key budgetary considerations in the education sector for the year under review.
Using the mixed method approach to research, the report sought insights from education stakeholders into the impact of education management systems (from national through to the school level) on education service delivery through Key Informant Interviews. The report relied heavily on secondary data through a desk review of the ESP (2018-2030) to identify the 2030 targets for various basic education indicators in the sub-sector and analyze the attainment of targets at both national and deprived regions. Data from the 2023/24 Annual School Census Report of the Education Management Information System (EMIS) and the 2023 Annual reports from the Ministry of Education (MoE) and its Agencies were sourced to measure progress in indicator performances.
Key Findings
The report covered themes such as ‘Access’, ‘Quality’, ‘Management, Finance and Accountability’, ‘Inclusion’ and ‘Interventions’. Key findings under the various themes include the following:
Access to public basic education
The 2023 basic education enrollment data indicate the presence of a significant lack of right age enrollment at the various levels in the sub-sector with an average 30 per cent difference between the Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) and Net Enrollment Rate (NER). Of the 122.14 per cent Kindergarten (KG) enrollment rate, 85.22 per cent are at the right age. The picture is similar at the primary and Junior High School (JHS) levels with 107.14
per cent GER against 79.42 per cent NER, and 88.35 per cent GER against 58.76 per cent NER respectively.
An analysis of NER in deprived regions revealed an average KG NER of 73.30 per cent, below the national rate (85.22%), with Savannah (62.47%) and Oti (68.07%) being the deprived regions with the lowest KG NERs for the year under review. At the primary level, average NER was 81.09 per cent for deprived regions with the Upper East (92.23%), Upper West (88.39%) and Western North (85.33%) regions recording NERs higher than the national average (79.42%). The Upper East region was only 7.7 percentage points away from achieving the ESP 100 per cent target while recording the highest primary NER in 2023.
Ghana’s basic education ends at JHS completion. A key determinant of access in basic education is the ability to transition from primary six (6) to JHS. The Primary 6 to JHS transition rate for the year under review was 98.30 per cent at the national level, 1.70 per cent below the ESP 2030 target of 100 per cent. Compared to the 2023 primary 6 completion rate of 101.45 per cent, this indicates that some 3.15 per cent of pupils who completed primary 6 did not transition into JHS 1. Further, the JHS completion rate for 2023 is 94.09 per cent, 5.91 percentage points below the 2030 target of 100 per cent, indicating an improvement over the 2022 rate of 84.28 per cent.
In terms of basic education infrastructure, the number of basic schools for the year under review indicates a 1.8 per cent (275 schools) increase in the number of KGs from 14,938 in 2022 to 15,213. At the primary level, 353 more schools were added, representing a 2.3 per cent increase over the 15,368 schools in 2022, while 3 per cent (363 schools) more JHSs were added to the 2022 number of 11,734. Considering the significant infrastructure deficit in Ghana’s basic education sub-sector with about 5,300 schools under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures, coupled with about 3,600 primary schools in Ghana without JHS, the pace of government’s basic education infrastructure provision is rather slow.
Related to infrastructure deficit in the sub-sector is the condition of classrooms. According to EMIS data, 35 per cent (20,275) and 30 per cent (76,196) KG and primary classrooms respectively needed major repairs in 2023. The situation at the JHS level also worsened with 31 per cent (29,022) of classrooms in a deplorable state compared to the initial 26 per cent in 2022. The widening infrastructure deficit in the public basic education subsector is attributable to the shrinking funding from GoG. Basic education’s share of GoG budget shrunk to 21.7 per cent in 2022, and 20 per cent in 2023, from a high of 39.2 per cent in 2019.
Though the ESP does not set targets for infrastructure tracking such as desks, EMIS data indicates that about 40 per cent of basic school pupils in Ghana did not have desks as of 2021, translating into over 2.3 million children - 50 per cent (596,949) KG pupils, 40 per cent (1,308,479) primary pupils and 30 per cent (425,465) JHS pupils lacking access to
seating and writing places.1 This represents a deterioration of the desk situation in 2017 where about 30 per cent of basic school pupils lacked access to seating and writing places.2
Quality of public basic education
Compared to the 2030 ESP trained teachers target for all three (3) levels of basic education of 100 per cent, 2023 trained teacher attainment was 98.25 per cent, 99.14 per cent and 99.12 per cent for KG, primary and JHS respectively. Analysis of trained teacher rates in endowed regions shows an average of 98.33 per cent at KG, 99.25 per cent at primary and 99.19 per cent at JHS.
Deprived regions had an average of 97.55 per cent trained KG teachers, 98.99 per cent primary trained teachers and 98.98 per cent JHS trained teachers in 2023. However, though the Upper West and North East regions fall within the deprived regions category, they recorded the highest rate of trained teachers at the KG level for the year under review with 99.20 per cent and 99.37 per cent respectively. The high rate of teachers trained can be attributed to the effectiveness of the teacher training programmes. Also related to quality is Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR). A national versus deprived regions analysis of PTR reveals an average KG PTR of 58.14 for deprived regions, with North East and Savannah regions recording the highest PTRs at 85 and 80 respectively. This high PTR underscores the wide deficit in teacher availability in deprived and rural schools, especially in the northern regions.
Prior to the rollout of the Standard Based Curriculum (SBC) in 2018, though the recommended core textbook ratio was 3:1 (i.e. 3 core textbooks per pupil), the ratio then was 1:4 for Mathematics, English and Science.3 This meant that four (4) pupils shared one textbook. With the introduction of the SBC, the recommended core textbook ratio changed to 4:1, meaning each pupil must have access to one English Language, Mathematics, Science and Creative Arts textbook each. However, with the challenges that characterised the textbook distribution, reliable national data on textbook-pupil ratio remains a challenge, with researched data indicating high deficits of up to 40 per cent in rural schools.
1 Eduwatch, 2023. Scoping Study Report on the impact of desk deficits in public basic schools on girls’ participation in basic education in Ghana
2 ibid
3 MoE, 2018. EMIS
Basic school management, financing and accountability of education delivery
The School Management Committee (SMC) and Parent Teacher Association (PTA) play a pivotal role in public basic school governance and learning improvement; thus, the ESP sets a 100 per cent target for all public basic schools to have functioning SMCs and PTAs by 2030. However, the MoE’s information management system has no data on these indicators. Notwithstanding, evidence exists that a significant number of schools have SMCs and Parents Associations (PA),4 albeit that their involvement in school governance and knowledge on the School Performance and Improvement Plan (SPIP) was limited.5
UNESCO recommends that countries allocate at least 20 per cent of total government budget and 4 to 6 per cent of their GDP to education.6 In 2023, the share of GoG budget allocated to education declined from 15.03 per cent in 2022 to 12.97 per cent, below the UNESCO benchmark by about 7 percentage points.7 Again, in 2023, Ghana missed the UNESCO benchmark for the share of GDP allocation to education by allocating 3.09 per cent, below the minimum threshold of 4 per cent. This represents a decline from the 2022 share of 4.06 per cent.7
In reference to basic education financing, as of 2023, the latest data on the share of education expenditure that went to basic education was 41.1 per cent in 2022. This represented a 5.4 per cent decline from the 2021 share of 46.5 per cent. 8 Basic education’s share of the total education expenditure has been fluctuating, with a trend analysis showing a 3.9 per cent decline between the 2017 share (42.2%) and the 2018 share (38.3%). An increase of 2.2 per cent is observed between the 2019 share (39.4%) and the 2020 share (41.6%).9
Given that the basic education sub-sector alone caters for about 6 million pupils, education experts prescribe a 50 per cent allocation of the education budget to the basic level, to free at least 10 per cent of the budget for infrastructure and 5 per cent for teaching and learning resources, management and supervision.
4 CDD, 2022. A Review of the Education Sector Medium-Term Development Plan (ESMTDP) 2018 - 2021
5 Agbi, R. M., Nudzor, H. P. and Agbevanu, W. K., (2024). School Management Committees’ Knowledge and Involvement in School Improvement Plans: Implications for Quality Education; Journal of Education Planning, vol. 31 No.2.
6 UNESCO, 2023. Financing Education. https://www.unesco.org/en/education-policies/financing 7 Ministry of Finance Budget Statement and Economic Policy (2017-2023)
7 ibid
8 Eduwatch, 2024. Education Financing Tracker (2017-2024)
9 ibid
Additionally, the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) allocation to basic education, a major source of infrastructure funding for the sub-sector, declined from 28.19 per cent in 2017 to 12.47 per cent in 2023.10
Inclusive basic education
To attain SDG targets for education and equity, Ghana needs to prioritize inclusion, particularly in basic education, to create a prosperous, equitable and cohesive society. To this end, in 2023 the MoE began reviewing the 2015 Inclusive Education Policy, which is currently awaiting validation.
Other interventions, including the upgrading two (2) special schools in the Tamale Metropolis and four (4) mainstream schools in the Savelugu District to standard Regional Assessment Centres, and the roll out of the Universal Design for Learning Project which trained District Teacher Support Teams and 600 headteachers and Basic 1-3 teachers to handle learners with special education needs have been implemented.11
Notwithstanding, enrollment in special schools in the 2022/2023 academic year declined by 12.7 per cent from 8,452 in the 2020/2021 academic year to 7,500.12 While GoG’s policy is to integrate as many pupils as possible with special education needs into mainstream schools, many basic schools lack the necessary infrastructure and facilities to accommodate pupils with special needs, with teachers lacking the relevant skills and knowledge to facilitate the educational attainment of pupils with diverse needs.
Moreover, funding for inclusive and special education (i.e. an average of 0.2% of the education budget from 2017 to 2022) is woefully inadequate.13 Relatedly, the inequity in education resource allocation implies that rural and underserved areas often receive less support for inclusive education initiatives which impedes the effective implementation of inclusive practices in public basic schools.
In line with promoting inclusive basic education, the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) had expanded significantly, reaching 3,801,491 beneficiaries across 10,832 public basic schools in all the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies by 2023.14 The expansion has led to gains such as improved school attendance and reduced short-term hunger. However, apart from the Programme covering only two thirds of public basic
10 GETFund formula (2023).
11 MoE, 2023 Performance report
12 ibid
13 Eduwatch, 2024. Education Financing Tracker (2017-2024)
14 MOGCSP Ghana School Feeding Programme Secretariat. https://www.mogcsp.gov.gh/ghana-school-feeding-programme-gsfp/
school children, it faces challenges including inadequate and delayed funding, political interference, poor quality of food and the small quantity of food served.15
Further, though the GSFP budget has increased by 289 per cent from GHC 249 million to GHC 969 million from 2017 to 202317, the per unit expenditure has increased by only 23.71 per cent from GHC 0.97 in 2017 to GHC 1.20 in 2023. This amount, discounted for inflation of about 61.0 per cent in the face of high food inflation, indicates that the GSFP is actually underfunded.16
Key interventions in public basic education
Key interventions in the basic education sub-sector include the Capitation Grant which was initiated in 2005 to eliminate levies and fees at the basic school level and provide resources for supporting school management, including maintenance, conduct of schoolbased examinations and the procurement of minor teaching and learning resources. The impact of the Capitation Grant has diminished over the years due to inadequate budgetary allocation, late release of funds, and in some instances, non-release of funds, creating arrears over the period.
Even though in 2017 GoG increased the per unit allocation by 122.2 per cent from GHC 4.50 to GHC 10.00, the non-release of funds led to the Grant being in arrears dating back to the 2020/2021 academic year. A trend analysis of the execution rate of the Grant from 2017 to 2023 reveals an average of 61.8 per cent execution, manifesting in the inadequate funds for managing public basic schools17 .
The Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP) is another key intervention in the sub-sector being implemented by the MoE to improve the quality of education and learning outcomes in low-performing basic schools and strengthen education sector equity and accountability in Ghana. In 2023, Learning Grants totaling GHC 42,480,470.00 were disbursed to a targeted 10,579 low-performing basic schools and Special Schools under the project.20
Recommendations
With only five (5) years left to the ESP (2018-2030) and SDGs deadlines, all efforts targeted at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all, particularly at the basic education level, should be expedited. The following are thus recommended:
15 CDD, 2022. A Review of the Education Sector Medium-Term Development Plan (ESMTDP) 2018 - 2021 17 Eduwatch, 2024. Education Financing Tracker (2017-2024)
16 ibid
17 Eduwatch, 2024. Education Financing Tracker (2017-2024) 20 MoE, 2023-2024 annual report
1. The MoE must supervise equitable allocation of education resources considering the rural-urban divide, gender disparities and disability.
2. The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in collaboration with key stakeholders including MoE and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to expand the GSFP to cover JHSs and all unsubscribed primary schools in deprived regions.
3. The MoE must initiate a discussion with the MoF leading to the uncapping of GETFund to free up resources for education financing, as promised in the 2024 Manifesto of the ruling National Democratic Congress.
4. The MoE must prioritize school infrastructure provision to eliminate schools under trees, renovate dilapidated schools to make them safe, while expediting the provision of JHSs for primary schools without same and ensuring all primary schools have KGs.
5. MoE must prioritize the implementation of the 20 per cent Deprived Area Allowance in teachers’ Conditions of Service to attract more teachers into deprived districts/regions.
6. MoE must ensure future curriculum rollouts are concurrent with the distribution of approved textbooks, given priority to districts with high textbook deficits to attain balanced Pupil-Textbook Ratio across all basic schools.
7. The MoE and District Assemblies should ensure all basic school infrastructure contracts are awarded with the full component of school furniture, including desks and chairs for pupils and teachers, while exploring private and/or local collaborations to provide desks for schools where there are deficits.
8. The EMIS indicators should be expanded to capture data on all medium-term and strategic indicators at the school, district, regional and national levels.
INTRODUCTION
In collaboration with its consortium partners, and with funding from GPE through the EOL intervention, SfL is implementing the CLEAR project in six (6) selected Municipalities and Districts from all five (5) regions in Northern Ghana to ensure equitable access to quality basic education. The project’s strategy includes community mobilization and engagement with duty bearers at both national and sub-national levels. To effectively implement this strategy, evidence generation is critical in producing a compelling report that provides up-to-date data on the implementation of government policies and programmes, and their outcomes, to promote discourse on education delivery in the country.
As a United Nations (UN) member country, Ghana, through the UN’s adoption of the SDGs, is committed to “ensuring inclusive and equitable access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030.18 This Goal aligns with the strategic goals for basic, inclusive and special education in Ghana’s ESP (2018-2030), which aims to achieve “improved equitable access to, and participation in quality basic education”, as well as “improve access for persons with disability, the vulnerable and the talented”.19
To achieve these goals, government has made significant investments in the education sector. For instance, in 2019, 20.76 per cent of Ghana’s total budgetary expenditure went into education23 which is slightly above the 20 per cent maximum UNESCO benchmark for education funding20. Averagely, the Government of Ghana (GoG) has allocated 16.89 per cent of public expenditure to education between 2017 and 202425 .
The GoG has also undertaken various reforms including the Standard-Based Curriculum (SBC), the four-year Bachelor of Education programme and the teacher licensure exams among others, and pursued various policy initiatives21, all in the bid to enhance education service delivery. These efforts together with many others have significantly improved access and quality in basic education2223, with successes recorded in various indicators in the sub-sector.
These notwithstanding, challenges including large class sizes particularly in rural and periurban communities leading to overcrowding, inefficient teacher deployment leading to classrooms without teachers especially in deprived communities, inadequate Teaching and Learning Resources (TLRs) due to inefficiencies in Capitation Grant disbursements
18 Sustainable Development Goals, 2024.
19 Global Partnership for Education, 2019. Education Strategic Plan 2018-2030.Ghana. https://www.globalpartnership.org/content/education-strategic-plan-2018-2030-ghana 23 Eduwatch, 2024. Education Financing Tracker (2017-2024).
20 UNESCO, 2023. Financing Education. https://www.unesco.org/en/education-policies/financing 25Eduwatch, 2024. Education Financing Tracker (2017-2024).
21 Ministry of Education Ghana, 2023. Education Reforms. https://moe.gov.gh/index.php/education-reform/
22 USAID, 2023. Ghana Education Fact Sheet. https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/USAID-Ghana-Education-Fact-Sheet23 .pdf
and the attendant poor learning outcomes persist24. Other challenges include lack of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities, inadequate school infrastructure, coupled with gender non-responsive and non-inclusive school environment.29 These challenges hamper Ghana’s pursuit of quality education, improved learning outcomes and inclusivity.
With only five (5) years to the 2030 deadline for both the ESP (2018 – 2030) and the SDGs, there is the need to accelerate the pace of attaining the ESP and SDGs targets. This requires a stocktaking of the progress made in the sector to identify successes to maintain and/or upscale, and the challenges to address.
In this regard, SfL in collaboration with Eduwatch commissioned this report - “CSOs Report on the State of Ghana’s Public Basic Schools”, to highlight key education programmes and policies and their outcomes, while proffering recommendations for the advancement of quality education delivery in Ghana. This report is an important step towards providing constructive feedback to government, on relevant areas to sustain, improve and where necessary, make policy changes.
Specifically, this report assesses the impact of government’s investment in public basic education for the year 2023, identifies critical gaps in the sub-sector, and makes policy recommendations to address the gaps. This report also makes appropriate linkages to the SDGs – particularly Goal 4, Ghana’s ESP (2018 – 2030) and medium-term implementation progress, while assessing budgetary considerations for the sector in the year under review.
24 UNESCO, 2024. International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa. https://www.iicba.unesco.org/en/ghana 29 UNICEF – Ghana. Education: For every child, a chance to go to school and learn. https://www.unicef.org/ghana/education#:~:text=The%20school%20environment%20is%20usually,books%20are %20in%20short%20supply
METHODOLOGY
A mixed-method approach to research was adopted to gain insights from education stakeholders into the impact of education management systems (from national through to the school level) on education service delivery, while appreciating the status of public basic education through national statistical data. Existing literature on the state of Ghana’s public basic education was also reviewed for the report.
This report relied on secondary data, by conducting a desk review of the ESP (2018 –2030) to identify the targets for various basic education indicators in the sub-sector. Data on the status of indicators was then gathered from various sources including the 2023/24 Annual School Census Report of EMIS and Annual reports from the MoE and its agencies. Additional sources included implementation status reports of selected projects/ programmes/ interventions, including Annual Financial reports and, the National Standardized Test (NST) results.
The analysis was organized under five (5) broad themes capturing the objectives that define the goal for education, particularly at the basic school level. Specific indicators under each theme were then tracked and analysed. These themes are; ‘Access’, ‘Quality’, ‘Management, Finance and Accountability’, ‘Inclusion’ and ‘Interventions’.
Data was analyzed on indicators from national and deprived regions, based on how close or wide the gaps in attaining the SDGs and ESP Agenda 2030 were, as presented in Table 1. Deprived regions in this report were Upper East, Upper West, Savannah, North East, Oti, Northern and Western North, while endowed regions were Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Western, Volta, Greater Accra, Bono, Bono East and Ahafo.
Notebooks
Financing 3.09% of GDP
12.97% of gov. expenditure UNESCO benchmarks (4% to 6% GDP) (20% gov. expenditure)
School feeding
-3,801,491 pupils
-10,832 basic schools
-GHC 969 million allocated in 2023
GHC 42,480,470.00 paid for 10,579 low performing and Special schools
Limitations
Though the report sought to review 2023 data for public basic schools, the unavailability of up-to-date data for some indicators prevented a strict adherence to this criterion. Additionally, some of the indicators in ESP 2018-2030 did not find expression in EMIS, while other indicators relevant to measuring public basic education delivery lacked reliable status data, useful for the analysis. The limited field work restricted the report to relying extensively on secondary data for analysis.
FINDINGS
Introduction
The strategic goals for basic, inclusive and special education in Ghana are organized along three (3) policy objectives:
a. Improved equitable access to and participation in inclusive quality education at all levels;
b. Improved quality of teaching and learning of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at all levels; and
c. Sustainable and efficient management, financing and accountability of education service delivery.
This report further re-organized these goals into five (5) themes (i.e. ‘Access’, ‘Quality’, ‘Management, Finance and Accountability’, ‘Inclusion’ and ‘Interventions’), under which there are specific indicators that helped provide insight into the extent to which the policy objectives have been achieved. Thus, this section presents an analysis of the state of indicators and how far or close Ghana is to attaining the ESP and SDG targets.
Access
The indicators analysed under “access” include NER, gender parity, infrastructure (classrooms, desks, electricity and WASH facilities), transition and completion rates. A culmination of the status of these indicators gives an indication of the extent of access to the entire 11-year course of basic education, and the hurdles along the way. Access must imply enrolling, transitioning and completing the full course of basic education.
Enrollment
In Ghana, KG has been made part of the 11 years basic school system, with the approved enrollment age for that level being four (4) or five (5) years. After two (2) years of KG education, pupils transition into primary school to complete a six-years course comprising three (3) years lower and three (3) years upper primary, with the right entry age at this level pegged at six (6) years. The last lap of the basic education system is Junior High School (JHS), with an entry age of 12. At this stage, pupils undergo a three (3) years course, after which they transition to the Senior High School (SHS) level.
Basic education enrollment data for the year under review indicates the presence of a significant lack of right-age enrollment at the various levels in the sub- sector with an average 30 per cent difference between the gross and net enrollment figures. Specifically, of the 122.14 per cent enrollment at the KG level, only 85.22 per cent are at the right age, indicating that close to 37 per cent enrollments at the level are not at the right age.
The picture is similar at the primary and JHS levels as depicted in Figure 1, with a 107.14 per cent Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) against a 79.42 per cent NER, and 88.35 per cent GER against 58.76 per cent NER respectively.
Figure 1: 2023 Basic Gross vs Net Enrollment Rates
Enrollment Rate (GER)
Source: MoE, 2024. EMIS (as of July 31, 2024)
a. 2023 Basic School Net Enrollment Attainment
Enrollment Rate (NER)
Basic NER is the percentage of children enrolled at the various levels of basic school at the right age (i.e. 4 years at KG, 6 years at primary, and 12 years at JHS). The KG NER attainment for 2023 stood at 85.22 per cent, requiring a 14.78 per cent increase within the next five (5) years to meet the 2030 target of 100 per cent for Ghana’s ESP as presented in Table 2. The NER at the primary level was 79.42 per cent while that of JHS was 58.76 per cent, indicating that enrollment at these levels must increase by 15.58 per cent and 6.24 per cent to meet the 95 per cent and 65 per cent 2030 targets respectively.
Table 2: Basic School Enrollment Attainment vs 2030 Target
Source: MoE, 2024. EMIS (July 31, 2024)
Enrollment at JHS is particularly low due to a host of reasons, including the lack of JHSs in about 25 per cent primary schools; long distance (up to 10 kilometres for pupils in some deprived communities) to the nearest JHS; high dropout rates, with boys more
likely to dropout due to child labour, while dropout among girls is mostly due to child and/or early marriage and teenage pregnancy. The absence of ‘school feeding’ at the JHS level negatively impacts completion.
b. 2023 Deprived Regions’ Basic School NER
An analysis of NER in deprived regions revealed an average KG NER of 73.30 per cent, below the national rate (85.22%), with all seven (7) deprived regions recording KG NERs below the national rate while Savannah (62.47%) and Oti (68.07%) regions recorded the lowest KG NERs. This implies that KG NER in the two (2) regions must increase by 37.53 per cent and 31.93 per cent respectively to attain the 100 per cent ESP target by 2030. Though NERs in deprived regions are low, GERs on the other hand are quite high with the Western North region recording a KG GER as high as 157.05 per cent, indicating that about 76.14 per cent of KG enrollments in that region are not at the right age, necessitating a reevaluation of the implementation of government’s right age enrollment policies.
Worth noting, also, is that the Volta region recorded the lowest KG NER - lower than rates in any of the seven deprived regions at 56.26 per cent for the year under review.
At the primary level, Upper East (92.23%), Upper West (88.39%) and Western North (85.33%) regions recorded NERs higher than the national average (79.42%), with the Upper East region only 7.7 percentage points away from achieving the ESP 100 per cent target while recording the highest primary NER in 2023.
Though JHS net enrollment is generally low with a national average of 58.76 per cent, below the 65 per cent ESP target for 2030, all the seven (7) deprived regions recorded JHS NERs lower than the national average, with Savannah (23.40%), North East (39.06%), Northern (39.14%), and Upper West (48.02%) regions recording the lowest. With a 65 per cent NER target for JHS by 2030, the Savannah region for instance must increase right age enrollment by 41.60 per cent in the next five (5) years to achieve the 2030 target.
The increase in KG and primary enrollment in deprived regions has been attributed to the expansion of the GSFP to schools in these regions. Conversely, the absence of the GSFP at the JHS level has been noted as one of the major contributors of the low enrollment at that level. Other remedies to improving JHS NER include addressing infrastructure deficits to ensure primary schools have JHSs while reducing the distance to school, and tackling the child labour, teenage pregnancy and child marriage issues fueling the high dropout rates.
2: 2023 NER by Deprived, National and 2030 Target
NER: DEPRIVED REGIONS, NATIONAL AND 2030 TARGET
Source: MoE, 2024. EMIS (as of July 31, 2024)
The JHS NER for newly created region Bono East (48.12%) for 2023 fell below the rates recorded in deprived regions including Western North (58.76%) and Oti (52.47%) - also new regions, and the Upper East Region (53.75%). The Bono East region though not classified as a deprived region demonstrated similar characteristics with poor state of school infrastructure, and school environment lacking basic facilities and resources that promote effective teaching and learning.
Gender Parity
The 2030 gender parity target of 1 seeks to ensure there are equal numbers of girls and boys in basic schools in line with SDG 5 to eliminate the centuries-long gender disparity skewed against girls. Ghana has achieved near parity at the KG (0.99) and primary (0.99) levels, with parity exceeded at the JHS level (1.01) by 0.01 points above the 2023 ESP target of 1. While this is impressive, the principle of equality dictates that for every girl in school, there should be a boy, thus the current JHS gender parity statistic skewed against boys implies measures to achieve parity are ignoring the needs of boys. Policies/ programmes/interventions aimed at ensuring parity must focus on the needs of both boys and girls to avoid flipping the recently corrected disparity in basic education enrollment against boys.
At the KG and primary levels, the disparity is still skewed against girls, requiring that efforts must focus on attaining 0.01 points increase in parity to achieve the ESP 2030 target of 1 – equal number of boys and girls at the levels.
Table 3: Gender Parity - National attainment, 2030 Target, and Gap
Source: MoE, 2023. EMIS.
An analysis of gender parity in deprived regions indicates that the 2030 parity target has been exceeded at the KG (1.01) and JHS (1.02) levels, surpassing the national averages of 0.99 and 1.01 for those levels respectively as depicted in Figure 3. This statistic again highlights the need to review gender parity efforts to ensure they refocus on promoting boys’ enrollment and needs along with those of girls.
At the primary level, the gender parity ratio at the national level aligns with the ratio in deprived regions at 0.99 for the year under review, indicating that parity is yet to be achieved in primary with about five (5) years to the 2030 ESP and SDGs deadline. This requires an improvement in parity by 0.01 at that level by 2030, while efforts also target correcting parity at the KG and JHS levels.
Source: Author’s computation of EMIS Gender Parity data (as of July 31, 2024)
Transition (Primary 6 to JHS 1)
A key determinant of access in basic education is the ability to transition from one level to the other until completing the full course of basic education. One of such critical transitions is from primary six (6) to JHS which is the last lap in Ghana’s basic education.
Primary 6 to JHS 1 transition rate for the year under review was 98.30 per cent, 1.70 per cent below the ESP 2030 target of 100 per cent.
However, the 2023 data on primary 6 completion rate from EMIS was 101.45 per cent, indicating that some 3.15 per cent of pupils who completed primary 6 did not transition into JHS 1 that year. This also indicates that the 2023 primary 6 completion rate exceeded the 2030 target, requiring concerted efforts from all stakeholders to maintain the status quo.
While several factors including school dropout and lack of JHSs account for the nontransition from primary 6 to JHS 1, worth noting is that almost one per cent (0.98%) of the ‘non-transitioners’ are primary 6 repeaters according to EMIS 2023 data.
An analysis of primary to JHS transition in deprived regions reveals transition rates below the national average (98.30%). As evident in EMIS 2023 data, the Northern region for instance recorded a primary-JHS transition rate of 74.51 per cent - 23.49 per cent below the national average, requiring a 25.49 per cent increase to attain the 2030 target of 100 per cent. The Savannah region recorded the lowest primary-JHS transition rate (65.11%) among deprived regions. This is unsurprising, as about 60 per cent and 54 per cent primary schools lacked JHSs in the Northern and Savannah regions respectively.25
With the lack of JHSs being a major barrier to primary-JHS transition, the provision of 363 JHSs between 2022 and 2023, with an average of 1.4 per district is inadequate. Considering that deprived regions/districts suffer the consequence of the inequity in education financing, this slow-paced JHS provision justifies the low transition rates in these regions.
Figure 4: primary 6 – JHS 1 Transition Rate
25 MoE, EMIS 2023.
Source: Author’s computation of EMIS data
A related analysis of primary school data indicated that communities without JHSs have lower transition rates (70%) compared to communities with both primary and JHS (81%). This confirms that distance travelled to school negatively impacts retention, especially in rural communities with poor transport networks.26
Completion (JHS 3)
The JHS completion rate for 2023 is 94.09 per cent, 5.91 percentage points below the 2030 target of 100 per cent according to EMIS data. The 2023 JHS completion rate is an improvement over the 2022 rate of 84.28 per cent, requiring sustained efforts to achieve at least an annual average of 1.18 per cent increase in JHS completion rate within the next five years to meet the 2030 target.
The average JHS 3 completion rate in deprived regions was 76.94 per cent in 2023. This is 17.15 per cent below the national average and 23.06 per cent below the 2030 target. The Western North region was the only deprived region that recorded JHS 3 completion rate (99.49%) above the national average and less than one per cent (0.51%) below the ESP target for 2030.
Figure 5: JHS 3 Completion Rate – Deprived, National and 2030 Target
JHS 3 Completion - Deprived, National and 2030 Target
Infrastructure and Facilities
Source: Author’s computation of EMIS (2023) data
An important indicator of access is the availability of schools/classrooms to accommodate pupils for teaching and learning. There is a significant infrastructure deficit in Ghana’s basic education sub-sector with about 5,400 schools under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures27, coupled with about 3,600 primary schools in rural Ghana without JHS. This negatively impacts participation, causing about 147,000 children to drop out of school
27 GES, 2021. Retrieved from https://ges.gov.gh/2021/06/04/valco-trust-fund-launches-project-to-remove-schools-under-trees/ 33 CAPCOE. Retrieved from https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/opinion/declining-budgetary-allocation-tobasiceducation.html#:~:text=Over%204000%20primary%20schools%20in%20rural%20Ghana%20do,30%20pupils%20dropping% 20ou t%20on%20a%20daily%20basis
annually.33 This situation is more pronounced in deprived districts where the problem of primary schools without JHS is predominant.
a. Number of Basic Schools
The ESP (2018-2030) provides no target for basic school infrastructure (number of schools), thus, this report relied on 2022 and 2023 EMIS data on the number of public basic schools for the analysis. The number of basic schools for the year under review indicates a 1.8 per cent (275 schools) increase in the number of KGs from 14,938 in 2022 to 15,213. At the primary level, 353 more schools were added, representing a 2.3 per cent increase over the 15,368 schools in 2022, while 3 per cent (363 schools) more JHSs were added to the 2022 number of 11,734 as depicted in Table 5.
Table 5: Number of Public Basic Schools - 2022 vs 2023
Source: Author’s computation of EMIS data (as of July 31, 2024)
While GoG’s commitment to providing school infrastructure especially at the JHS level is evident, the pace is rather slow, given that some 3,600 primary schools still lack JHSs. Providing 363 JHSs in a single year is an improvement over the 2018-2021 average of 216 JHSs per year.28
At the core of the infrastructure deficit in basic education is inadequate funding. An analysis of Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) – the funds allocated for capital investments to improve infrastructure and facilities in the education sector reveals that, actual CAPEX from all funding sources has increased by 404.6 per cent from GHC 558.5 million in 2017 to GHC 2.82 billion in 2022. However, basic education, the largest sub-sector with the highest infrastructure deficit, received only 12 per cent of CAPEX over the period.
28 CDD, 2022. A Review of the Education Sector Medium-Term Development Plan (ESMTDP) 2018 - 2021 35 Eduwatch, (2024). Education Financing Tracker (2017-2024)
Secondary education on the other hand had the largest share of the sector's actual capital expenditure of 39.7 per cent, while tertiary education received 37 per cent.35
Figure 6: Actual CAPEX (2017-2022) by Level of Education
Actual CAPEX (2017- by Level of Education 2022)
Source: Eduwatch (2017-2024) Education Financing Tracker
b. Classrooms
Another indicator of access is the condition of classrooms, which must provide a safe and conducive teaching and learning environment for both teachers and learners. However, EMIS 2023 data on the conditions of basic school classrooms indicated that 35 per cent (10,649) and 30 per cent (28,298) KG and primary classrooms respectively needed major repairs. The situation at the JHS level also worsened with 31 per cent (11,249) of classrooms in a deplorable state compared to the initial 26 per cent in 2022.29
Table 6: Classrooms Needing Major Repair in 2022 and 2023
Source: Author’s computation of EMIS data (as of July 31, 2024) 29 MoE, 2024. EMIS (July 31, 2024)
c. Desks
Access to seating and writing places are critical education enabling inputs which contribute to improving access and quality. The importance of desks in enhancing learning outcomes cannot be overemphasized, and the lack thereof, could cause learners to adopt sitting postures in class which are not only detrimental to their health, but also could result in postural overload and consequently affect performance of classroom activities like reading and writing, and reduce attention to teaching and learning.30
Despite the benefits associated with access to appropriate desks, Ghana’s basic education system suffers furniture inadequacy for learners. Available data indicates that about 40 per cent of basic school pupils in Ghana do not have desks.31 This translates into over 2.3 million children - 50 per cent (596,949) KG pupils, 40 per cent (1,308,479) primary pupils and 30 per cent (425,465) JHS pupils do not have seating and writing places.32 This represents a deterioration of the desk situation in 2017 where about 30 per cent of basic school pupils lacked access to seating and writing places.
Regional/district disaggregation of the data reveals that the shortage is more pronounced in deprived regions, such as the North East, Bono East, Savannah, Northern, Oti, Upper East, and Upper West regions, where the lack of desks is affecting students' learning and health. Desk deficits in these regions surpass the national average (40%), with the rates being 70 per cent in Northern, 60 per cent in Savannah, 60 per cent in Upper East, 60 per cent in Bono East, 80 per cent in North East, 50 per cent in Upper West, and 50 per cent in Oti.33
The situation is worse in some schools, with learner population exceeding available desks, causing overcrowding in classrooms. In Gushegu Municipality for instance, a classroom of 145 pupils may have only 40 desks, leaving many pupils with no other option but to sit on the floor, adopting unhealthy and uncomfortable postures.34 The infrastructure deficit in the public basic education sub-sector is attributable to the shrinking funding from GoG. Basic education’s share of education expenditure shrunk to 41.1 per cent in 2022, from 46.5 per cent in 2021.35 This, analysts have attributed to the economic crisis which manifested in Ghana since 2022 through mounting debt with
30 The Nigerian Tribune, 2021. Impact of school-desks on children’s health, learning.
31 Eduwatch, 2023. Scoping Study Report on the impact of desk deficits in public basic schools on girls’ participation in basic education in Ghana
32 MoE, 2021. EMIS
33 ibid
34 MoE, EMIS 2021.
35 Eduwatch, 2024. Education Financing Tracker (2017-2024)
suspended repayments, GDP growth decline, high inflation, and a depreciation of the value of the Ghanaian Cedi.36
The situation was exacerbated by GoG’s capping of GETFund in 2017 through the passage of the Earmarked Funds Capping and Realignment Act, 2017 (Act 947). The implementation of the Act enabled the Ministry of Finance to channel up to 60 per cent of GETFund Levy accruals into other ‘priority areas’ of the government, including debt servicing. The capping regime has significantly decreased the inflow of funds to GETFund, and severely curtailed the Fund’s ability to provide the necessary infrastructure financing in schools to meet the growing numbers.44 Uncapping GETFund must be a matter of urgency to free up resources for capital expenditure, especially, in the basic education sub-sector.
Also prominent among the key drivers of desk deficits is the phenomenon of awarding new school building contracts without the full complement of desks. In many of such instances, the delay of the local government in securing funds to procure desks leads to pressure from community members for empty school buildings to be operationalized, thereby further exacerbating the desk deficit situation. For example, in 2018 Kpandai D/A Primary was operationalized without a single desk. A similar case occurred with Balia D/A Primary in 2023.37
Another driver of desk deficit is the low financial capacity of District Assemblies to provide school infrastructure. This stems from the devolution of basic school provision by the MoE through the Pre-Tertiary Education Act, 2020 (Act 1049) to District Assemblies while some lacked the capacity to raise sufficient Internally Generated Funds (IGF) to build schools and provide desks, further worsening the situation. Deprived districts with lower capacity to raise IGF experienced higher levels of desks deficit, highlighting the correlation between the level of deprivation and poverty in the districts, and the lack of desks.
With the responsibility of basic school provision placed on District Assemblies, it is time to rationalize the District Assembly Common Fund to promote its responsiveness to educational needs of deprived districts. From 2021 to 2023, GETFund allocated GHC 56.3 million, GHC 201 million and GHC 166.9 million respectively for infrastructure development in districts. These represent about 30 per cent of all GETFund allocation to infrastructure. Of the amounts going into infrastructure in districts, GHC 11.5 million, GHC 30 million and GHC 15 million were allocated for the supply of furniture in 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively.38
The 2023 allocation of GHC 15 million to furniture represents a 50 per cent decline from the 2022 allocation of 30 per cent. Using the 2017 to 2023 average GETFund allocation
36 World Bank, 2023. 7th Ghana Economic Update. Price Surge: Unravelling Inflation’s Toll on Poverty and Food Security 44 Eduwatch, 2024. Education Financing Tracker (2017-2024).
37 ibid
38 ibid
of GHC 18 million to furniture provision, it is estimated that it will take Ghana about 18 years to address the desk deficit situation. This shows that the current budgetary allocations will not solve the desk problem in the short term, requiring innovative resource mobilization and allocation strategies.
Quality
Indicators of quality in basic education selected to be analysed for this report include teacher deployment, availability of textbooks and other TLRs, NST, Curriculum, and the availability of Information Communication Technology (ICT) facility.
Teacher Deployment
While teacher deployment is a critical indicator of quality in education, its effectiveness and efficiency ensures equitable access and improved education outcomes.
a. Trained Teachers
The 2030 ESP target for trained teachers for all three (3) levels of basic education is 100 per cent, implying that by 2030 all teachers in public basic schools must be trained, thus possess the necessary qualification to be in the classroom. The 2023 trained teacher attainment is 98.25 per cent, 99.14 per cent and 99.12 per cent for KG, primary and JHS respectively. Even though these attainments are impressive, the presence of an unqualified teacher in the classroom is a major challenge, considering that teacher output greatly influences learning outcomes. An increase from about 1 to 1.5 per cent trained teachers is required to meet the 2030 target and consequently eliminate the phenomenon of untrained teachers in classrooms.
Source: MoE, 2024. EMIS (July 31, 2024)
An analysis of deprived regions indicates an average of 97.55 per cent trained KG teachers in 2023, below the national average, with 2.45 percentage points needed to meet the 2030 trained teacher target.
Given that the presence of trained teachers in classrooms is critical to attaining learning outcomes, the absence of 2.45 per cent trained teachers in classrooms in deprived regions is significant, and thus must be prioritized in teacher rationalization efforts, as there are still thousands of teachers in urban classrooms who are surplus to labour needs.
Though the Upper West and North East regions fall within the deprived regions category, they recorded the highest rate of trained teachers at the KG level for the year under review with 99.20 per cent and 99.37 per cent respectively. The picture is similar at the primary level, with an average of 98.99 per cent trained teachers in deprived regions, above the national average. In relation to the ESP targets for 2030, deprived regions require about one percentage point more within the next five years to attain the ESP target.
At the JHS level, deprived regions attained an average 98.98 per cent trained teacher rate, above the 2023 national average, and 1.02 percentage points less than the ESP target. The high rate of teachers trained across deprived and endowed regions can be attributed to the effectiveness of teacher training programmes.
Source: Author’s computation of EMIS data (as of July 31, 2024)
b. Pupil – Teacher Ratio (PTR)
Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) is the number of pupils per teacher and a key indicator of quality as it helps to analyze teacher allocation while tracking gaps in teacher deployment. By 2030, Ghana hopes to achieve 35, 35 and 30 PTRs at the KG, primary and JHS respectively. The 2023 average national PTR for KG is 38, three points above the 2030 target, while PTR for primary (36) is also one point above the ESP target of 35.
A KG PTR of 38 highlights the inadequate number of KG teachers, necessitating a high number of pupils per teacher. A major contributing factor to this is the low demand of the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) KG Education programme in Colleges of Education (CoEs) with majority of trainees pursuing the B.Ed. Primary and JHS education programmes due to the perception that KG level teaching is inferior. The selection of B.Ed. KG Education must be incentivized through assurance of immediate employment upon completion to attract more human resource and reduce the phenomenon of KG classrooms without teachers especially in deprived regions.
At the primary level however, the high PTR is largely due to the infrastructure deficit manifesting in large class sizes with classrooms, coupled with schools under trees, sheds and dilapidated structures.
The average national JHS PTR for 2023 was 18, 20 points below the 2030 target of 38. Amidst high class sizes and inefficiencies in teacher deployment, a JHS PTR of 18 is partly a result of the subject teacher system at that level where each student has access to an average of six teachers for different subjects. At the primary level however, the class teacher system is used, thus explaining why PTR at that level is high (36).
Source: MoE, 2024. EMIS (July 31, 2024)
A national versus deprived regions analysis of PTR reveals an average KG PTR of 58.14 for deprived regions, with North East and Savannah regions recording the highest PTRs at 85 and 80 respectively. This high PTR underscores the wide deficit in teacher availability in deprived and rural schools, especially in the northern regions.
At the primary level, average PTR for deprived regions was 39.71, about 4.71 points above the 2030 target and 3.71 points above the national level of attainment (36). This points to a higher than national average ratio of pupil per teacher in deprived regions.
However, 2023 average JHS PTR for deprived regions (18) aligned with both national rate (18) and falls within the target for 2030 (30). While this is one of the targets already met at both national and in deprived regions, it is worth emphasising that, the high pupil per teacher ratio in deprived regions is primarily the result of low primary to JHS transition, which reduces the number of primary school pupils who enter JHS than increased teacher deployment. The 2023 average transition rate in deprived regions was 2.84 per cent below the national average and 4.45 per cent below the ESP target.
A 2021 Eduwatch study on the extent of deprivation in public basic schools in deprived areas39, revealed that, averagely, only five (5) teachers handled seven (7) classrooms (KG 1 to primary 6) in over 70 per cent of the schools sampled in Nkwanta South and Zabzugu districts in the Oti and Northern regions respectively.40 While it is acknowledged that the level of deprivation is the main disincentive for teachers to accept postings to these districts/regions, the non-implementation of the 20 per cent Deprived Area Allowance to teachers contributes to significant extents the teacher deficit in deprived communities.
Source: Author’s computation of EMIS 2024 data
Textbooks
Apart from being tools for imparting knowledge, textbooks also serve as means of storing same, thus their availability in schools not only ensure effective teaching and learning but also promote good teacher-learner rapport. Notwithstanding, the rollout of the current SBC which begun in 2019, was marred by a prolonged delay in textbooks provision and other teaching aids to schools.
After four (4) years, the government has distributed only 62 per cent of the required textbooks for four core subjects, leaving a 38 per cent deficit according to a 2023 Eduwatch textbooks tracking survey report.41 While schools in districts in the Greater Accra had Mathematics textbooks for primary 1 to 6 pupils, none of the sampled northern districts except Nabdam had Mathematics textbooks in schools, which were even limited to only Basic 1 to 3 pupils.42
Additionally, there were no Creative Arts textbooks for Basic 4, 5 and 6 pupils across all the sampled districts according to the report. This depicts a general picture of inequity in access to textbooks between endowed and deprived districts/regions. Pursuant, the Ghana Education Service (GES) should ensure that any future distribution of textbooks prioritises districts with high deficits, to attain a balanced Pupil-Textbook Ratio in light of the upcoming curriculum development.
Proficiency - National Standardized Test
The last National Education Assessment – NST, was conducted in 2022 for only Primary 2 and 4 pupils after which the results were released in 2023. A total of 456,481 Primary 2 and 603,428 Primary 4 learners in all public schools participated in the NST.
An analysis of proficiency levels (i.e. Advanced, Proficient, Basic and Below Basic) reveals that proficiency levels in both English Language and Mathematics plummeted with the percentage of Primary 4 pupils with ‘Advanced’ proficiency dropping to 6.98 per cent in 2022 from 21 per cent in 2021. Similarly, the proportion of pupils with ‘Advanced’ proficiency in Maths dropped to 8.72 per cent in 2022 from 11 per cent in 2021.
41 Eduwatch, 2023. Report on Textbook Tracking in Public Primary Schools
ibid
The proportion of pupils with ‘Below Basic’ proficiency decreased for both English Language and Maths from 50 per cent in 2021 to 48.7 per cent in 2022, and from 62 per cent in 2021 to 50.83 per cent in 2022 respectively as presented in Table 9. The main causes of the deficiencies in proficiency among pupils include but not limited to the lack of textbooks and well-resourced libraries, and inefficient teaching strategies resulting from lack of content mastery or pedagogical skills of some teachers.
Table 9: Proficiency
by Year and Subject
Source: MoE, EMIS 2023
A major challenge with the NST is its relevance in informing learning improvements. As a diagnostic test, the result should inform learning strategy of learners in the next grade. Unfortunately, NST results are released one year after the test, by which time the learners would have transitioned beyond the next grade.
ICT Availability
Ghana’s basic education ICT policy objectives are part of its broader vision to “transform the country into an information-rich, knowledge-based society through the development and deployment of ICT”.43 It aims to integrate ICT into the basic education system to enhance teaching, learning, and administrative processes. The MoE intends to improve the quality of education by providing pupils with access to digital learning resources and tools; develop and upgrade ICT infrastructure in schools to support digital learning and administrative activities; integrate ICT into the curriculum to ensure that students are proficient in digital literacy and can use technology effectively; and ensure that all students, regardless of their location or socio-economic background, have access to ICT resources and opportunities.52
While the objective pertaining to the integration of ICT into basic school curriculum has been implemented for a Computing subject in lower primary (grade 4 to 6) and JHS, others that border on infrastructure and access are yet to be fully realized, with schools 43 Government of Ghana, 2003. The Ghana ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) Policy
lacking ICT laboratories with functional computers for lessons. This has made assessment on ‘Computing’ at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) level optional rather than compulsory.
Though the ESP sets targets for primary schools and JHS with computers and internet at 60 and 80 per cent respectively by 2030, the medium term plan targets to provide 50 per cent primary schools and 70 per cent JHSs with ICT facilities with internet by 2026, which is woefully inadequate, considering that 50 per cent primary school and 30 per cent JHS pupils would be without access until 2030 even if the 2026 target is attained.
Eduwatch reports that, as of 2023, only 15 per cent public primary schools and 13 per cent JHSs had access to functioning ICT facilities44, with Ghana ranking 125 out of 183 countries in the 2023 Global Youth Development Index on quality education45. Access to ICT facilities and internet are key drivers of quality education. This implies that GoG basic education digitalization efforts must provide an average of 86 per cent more access to ICT facilities and internet within the next five years to meet the 2030 SDG and ESP targets. While this lack of access poses a significant challenge to achieving the country's goal of promoting digital literacy, it highlights the arduous task towards Agenda 2030 requiring accelerated actions in digitalizing teaching and learning.
Management, Finance and Accountability
To improve educational outcomes, it is crucial to ensure a sustainable, efficient, and accountable management of public basic education delivery. This requires strategies including adequate funding and efficient resource allocation, strengthened governance and management frameworks, effective monitoring and evaluation systems, and the active community involvement in education management among others.
SMC/PTA
The School Management Committee (SMC) and Parent Teacher Association (PTA) play a pivotal role in public basic school governance and improvement. It is therefore not surprising that the ESP sets a 100 per cent target for all public basic schools to have functioning SMCs and PTAs by 2030.
An active and effective SMC/PTA ensures efficient management and accountability in school spending, and community participation in school governance among others. While the typical SMC is composed of a school head/headteacher, teacher, parent(s),
44 Eduwatch, 2024. Bridging the ICT Facilities Gap in Ghana’s Public Basic Education System: a Fundamental Step Towards Digital Literacy
45 Global Youth Development Index Report, 2023|Commonwealth (thecommonwealth.org)
community leader, and an officer of the district education office, the PTA as the name depicts, until 2021 was an association of parents and teachers.
However, a directive from GES in 2021 saw teachers withdrawn from the group, leaving them as Parents’ Associations (PAs). This move led to the weakening of their activities as their mobilization and meetings were largely initiated by teachers.
Even though the ESP sets targets for SMCs/PTAs, the MoE’s information management system has no data on this indicator. However, evidence exists that a significant number of schools have SMCs 46 , a situation attributed to their remobilization in 2021. Notwithstanding, a 2024 study in the North Tongu District showed that knowledge of SMC members on the School Performance and Improvement Plan (SPIP) was limited, while indicating their low involvement in SPIP preparation and implementation against GES requirements. This, the study revealed, hindered the success of SMCs and limited their contribution to high-quality teaching and learning in schools.47
Not only is it concerning that the MoE’s own information management system lacks data on SMCs/PTAs in basic schools, even though the ESP sets target for that indicator, but their absence affects the quality of education delivery and outcomes. Additionally, SMCs’ limited knowledge on and inactive involvement in school governance must be a priority concern.
Financing
48
UNESCO recommends that countries allocate at least 20 per cent of total government budget or the equivalent of 4 - 6 per cent of their GDP to education.57 As of 2023, GoG’s budget to education declined from the 2022 share of 15.03 to 12.97 per cent, below the UNESCO benchmark by 7.03 percentage points.49 This decline has been attributed to the post-COVID-19 economic shocks50 .
Again, Ghana missed the UNESCO benchmark for the share of GDP allocation to education by allocating 3.09 per cent in 2023, below the minimum threshold of 4 per cent. This was a decline from the 2022 share of 4.06 per cent. As trend analysis of the share of GDP
46 CDD, 2022. A Review of the Education Sector Medium-Term Development Plan (ESMTDP) 2018 - 2021
47 Agbi, R. M., Nudzor, H. P. and Agbevanu, W. K., (2024). School Management Committees’ Knowledge and Involvement in School Improvement Plans: Implications for Quality Education; Journal of Education Planning, vol. 31 No.2.
48 UNESCO, 2023. Financing Education. https://www.unesco.org/en/education-policies/financing
49 Ministry of Finance Budget Statement and Economic Policy (2017-2023)
50 World Bank, 2023. 7th Ghana Economic Update. Price Surge: Unravelling Inflation’s Toll on Poverty and Food Security
allocated to the education sector from 2017 to 2023 shows an average of 4.03 per cent over the period, with the highest allocation being 4.71 per cent in 2017 and the lowest being in 2023 (3.09%).
Figure 9: Education Budget as a Share of Government Expenditure and GDP (2017–2023)
Source: Ministry of Finance Budget Statement and Economic Policy (2017-2023)
In reference to basic education financing, as of 2023, the latest data on the share of education expenditure that went to basic education was 41.1 per cent in 2022. This represented a 5.4 per cent decline from the 2021 share of 46.5 per cent. Basic education’s share of the total education expenditure has been fluctuating, with a trend analysis showing a 3.9 per cent decline between the 2017 share (42.2%) and the 2018 share (38.3%). An increase of 2.2 per cent is observed between the 2019 share (39.4%) and the 2020 share (41.6%).
Given that the basic education sub-sector alone caters for about six million pupils, and it is accessed by the largest proportion of the population, while providing a higher return on investment than the other higher levels of education, experts prescribe a 50 per cent allocation of the education budget to the basic level, to free at least 10 per cent of the budget for infrastructure and 5 per cent for teaching and learning resources, management and supervision.51
Figure 10: Basic Education’s Share of Education Expenditure (2017 - 2022)
Basic Edu. Share of Total Edu. Expenditure
Source: Eduwatch, 2024. Education Financing Tracker
The inequity in education financing further widens the rural-urban divide, manifesting in limited access to free quality education, poor learning outcomes, high teacher deficits, high dropout rates and gender disparity in deprived communities where children from the poorest households are concentrated. For instance, while 33 per cent of GoG’s education expenditure goes to children from the wealthiest quintile, just 11 per cent goes to children from the poorest quintile52 .
In relation to completion rates, 86 per cent children from the richest quintile complete primary education compared to only 52 per cent from the poorest quintile according UNICEF53. Additionally, while JHS completion rate in urban areas is 61 per cent, it is just 31 per cent in rural areas. Regarding dropout rates at the primary level, only 1 per cent of children from the richest wealth quintile are out of school, compared to 16 per cent of children from the poorest. 54 Addressing these challenges and ensuring equitable distribution of resources is crucial in improving the quality of education in Ghana.
GETFund
The GETFund is a major source of funding for the sector, providing financial support for education infrastructure at all levels, procurement of equipment, and other educational needs. The Fund cumulatively contributed 61.51 per cent share of the actual CAPEX to the sector from 2017 to 2022.
UNICEF, 2020. Ghana Education Fact Sheet – MICS Data
From 2017 to 2023, the Fund supported the initiation of 2,329 projects for both basic and secondary sub- sectors, out of which 1,191 were completed. Of the number of completed projects, 557 were in the basic education sector while 634 were at the secondary level. A trend analysis of GETFund allocation to basic education shows an average of 15.17 per cent allocation to the sector from 2017 to 2023, with the highest being 28.19 per cent in 2017, and the lowest in 2021 (4.59%). The 2023 GETFund allocation to basic education was 12.47 per cent. The decline in GETFund allocations to basic education has been largely blamed on the crowding out of the Fund by the Free Senior High School (FSHS), as the secondary education sector received the highest GETFund allocation (26.6%) over the period.
From 2019 to 2022, GHC 9.8 billion accrued to the Fund but only GHC 5.2 billion, representing 53 per cent was released to GETFund. The debt servicing component of GETFund goes to service a $1.5 billion loan contracted mainly to fund the FSHS Programme. Consequently, between 2019 and 2022 the largest share of the Fund went into debt servicing with the highest being 70.07 per cent in 2021.
Source: GETFund Distribution Formula (2017-2023)
Inclusion
Ghana’s commitment to the SDGs requires the provision of access to equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning (SDG 4), and to reduce inequality by promoting social, economic and political inclusion for all, regardless of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, origin and economic status. To attain these targets, Ghana needs to prioritize inclusion, particularly in basic education, to create a prosperous, equitable ad
cohesive society. With only five (5) years to the SDGs 2030 end line, GoG must ensure that all Ghanaians, including children and marginalized groups access the resources and opportunities they require to succeed.
Inclusive and Special Education
The strategic goal of the ESP (2018-2030) for Inclusive and Special Education, is to improve access for differently abled persons, the vulnerable and talented, in line with the Inclusive Education Policy. The Policy aims to provide access to quality education to all children of school-going age, irrespective of their abilities and circumstance within mainstream schools. To this end, in 2023 the MoE began the process of reviewing the 2015 Inclusive Education Policy, which is currently awaiting validation.
Ghana’s strategy for Inclusive and Special Education is to identify children with special needs and provide them with the support needed for integration and retention in regular schools at the basic and secondary education levels, or referrals for placement in special schools. In the 2022/2023 academic year, total enrollment in special schools was 7,500, representing a 12.7 per cent decrease from the 2020/2021 enrollment of 8,452. These learners are spread across 28 Special Boarding School across the country of which 13 are schools for the Deaf, two for the Blind and 13 for the Intellectual Developmental Disability.
Through the Disability Trust Fund from the World Bank, the Special Education Division of the MoE is upgrading two (2) special schools in the Tamale Metropolis and four (4) mainstream schools in the Savelugu District to standard Regional Assessment Centres. The Ministry plans to expand the initiative to more schools, to help enhance its inclusive education agenda.
Additional interventions in special education are the support and concessions (i.e. oral examination, extra time, large print questions, and soft copy questions installed on computers) for 54 differently abled pupils in the 2022 BECE. Others include the roll out of the Universal Design for Learning Project which trained District Teacher Support Teams and 600 headteachers and Basic 1-3 teachers to handle learners with special education needs, and the production of braille textbooks and teachers’ manuals.
In spite of these efforts, inclusive and special education in Ghana's basic education sector faces several challenges. While GoG’s policy is to integrate as many pupils with special education needs into mainstream schools, many basic schools lack the necessary infrastructure and facilities to accommodate pupils with special needs, with teachers lacking the relevant skills and knowledge to facilitate the educational attainment of pupils with diverse needs.
Additionally, funding for inclusive and special education is limited. From 2017 to 2022, averagely only 0.2 per cent of education expenditure went to special education with the
highest being 0.4 per cent in 2017 and the lowest (0.1%) in 2018 and 2022.55 The 2022 Auditor General’s Performance Audit of Special Education reveals that, of the GHC 59.2 million approved by Parliament to the sub-sector from 2015 to 2020, only GHC 38 million (64.54%) was released. In 2020 for instance, the budget execution rate was only 32 per cent - only GHC 4 million out of the GHC 12.8 million approved budget was released.65
Relatedly, the inequity in education resource allocation implies that rural and underserved areas often receive less support for inclusive education initiatives which impedes the effective implementation of inclusive practices in public basic schools. More concerning, is the challenge of societal stigma and the superstitious beliefs towards special needs children, with some families and communities interpreting disability as a curse thus avoiding interactions with persons differently abled, withholding from them the support they need.
The MoE must collaborate with other relevant stakeholders to adopt a comprehensive approach to addressing challenges that hinder the effective implementation of inclusive and special education policies. These include improving infrastructure, addressing negative societal attitudes, adopting equitable funding approaches, training and deploying more special education teachers, while providing in-service training to equip existing teachers with the necessary skills, and ensuring consistency in the implementation of the Inclusive and Special Education policy.
School Feeding
Ghana has been implementing the GSFP in selected primary schools across the country since 2005. The GSFP was part of strategies adopted to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals on hunger, poverty and primary education.56
The Programme began with 10 pilot schools, drawn from each region of the country.57 Since its inception, successive governments have continued to expand its coverage, offering many poor learners the opportunity to benefit from the intervention.58 By 2023, the GSFP had expanded significantly, reaching 3,801,491 beneficiaries across 10,832 public basic schools in all the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
It is acknowledged that the expansion in coverage has led to gains such as improved school attendance, reduced short-term hunger, laying claim to GoG’s commitment to include more schools under the programme. However, there are calls for a shift from the current model where only primary schools are selected from deprived communities and
55 Eduwatch, 2024. Education Financing Tracker (2017-2024) 65
Eduwatch Education Financing Brief 2022.
56 MOGCSP Ghana School Feeding Programme Secretariat. https://www.mogcsp.gov.gh/ghana-school-feeding-programme-gsfp/
57 ibid
58 Sasu, D. D., (2021). Number of schools and pupils benefiting from the GSFP…via Statista 69 Eduwatch, 2024. Education Financing Tracker
placed on the programme, to adopting a new model where expansion in coverage is across both primary and JHS.
This call is premised on the argument that, the positive correlation between School Feeding and attendance/retention/progression implies that the absence of the GSFP at the JHS level has a negative effect on attendance and retention at that level. The case is further made that, since GSFP is targeting poor primary school children in deprived communities to encourage them to stay in school, there is a high likelihood that they will dropout when they progress to the JHS level, and do not have access to food. This explains why average JHS completion in deprived regions is 76.94 per cent – 17.07 per cent below the national average.
Though the GSFP budget has increased by 289 per cent from GHC 249 million to GHC 969 million from 2017 to 2023, the per unit expenditure has increased by only 25 per cent from GHC 0.80 in 2017 to GHC 1.00 in 2023. This amount, discounted for inflation of about 61.0 per cent in the face of high food inflation, indicates that the GSFP is actually underfunded.69
Aside the funding constraints, the GSFP suffers increased political influence in the selection of caterers and distribution of resources, which undermine Programme objectives and lead to inefficiencies. The Programme also lacks effective monitoring and accountability mechanisms to ensure efficient use of funds. The Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection (MOGCSP) must effectively coordinate efforts to ensure the Programme attains its goal of providing nutrient-rich meals to pupils to improve school attendance and learning outcomes.
Interventions
Capitation Grant
The Capitation Grant was initiated in 2005 to eliminate levies and fees at the basic school level that hindered access and participation to operationalize the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) policy. The Grant is provided to public basic schools to support operational costs, including TLRs, maintenance, and other school-related
expenses. This singular policy has significantly increased enrolment especially at the primary level.59
While the grant has been impactful particularly in providing much needed TLRs for teaching and learning over the years, its impact has significantly diminished. This is attributable to implementation challenges, including inadequate budgetary allocation, late release of funds, and in some instances, non-release of funds, creating arrears over the period.
Even though in 2017 GoG increased the per unit allocation by 122.2 per cent from GHC 4.50 to GHC 10.00, the non-release of funds led to the Grant being in arrears dating back to the 2020/2021 academic year.60 A trend analysis of the execution rate of the Grant from 2017 to 2023 reveals an average of 61.8 per cent execution, which manifests in the inadequate TLRs in schools which has characterised the sub-sector due to underfunding.
Source: Eduwatch 2024 Education Financing (Tracker 2017 – 2024)
The 2023 national budget approved GHC 11 million, representing only 18 per cent of the actual Capitation Grant request for the 2022/2023 academic year. Subsequently, an additional GHC 30 million was approved during the mid-year review, although the
59 Arkorful, V., Basiru, I., Anokye, R., Latif, A., Agyei, E., Hammond, A., Pokuaah, S., Vincent, E. and Abdul-Rahaman, S., (2019). Equitable Access and Inclusiveness in Basic Education: Roadblocks to Sustainable Development Goals. International Journal of Public Administration, vol. 43, 10.1080/01900692.2019.1627554
60 https://www.myjoyonline.com/release-capitation-grant-arrears-for-basic-schools-education-coalition-urges-government/
cumulative amount was still below the GHC 60 million needed to rollout social interventions in 2023.
As part of measures to safeguard vulnerable and marginalized groups - one of the conditions of the International Monetary Fund’s COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth in 2024, the Capitation Grant was selected. This led to a 104.9 per cent increase from the 2023 amount of GHC 41 million to GHC 84 million in 2024. It is expected that this amount meets the 2024 required amount of GHC 65 million and also absorbs the shortfall from 2023.
GALOP
The Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP) is a five-year World Bank and GPE-funded project being implemented by the MoE to improve the quality of education and learning outcomes in low-performing basic schools, and strengthen education sector equity and accountability in Ghana. The project’s initial focus was on the 10,000 lowest-performing basic schools (KG, Primary, and JHS) and all 28 Special Schools.61
The key components of the Project include strengthening teaching and learning, strengthening school support, management and resourcing, developing a basic education accountability framework and improving assessment systems, and providing technical assistance, institutional strengthening, and monitoring to ensure the project's success.62
The MoE’s report on the sector’s performance indicates that in 2023 alone, the following activities were carried out under the project:
1. Learning Grants totaling GHC 42,480,470.00 were disbursed to a targeted 10,579 low-performing basic schools and Special Schools under the project.
2. Some 10,579 schools were trained on Differentiated Learning between 2 and 3 days on instructions.
3. All regional and district level officers as well as all headteachers under the project were trained on the use of the Accountability Dashboard for decision making.
61 MoE; Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project. https://moe.gov.gh/gallop/
62 World Bank Group; Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project. https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projectsoperations/project-detail/P165557
4. Some 4,722 officers made up of SISOs and District Teacher Support Teams, were trained on how to provide continuous coaching and mentoring support to beneficiary schools.
5. A mid-term review of the project was undertaken to assess the progress of implementation.
6. Beneficiary assessment survey and impact evaluation on two critical interventions [i.e. In-Service Training (INSET) and Learning Grant] were carried out.
Apart from the lack of any published and accessible report on GALOP, It is important for a civil society review of GALOP to be undertaken, to among others ascertain efficiency, equity and impact on learning. Other areas of improvement are the mainstreaming of civil society formative monitoring of the second phase which is scheduled for take-off in the first quarter of 2025.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Conclusion
Ghana’s public basic education sub-sector has witnessed notable progress towards attaining the overall goals of the ESP 2018-2030 and the three policy objectives for basic education which aim to improved equitable access to and participation in inclusive quality education at all levels; improved quality of teaching and learning STEM at all levels and: the sustainable and efficient management, financing and accountability of education service delivery. Specific indicators that have seen significant progress for the year under review are gender parity, primary-JHS transition, JHS completion, trained teacher rates, PTR. While the progress is impressive, they must be sustained and/or enhanced in light of the ESP 2018-2030 and SDGs deadlines that are coming up in just five years’ time. Regrettably, several indicators have deteriorated, requiring a review of the implementation of policies around these indicators to purge them of the hindrances to their attainment, bearing in mind the need for expedited actions to meet the 2030 deadlines. These indicators include NER – especially at the JHS level, school infrastructure, seating and writing places (desks availability), textbooks/TLRs, ICT availability and basic education financing. GoG can achieve its objectives for basic education by increasing funding for the sub-sector, building teacher capacity, providing adequate TLRs, and enhancing infrastructure.
Recommendations
With only five (5) years left to the ESP (2018-2030) and SDGs deadlines, all efforts targeted at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality public education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all, particularly at the basic education level, should be expedited, while providing sustainability anchors to ensure that gains made are sustained and enhanced. In this regard, the following recommendations are made:
1. The MoE must supervise equitable allocation of education resources taking into account the rural-urban divide, gender disparities and disability.
2. The MOGCSP must collaborate with key stakeholders including MoE and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to expand the GSFP to cover JHSs and all unsubscribed primary schools in deprived regions.
3. The MoE must initiate a discussion with the MoF leading to the uncapping of GETFund to free up resources for education financing, as promised in the 2024 Manifesto of the ruling National Democratic Congress.
4. The MoE must prioritize school infrastructure provision to eliminate schools under trees, renovate dilapidated schools to make them safe, while expediting the provision of JHSs for primary schools without same.
5. The MoE and District Assemblies should commit to a policy of ensuring no basic school infrastructure contract is awarded without the full component of school furniture, including desks and chairs for pupils and teachers.
6. The MoE and local governments must design and implement a furniture resource mobilization strategy that involves Corporate Ghana, Faith-Based Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, and the Forestry Commission aimed at ensuring all public basic school pupils have access to seating and writing places. This can be done within the context of the Infrastructure Planning and Development Policy Framework.
7. The MoE/GES must review the framework for financing the Capitation Grant and model it on a more regular, consistent, reliable and sustainable funding source.
8. The GoG through the MoE should incentivize the selection of B.Ed KG at the CoEs through the assurance of immediate employment upon completion, to augment the number of KG teachers.
9. MoE must prioritize the implementation of the 20 per cent Deprived Area Allowance in teachers’ Conditions of Service to attract more teachers into deprived districts/regions.
10.The MoE/GES must roll out a national teacher rationalization strategy to enable the GES to redistribute existing teachers that are surplus to labour to schools that need them. Teacher posting must be decentralized with quotas to reflect teacher deficits.
11.MoE must ensure future curriculum rollouts are concurrent with the distribution of approved textbooks, given priority to districts with high textbook deficits to attain balanced Pupil-Textbook Ratio across all basic schools.
12.The MoE must develop and enforce a standard school infrastructure design which incorporates teacher accommodation, teachers’ and students’ furniture, single sex toilet and urinal facilities, desks, electricity, ICT facility, and water.
13.The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment must be resourced by MoE to expedite the process for processing NST results using relevant technology.
14.The MoE through GES should review and/or strengthen efforts including the “Enroll Your Child at Age 4, Prepare for Life” campaign to promote right age enrollment.
15.The EMIS indicators should be expanded to capture all ESP indicators at the school, district, regional and national levels, including qualitative data on both in and out of school children.
16.The MoE must develop a framework to mainstream the outcomes of interventions/programmes/projects such as GALOP into policy, ensuring sustainability and impact beyond the project's lifeline.