This country brief provides a brief introduction to selected issues and research relevant to Ghana’s education system and links to resources that may be useful to officials of Ministries of Education and other education stakeholders. A special focus is placed on thematic areas from the KIX (Knowledge and Innovation exchange) initiative for which UNESCO IICBA manages the Secretariat of the Africa KIX 19 Hub.

Educational Outcomes and Human Capital

Ghana, like many other African countries, is facing a learning crisis. In sub-Saharan Africa, learning poverty, defined as the share of children unable to read and understand an age-appropriate text by age 10, is estimated at 89 percent by the World Bank, UNESCO, and other organizations. While specific country estimates are not available for Ghana, according to UNESCO, the 2018 Ghana National Education Assessment (NEA) revealed that only between 19% and 25% of pupils met the NEA proficiency criterion (scoring 55% or above) across grades and subject areas. Additionally, between 35% and 48% of pupils scored below minimum competency (scoring 35% or below). The report notes a general downward trend when comparing 2016 and 2018 results. It is imperative to improve the quality of the education provided in schools.

Schooling does not imply learning, but lack of learning increases the likelihood of dropping out of school. According to the World Bank and UNESCO Institute of Statistics, the primary school completion rate was at 93 percent in 2018 for boys and 95 percent for girls. The lower secondary completion rate was at 78% for boys and 79% for girls in 2019. Gross enrollment in tertiary education was at 20% percent for men in 2020 versus 18 percent for women.

Another useful statistic is the Human Capital Index for Ghana based on six variables: (I) the probability that a child will survive past age five (95 percent); (ii) the years of schooling that a child is expected to complete by age 18 (12.1 years); (iii) the level of learning that a child is expected to acquire (307 on a scale where 625 represents advanced attainment and 300 the lowest attainment); (iv) the learning-adjusted years of schooling that a child is expected to complete, a measure combining the two previous measures (6 years); (v) the adult survival rate (77 percent of 15-year olds surviving until age 60); and finally (vi) the probability that a child will not be stunted in early childhood (82 percent).

Based on those six variables, the expected productivity in adulthood of a child is estimated in comparison to full productivity that could be expected with full education and health. The estimate is that a child born in Ghana today will reach only 45 percent of its potential. This is higher than the average for sub-Saharan Africa region but lower than the average for Lower middle-income countries.

One last statistic may help make the case for the importance of investing in education for the country’s development. A country’s wealth mainly consists of three types of capital: (1) Produced capital comes from investments in assets such as factories, equipment, or infrastructure; (2) Natural capital consists of assets such as agricultural land and both renewable and nonrenewable natural resources; (3) Human capital is measured as the present value of the future earnings of the labor force, which in turn depends on the level of educational attainment of the labor force. The latest estimates from the World Bank suggest that human capital wealth in Ghana accounts for 56 percent of national wealth.

Selected Literature

Supporting countries in using evidence for policy making is an objective shared by many organizations and initiatives. Under the KIX initiative for which UNESCO IICBA manages the KIX Africa 19 Hub and collaborates with KIX Africa 21, the focus is on six themes: (i) learning assessment systems (ii) early childhood education; (iii) teaching and learning (iv) the data challenge; (v) gender equality; and (vi) equity and inclusion.

Learning Assessment Systems [GPE-KIX Discussion Paper]

Learning assessment tools and systems are essential to gauge and improve learning outcomes for students. A primer on large scale assessments from the World Bank provides guidance on such assessments, as does a review of learning assessments in Africa from UNESCO IIEP. Among regional assessments, PASEC (Programme for the Analysis of Education Systems) for francophone countries in West and Central Africa and SEACMEQ (Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality) for anglophone countries in East and Southern Africa are the best known.

These instruments target primary schools. Other tools that focus and assess the learning outcomes of young learners include the Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Assessments (EGRA/EGMA). Supported and funded primarily by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), these assessments are administered by different agencies such as the World Bank, RTI International and others across the continent. The West African Examinations Council also provides guidance on examinations and certificate accreditation in Anglophone countries of West Africa Also interesting is PISA for development which is being piloted in secondary schools in a few African countries.

Ghana is a member of the West African Examinations Council. Ghana has previously participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study as well the Early Grade Reading and Mathematics Assessments (EGRA/EGMA). In Ghana, the 2020 National Pre-tertiary Learning Assessment Framework serves as the comprehensive policy document that encapsulates the fundamental principles, methodologies, and standards governing assessments in relation to pre-tertiary education levels within Ghana.

The responsibility for conducting the National Education Assessments and EGRA/EGMA lies with the National Education Assessment Unit, which operates under the oversight of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. For more information on how Ghana uses learning assessment data for educational planning, see the UNESCO IIEP’s 2022 report, ‘Using Learning Assessment Data for Educational Planning in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Analysis.

Improving Teaching and Learning

How teachers and students interact and engage is key to improve learning outcomes. Cost-effective approaches pr ‘smart buys’ to improve learning in low-income countries are discussed in a World Bank report. Teaching is paramount, and therefore so are teacher policies to ensure that successful teachers make for successful students. Standards for the teaching profession were proposed by Education International and UNESCO with regional standards available from the Africa Union Commission, including a framework for standards and competencies.

Ghana’s education system follows a structure of 6-3-3-4, that includes six years in primary school, three years each in Junior and Senior Secondary School, and a four-year period at the university to achieve a bachelor’s degree. Developed by the National Teaching Council and the Ministry of Education, the 2017 National Teachers’ Standards for Ghana Guidelines shares best practices and standards for both pre-service and in-service teachers.

Strengthening Early Childhood Care and Education

Experiences children undergo in early childhood can affect their entire life. Nurturing care is essential. Essential interventions in early childhood include pre-primary education.

Yet less than half of young children in Africa benefit from pre-primary education according to the Global Education Monitoring report 2021. The Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) is a tool by UNICEF that can be used to measure the overall well-being of children aged 2-5. It does this by assessing their development in key areas such as literacy and numeracy, physical development, social-emotional development, and learning capacity. The ECDI is made up of a series of simple tasks that are designed to be age appropriate.

In Ghana, 68% of children aged 3-4 are developmentally on track according to the ECDI. On a national scale, approximately 71 percent of children between the ages of 3 and 4 participate in ECE. Furthermore, the rate of ECE attendance rises with age: 66 percent of 3-year-olds and 77 percent of 4-year-olds are enrolled in ECE programs.

Notably, children who attend ECE are more likely to be developmentally on track than those who do not attend, by a margin of 20 percentage points, according to a 2020 MICS-EAGLE report. According to 2023 UNESCO report on ECE in the continent, numerous policies, strategies, and programs have been implemented to support early learning such as the 2020 Early Childhood Education Policy.

The report notes that Kindergarten has been integrated into the basic school system, and that ECE enrolment rates rising. Basic data on early childhood development are available from a nurturing care profile.

Achieving Gender Equality in and Through Education

The cost of gender inequality is massive, as is the cost of not educating girls, including in Africa. When girls lack education, this affects their earnings in adulthood, the number of children they will have and their health, as well as their agency, among others.

When girls are not in school, they are also at higher risk of child marriage, with again high costs for them, their children, and society. In Africa, the African Union’s International Centre for the Education of Girls and Women in Africa supports member states on girls’ education.

According to UNICEF MICS-EAGLE findings, at the primary level, girls, in Ghana, finish primary school at a higher rate (73%) than boys (69%). However, this pattern changes at upper secondary school level with boys 35% of boys completing as compared to 34% of girls suggesting factors specific to girls that impede their education.

A 2022 UNICEF report on Child Marriage in Child marriage in West and Central Africa estimates that 1 in 5 young women were first married or in union before the age of 18. 43% of women aged 20 to 24 years who were first married or in union before age 18 had no education as compared to 13% who had at least a secondary education.

Data Management Systems Strengthening

Education management information systems (EMIS) are key for management. They can also support evidence-based policymaking. In Africa, the African Union’s Institute of Education for Development supports member states on EMIS. In addition to EMIS data, other data sources including household surveys, school surveys, student assessments, and impact evaluations of pilot interventions are essential to inform policy.

In Ghana, the Education Management Information System Project was launched in February 1997 as part of the Free, Compulsory and Universal Basic Education Programme. The project was piloted from February 1997 to August 1999, followed by a second phase from January 2001 to March 2002. EMIS has been fully operational since April 2002.

The Directorate of Statistics, Research, Information, and Monitoring (SRIM) is responsible for managing the EMIS. According to a joint 2020 UNESCO and Global Partnership for Education report, Ghana utilizes StatEduc 2.0 as its EMIS platform. A 2021 report from USAID, also notes that a new EMIS is being developed to integrate all education data, including examination results, but excluding learning assessment data.

Equity and Inclusion/Leaving No One Behind

Equity and inclusion are major challenges for education systems. Gender, disability, ethnicity, indigenous status, poverty, displacement, and many other factors may all lead some children to lack access to education. In Africa especially, gaps in educational outcomes between groups may be large, as illustrated in the case of disability. Equity must be at the center of education policy on the continent. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) are Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) are two major international frameworks related to disability-inclusive education exist.

In 2017, Ghana launched the Free Senior High School program, which made secondary education for Ghanaian students free. This complemented free basic education already occurring in the country. A randomized control study of secondary school scholarships in Ghana, involving 2,064 youths and 12 years of follow-up data, found that scholarships increased educational attainment, knowledge, skills, preventive health behaviors and reduced female fertility.

Children from rural areas and the poorest two wealth quintiles are disproportionately represented among those who are not learning. Although children from the poorest quintile make up only 20% of the population, they account for the majority of out-of-school children at both the primary and lower secondary levels according to MICS EAGLE (2020) findings.

According to MICS-EAGLE, 21% of children aged 5 to 17 across the country have at least one functional difficulty. Children without functional difficulties have a 2% higher attendance rate at the primary level (82% vs 80%) and an 8% higher attendance rate at the lower secondary level (44% vs 36%) than their peers with functional difficulties.