The Hidden Cost of Private Education: How Much Does It Really Cost to Educate a Ghanaian Child?

A parent receives a school bill. He looks at the figure. He sighs. Then he pays. But the school fee is rarely the real cost of education. There is the admission fee. The development levy. The textbook bill. Exercise books. School uniform. Sportswear. Shoes. School bag. Computer charges. ICT levy. Examination fees. Printing charges. Extra classes. Mock examinations. Transportation. Feeding. School trips. Graduation. Speech and prize-giving ceremonies. Sometimes there are charges for activities that parents assumed were part of the ordinary business of educating a child. And then there are the costs that do not appear on the school bill at all. The child needs breakfast before leaving home. Transport fares continue to rise. The parent must sometimes buy another uniform because the child has outgrown the first. A school may introduce new learning materials. A child falls sick. Another needs spectacles. Another needs a device because ICT has become increasingly important to education. The list seems endless. We have become accustomed to calling the amount written on the school invoice "the cost of education." It isn't. It is only one component of the cost

Recent reports from Tema bring the issue into sharp focus. Parents told the Ghana News Agency that they were spending hundreds and, in some cases, nearly GH¢2,000 per child on learning materials before school fees were considered. One parent reported spending GH¢895 for a Class One child, GH¢996 for a Class Five child and GH¢1,990 for a child in junior high school. In a country where many households are already struggling with food, rent, electricity, water, healthcare and transportation, this hidden cost deserves serious attention.

Education is Fast Becoming a Family Financial Project

Imagine a family with three children. One is in Primary Six. Another is in Primary Four. The youngest is in Primary Two. The parents may be paying three sets of school fees. Three or six sets of uniforms. Three sets of books. Three sets of exercise books. Three sets of school-related charges. Three transportation costs. And possibly three different sets of "extra" requirements. If the children are in private schools, the costs can quickly become enormous.

The family may not have chosen an expensive school. It may simply have chosen a private school because the public-school alternative is unavailable, overcrowded, inconveniently located, perceived by the parents to be inadequate, or unable to provide the particular learning environment they want. This is where the debate becomes complicated. We should not simply tell parents: "If private schools are expensive, send your children to public schools." That answer ignores the realities confronting many families. Ghana needs both a strong public education system and a properly regulated private education system.

Ghana Already Regulates Private Schools

Private schools are not supposed to operate as completely independent educational kingdoms. The Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023), gives NaSIA responsibility for regulating pre-tertiary schools. NaSIA says it is responsible for registering and licensing all pre-tertiary educational institutions in Ghana and for providing independent external evaluation of their quality and standards. The Pre-Tertiary Education Act, 2020 also requires private schools to meet standards set by the relevant regulatory bodies and to employ professionally qualified and licensed teachers. Private ownership, therefore, does not mean the absence of public regulation. The private school is private in ownership. It is not private in educational standards.

But Who Regulates the Fees?
Here we encounter an interesting gap. NaSIA's own FAQ addresses whether it regulates fees charged by private schools. Its answer says the Education Act, 2008 mandates the Minister of Education to approve school fees, but that mandate is currently not being implemented. This deserves public discussion. If government does not currently regulate the actual fees charged by private schools, that does not necessarily mean government should dictate the price of every private school. Private schools have genuine costs. Teachers, Cooks, Cleaners, and Watchmen must be paid. Buildings must be maintained. Electricity and water must be paid for. Learning materials cost money. School buses consume fuel. Insurance, security, sanitation, technology and other services all have costs. A good school cannot operate without money.

The question is different: How much freedom should a private school have to impose compulsory charges on parents, and how transparent should those charges be? There is a difference between regulating prices and regulating transparency, disclosure and fairness. Ghana should have a serious conversation about that difference.

Parents Need to Know the Real Cost Before Enrolling

Imagine a school advertises: "School fees: GH¢5,000 per year." But after admission the parent discovers: Textbooks: GH¢1,200. Exercise books and stationery: GH¢400. Uniforms: GH¢600. ICT: GH¢300. Extra classes: GH¢500. Transportation: GH¢2,000. Feeding: GH¢1,500. School activities: GH¢500. Teacher Motivation: GH¢200. Development Levy: GH¢500. Total: GH¢7,700. The actual annual cost is always more than the advertised school fee. Was the school dishonest? Not necessarily. But was the parent given a complete picture before making the decision? That is the important question.

A modern education system should require schools to disclose a Total Annual Cost of Attendance. Not merely school fees. Everything that the school knows a parent is likely to pay.

The Parent Deserves a School Cost Sheet

Before a child is enrolled, the parent should receive a document stating: Annual tuition. Registration or admission. Textbooks. Stationery. Uniforms. ICT. Examinations. Compulsory activities. Transportation. Feeding. Extra classes. Other compulsory charges. Estimated total annual cost. Then the parent can make an informed decision.

If transportation is optional, say so. If feeding is optional, say so. If extra classes are voluntary, say so. If a textbook can be purchased from an outside vendor, say so. Transparency is not anti-private-school. It protects both parents and reputable schools.

The Hidden Burden of Uniforms
Uniforms deserve attention. A child grows. The uniform does not. A Primary Two child can outgrow a perfectly good uniform within months. A school should therefore be careful about prescribing multiple versions of uniforms when one or two functional sets could serve the purpose. Schools could also encourage parents to pass uniforms between siblings where sizes permit. Parents are sometimes very good tailors and seamstresses. Parents who can sew better should be allowed to sew for their children. And what is wrong about choosing your own tailor or seamstress?

The same principle applies to school bags, sportswear, sweaters and other reusable items. There is nothing educational about forcing a family to buy a new item when the existing one remains perfectly serviceable.

The Business of Extra Classes
Then there is another uncomfortable subject. Extra classes. A child finishes school at 2:30 p.m. Instead of going home, the child remains at school for another two or three hours. Sometimes this is genuinely beneficial. Some children need additional help. Some parents work until late. Some schools provide structured after-school programmes that include supervised learning and childcare. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. The problem arises when "extra classes" become so essential that parents feel their children will be disadvantaged if they do not pay for them.

If the material is part of the compulsory curriculum, parents should reasonably expect it to be taught during the ordinary school programme. If it is genuinely enrichment, it can be offered as enrichment. But the line between the two should be clear. Otherwise, the school day becomes artificially incomplete and parents are effectively required to purchase the missing part of their child's education.

Are Parents Paying Twice for Education?

Suppose tuition covers the teaching of Mathematics. Then a compulsory after-school Mathematics class is introduced. If a child does not attend, the parent fears the child will fall behind. What exactly has the original tuition fee paid for? This is not an accusation against every private school. It is a question of educational economics. Parents deserve to understand what is included in tuition and what is genuinely additional.

Transportation Can Become another School Fee

For many urban families, school transport is not optional in practical terms. A school may be located several kilometres from home. The parents leave for work early. Public transport may not be convenient for a young child. So the school bus becomes necessary. A transport charge of even GH¢500 a term becomes GH¢1,500 a year. For three children, that is GH¢4,500. The family may spend almost as much on transportation as on another child's tuition. Schools should therefore be transparent about transport charges. Parents should know the distance bands, the frequency of service and what happens when a child misses school.

Feeding is another Hidden Education Cost

The child cannot learn on an empty stomach. But school feeding can become expensive. Parents may be charged separately for breakfast, lunch or snacks. Some families can afford it. Others cannot. There is an important educational question here: How does hunger affect learning?

A child who arrives at school hungry may struggle to concentrate. So feeding is not simply a commercial service. It can be connected to educational outcomes. This is one reason Ghana's public-school feeding initiatives matter. But private-school families also need solutions that are affordable and transparent.

Education has an Opportunity Cost Too
There is another cost that rarely appears on any school invoice. The parent's time. A mother leaves work early to collect a child. A father spends hours transporting children across town. A parent takes time off work for school meetings. Another must buy a laptop and learn how to help with online assignments. A family may choose a school far from home because it has a better reputation. The children spend two hours travelling each day. Those hours are also a cost. Economists call this an opportunity cost. Time spent travelling to school is time that cannot be spent sleeping, reading, playing, helping at home or engaging in other productive activities. Education policy should therefore consider not just the price of school but the total burden it places on households.

The Public-School System Cannot Simply Be Ignored

Why are so many parents willing to pay significant amounts for private education? There are many reasons, and they differ from family to family.

• Some want smaller classes.
• Some want stronger discipline.
• Some want particular religious or educational philosophies.
• Some want stronger supervision.
• Some are dissatisfied with facilities in nearby public schools.
• Others simply have no convenient public school available.

We should not assume that all private-school parents are wealthy. Many are making painful financial sacrifices. A 2024 GNA report from Ashaiman found families withdrawing children from private schools because of financial pressure. One mother reported spending more than GH¢80 a day on feeding, transportation and tuition for four children before moving them to a public school, where the direct charges were much lower and younger pupils received free lunch. That is not merely a private-school story. It is a household-survival story.

Public Education Must Become a Genuine Alternative

If Ghana wants to reduce financial pressure on families, strengthening public education is essential. There must be enough public schools.

• Classrooms must be adequate.
• Teachers must be available.
• Textbooks must be accessible.
• School infrastructure must be maintained.
• Sanitation must be decent.
• Children must have access to technology appropriate to their educational needs.
• And most importantly, parents must have confidence in the quality of education their children receive.

The answer to expensive private education is therefore not simply to tell private schools to reduce their fees. It is also to make public education strong enough that parents are not forced into private education because they feel they have no viable alternative.

Regulation Should Protect the Child, not Punish the School

There is a temptation whenever private education is discussed to portray school proprietors as profiteers. That would be unfair. Running a school is expensive. Many proprietors are teachers who invested their savings to establish schools. Some operate in low-income communities where fees are deliberately kept low. Others provide employment to teachers who might otherwise struggle to find jobs. Some schools offer excellent education at modest cost. Regulation should therefore not destroy the private-school sector. It should make the sector more transparent and accountable.

Perhaps Ghana Needs an Education Consumer Protection Framework

Parents are consumers of an educational service. But education is not an ordinary commercial product. The child is not simply a customer. The child is the beneficiary. Ghana therefore needs something between ordinary consumer protection and educational regulation.

A national framework could require schools to:

• disclose all compulsory charges;
• give adequate notice before fee increases;
• provide receipts for payments;
• distinguish compulsory and optional services;
• identify approved textbooks;
• disclose textbook prices;
• explain refund policies;
• provide clear withdrawal procedures;
• establish complaints channels;
• prohibit misleading advertising;
• disclose the curriculum being offered; and
• publish their NaSIA license status.

These measures would not tell a school how much profit it may make. They would tell the school that parents deserve information and fairness.

The Child Should Never Become the Victim of a Pricing Dispute

When parents fall behind in payments, the child can become the battlefield. The child is embarrassed. The child is sent home. The child is prevented from participating in an activity. The child is separated from classmates. The child is made to feel responsible for the parents' financial difficulties. Whatever the contractual relationship between a school and parent, education policy should ensure that disputes over money are handled without humiliating children. A child should not be punished for being born into a financially struggling family.

What Would a Fairer System Look Like?
It would not necessarily be a system in which every private school charges the same fee. Nor should every school be required to provide exactly the same facilities. Parents have different needs. Schools have different costs. Different educational models can coexist. But the system should have certain common principles:

1. Transparency.
2. Quality.
3. Affordability.
4. Accountability.
5. Child protection.
6. Curriculum integrity.
7. Teacher professionalism.
8. Value for money.
9. And above all: No unnecessary cost should be imposed on a family simply because nobody has questioned it.

Education Should not Become a Luxury Product

There is something deeply uncomfortable about a society in which the quality of a child's education increasingly depends on the depth of the parent's pocket. Education is supposed to be one of the great instruments of social mobility. The child of a poor farmer should be able to become a doctor. The child of a market woman should be able to become an engineer. The child of a taxi driver should be able to become a scientist. The child of a pensioner should be able to receive an education that does not bankrupt the family. That is what education is supposed to do. It should open doors. It should not become another wall.

We Must Stop Counting only the School Fee

Perhaps the most important lesson is the simplest. When we say that a school charges GH¢5,000 a year, we should not assume that educating the child costs GH¢5,000. The real figure may be much higher. And for a family with three children, the difference can be the difference between coping and collapsing financially. Ghana cannot make education genuinely affordable merely by discussing tuition. We must count the textbooks. We must count the uniforms. We must count transportation. We must count feeding. We must count extra classes. We must count examination charges. We must count technology. We must count the parent's time. We must count development levy. We must count teacher motivation. We must count everything.

My Thoughts
When we were in primary and middle school in the 1960s, “Our Day” was something we looked forward to with great excitement. It was usually celebrated once a year, at the end of the third term, as a special occasion for pupils to relax, share food and drinks, and celebrate the end of the school year. For those unfamiliar with the Ghanaian school tradition, “Our Day” is a school celebration during which pupils bring food, biscuits, toffees, drinks and other refreshments from home to share with their classmates and, sometimes, their teachers. It is meant to be a fun and memorable occasion for children. But “Our Day” has changed considerably over the years.

When we were children, parents were not obliged to organize elaborate parties for their children. There was no pressure to send large quantities of food and drinks to school. And, importantly, it happened only once a year. Today, “Our Day” is celebrated in many schools at the end of each term. What was once a simple annual celebration has, in some schools, become another financial responsibility for parents.

Pupils are expected to carry food, biscuits, toffees, fruit drinks and other refreshments to school. Some children may even feel embarrassed if what they bring is considered less impressive than what their classmates have brought.

A pupil once told her mother to parcel some of the food for her teacher as well. Another parent recounted how some teachers tasted the food brought by virtually every pupil. Perhaps there is nothing wrong with children sharing food with their teachers as part of a celebration. But we should pause and ask ourselves: When did a simple school celebration become another financial burden on parents? For many families, “Our Day” is no longer something they eagerly anticipate. Some parents dread its approach because they know it means finding additional money for food, drinks and other items when there are already school fees, uniforms, books, transportation, examination fees and other expenses to contend with. And “Our Day” is only one of the hidden costs of educating a Ghanaian child.

There is also the growing burden associated with Art and Craft. When we were growing up, Art and Craft was part of school life. Children were taught how to draw, paint, mold, design and make things with their hands. The emphasis was on creativity, imagination and developing practical skills. In many schools today, however, Art and Craft appears to have changed considerably. Rather than schools providing the materials and teaching children how to use them, pupils are sometimes required to bring materials from home for assignments and are awarded marks for the work they produce. A child may be asked to bring items such as matchboxes, empty detergent containers, cardboard, bottles and other household materials to school. For a middle-class family, buying or sourcing such materials may not seem like much. But for a poor family struggling to put food on the table, every additional request represents a cost. The irony is that these items are sometimes described as waste materials. Yet parents are required to spend money acquiring them, particularly when the materials needed are not readily available in the home.

Some schools, instead of asking for waste materials, demand detergents, milk and other items, for which pupils are awarded marks. How do you imbue creativity and imagination in a child who is given 100% for bringing a bar of key soap to present as his or her handiwork? Who are we deceiving?

This is why we need to pay greater attention to the hidden costs of education in Ghana. A child should not feel ashamed because his or her parents could not afford an elaborate “Our Day” package. Neither should a parent have to borrow money simply to ensure that a child does not appear poorer than classmates. School should be a place where children learn, develop their talents, make friends and grow in confidence --- not a place where the financial circumstances of their parents are constantly put on display. Perhaps it is time for schools and education authorities to rethink some of these practices. There is everything right with making school enjoyable and developing children's creativity. But we must always ask a simple question: Who pays for it, and can every parent genuinely afford it? If the answer is always the parent, then we should not be surprised when the hidden cost of education becomes as burdensome as the visible one.

FUSEINI ABDULAI BRAIMAH
+233208282575 / +233550558008
[email protected]