How good is primary schooling in Ghana?

Ghana has made considerable progress in increasing enrolments amongst both boys and girls. The rate of progress has been sufficient to achieve universal primary education (UPE) by 2015, and hence gender equality at primary level. However, reaching this goal cannot be taken for granted, since there are still a large number of disadvantaged schools in poorer areas - shown by the fact that nearly one in five of primary graduates are illiterate. Achieving the targets will require increased focus on schools in remote areas and help for those schools that need it.

A report from the World Bank’s OperationsEvaluation Department assesses the impact of four education projects in Ghanasupported by the World Bank since 1986. It examines trends in attendance andlearning, identifies which educational interventions have been most costeffective and evaluates the extent to which improved education supports betterwelfare outcomes.

The report's authors had access to data enabling themto analyse school-level changes over the 15 yearperiod from 1988. They reveal major successes. Fifteen years ago, nearlytwo-thirds of primary school graduates were illiterate, while today this is thecase for less than a fifth. Improvements in learning are strongly linked tobetter welfare - measured by higher income, better nutrition and reducedmortality. Most children now benefit from attending school, both educationallyand economically. While analysis shows that there is no economic return fromsimply attending school, there are definite benefits to be had from learningachievements.

The impact of the eight thousand classroom blocks and 35million text books provided by the Bank over the last 15 years shows thatincreasing the availability and quality of classrooms and teaching materialsdirectly contributes to educational achievement. Getting enough classrooms andensuring they remain in decent shape are vital ingredients for a successfuleducational strategy in countries yet to achieve UPE.

Other keylessons drawn from the study are:

• Supervisionof teachers is vital – both by head teachers and external supervisors.
• Schoolsin poorer communities remain poorly resourced: reliance on district and community-basedfinancing has introduced a bias in favour of wealthier schools.
• Itis still perhaps too early to judge, but evidence of beneficial effects fromcommunity management is not strong.
• Variationsin the quality of education are not simplya matter of regional differences: there are also deprived schools in wealthierdistricts.
• Learning is enhanced when teachers are able tospeak the local language.

The report calls for greater efforts to:

• retain trained teachers, improve teacher moraleand offer relevant in-service training
• solve salary payment problems: teachers’ moralecould be raised and they would not be absent so often if paid on time
• initiateprogrammes in disadvantaged schools
• address disparities in the availability of resources by assisting powerlesscommunities which lack the political connections to attract district finance
• encourage privatesector participation in education: as private primary education grows, it isclear that not all private schoolsare for the elite.