State of Education in Ghana

Ghana's education system is not delivering what its citizens need or want. We of the Forum for Education Reform believe that Ghana has what it takes to devise a very good education system for itself and even for export, and we have taken the challenge to brainstorm these issues and offer our best advice to stakeholders. This statement puts out our views about the key issues

Every child in Ghana has a right to be educated. Parents and the Government of Ghana have the primary responsibility to ensure that every child has access to good quality education regardless of their economic circumstance.

Ghana's education system is a mix of public and private schools. Government must focus on ensuring that the poor and vulnerable get access to good schools, whether public or private.

Currently, the proportion of GDP and budgetary expenditures on education in Ghana is one of the highest in the world. However, these expenditures in education do not give us commensurate output in terms of enrolment, retention and results. With some changes in the education system such as decentralization, improved management and supervision, we can achieve a lot more with the same resources.

The Forum, in its brainstorming sessions has identified a few key issues which it intends to put out now and continue to engage relevant stakeholders as we seek enduring solutions. This release focuses mainly on the general state of education in Ghana. Future releases will discuss specific issues and suggest some solutions for discussions and consideration by stakeholders.

ENROLLMENT

Enrolment rates at various levels of education vary greatly and drop sharply as one ascends the education ladder. (See table 1) At the primary school level, the nation is achieving about 95% of enrolment which is good. At the Junior High School (JHS) level, the rate drops to about 78%.

An even sharper decline occurs between the JHS and Senior High School (SHS) level where the rate of enrolment falls below 40%. At the Tertiary level, only 12% of the population of tertiary age are enroled[1]. This is clearly unsatisfactory.

Table 1
Year	Population (6-11) yrs	Primary Enrolment	%	Population (12-14) yrs	JHS Enrolment	%	Population (15-18) yrs	SHS Enrolment	%
2007/8	3,807,555	3,616,023	95	1,553,667	1,224,010	78.8	1,410,248	437,771	31
2008/9	3,910,349	3,710,647	94.9	1,595,620	1,285,577	80.6	1,448,401	490,334	33.9
2009/10	4,015,930	3,809,258	94.9	1,638,690	1,301,940	79.5	1,487,512	537,332	36.1
2010/11	4,112,511	3,962,779	96.4	1,678,222	1,335,400	79.6	1,996,927	728,076	36.5
2011/12	4,211,217	4,062,026	96.5	1,718,500	1,385,367	80.6	2,044,848	758,468	37.1

ACCESS

Closely associated to enrollment is the question of access. Although at the primary level the nation has made significant gains in terms of enrollment, some children in urban suburbs, not to mention rural areas do not have access to primary education.

In other countries as educational opportunities open up, primary enrolment exceeds 1oo% initially because children of older ages are enrolled. However, the introduction of capitation grant and school feeding programme did not have that effect, thus our 95% enrollment rate at the primary level could still mean a significant proportion of children between the ages 6-11 are not in school. The situation gets worse at the secondary level where 50% of JHS graduates who pass do not have access into SHSs. Public universities enroll far less than half of qualified students, whilst our numerous private universities are too small to absorb the remaining ones. As we work on the pressure within the public universities, there's the need to encourage private universities to expand their intake capacity.

RETENTION

The table below masks an important element in the educational statistics; that of retention. For e.g., the 95% enrollment does not show that a significant number of learners do not reach the 6th grade, especially girls in rural communities. The dropout rate at the primary level partly accounts for the lower enrollment rate at the JHS level. The aim of education policy should not only be to get children enrolled in school but to stay there until at least the end of the junior high school graduation point.

QUALITY OF EDUCATION

There is widespread concern about quality of education at all levels in Ghana today. Often this is expressed in terms of pass rate at the basic & secondary levels, and equipping students with the requisite skills for the labour market of the 21st century especially at the tertiary level. Whilst passing with good grades is not a comprehensive indication of quality, it is a good proxy to the quality of education at the basic & secondary levels.

Table 2
PASS RATE OF BASIC EDUCATION TO SECONDARY EDUCATION
Year	No. of Pupils (Sat)	No. of Pupils Passed	Percentage Passed%
2006	308, 383	190, 924	61.91
2007	320, 247	196, 240	61.27
2008	338, 292	210, 282	62.15
2009	395, 649	198, 642	50.21
2010	350, 888	172, 359	49.12
2011	375,280	176,128	46.93%

The examination pass rate of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for the years 2006-2011 are presented above in Table. The Table Indicates pass rates at basic education exams in recent times. There is a high correlation between student performance at terminal exams at the basic and secondary level and how well they do outside school in terms of work, incomes and social mobility. The pass rate at the basic education level since 2006 has never exceeded 63% of learners and it is falling. In 2011, only 46.93% of candidates passed the requisite number of subjects. Moreover, according to research as many as two out of three children who pass through basic education are functionally illiterate and innumerate.

At the tertiary level, pass rate is not the major issue, but rather the employability of the students. We have a paradox of inadequate enrollment rate (that is the proportion of the age 18-24 group at the tertiary level) co-existing with graduate unemployment. Of course, this graduate unemployment situation is partly because the economy is not generating enough jobs, and only partly because of the quality of education being offered in terms of employable skills such as analytical and critical reasoning, communication skills, ICT competencies, work ethic and entrepreneurship. The nation must address simultaneously, access, quality and employment generation, including self-employment through entrepreneurship.

STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO & CONTACT HOURS

A major factor with regard to improving the quality of education is the student teacher ratio. During the academic year 2011/2012 the pupil teacher ratio was 25:1 at the basic private school as compared to 29:1 at the public basic school. The average student-teacher ratio however, does not reveal that in some areas, especially urban schools in poor communities sometimes have as many as 80-100 students in a class.

The Forum believes we can improve teacher – student ratio to the required levels by dedicating the whole of National Service Scheme to teaching, particularly at the basic level.

A recent study by the World Bank shows that approximately 38% of the requisite contact hours are lost. Worse still, at the 22nd World Economic Forum (WEF 2012) on Africa, the Education minister stated that Ghana's teacher absenteeism stood at 45%. To improve the quality of education, these must change and what teachers do during contact hours must be supervised.

TECHNICAL-GRAMMAR SCHOOL BALANCE

At the second cycle, vocational and technical schools are highly under-resourced and attendees are considered to be of lower grade as compared to grammar students. Any nation that neglects the production of quality technical staff and artisans will lack quality middle level manpower which will adversely affect industry and also create youth unemployment problems, which Ghana is currently grappling with.

The situation is no better at the tertiary level. The polytechnics have become mainly arts and social science colleges, and even our premier KNUST now has more arts and social science than science and technology students. This situation is anomalous; we need to dedicate our technical and engineering institutions to training people in technical and engineering skills.

EDUCATION EXPENDITURE

With a global average of about 5%, Ghana spends over 6% of GDP on education. Ghana has one of the highest expenditures on education as a proportion of GDP compared to other countries as shown in the table below

Table 3
EDUCATION EXPENDITURE AS a PERCENTAGE of GDP
Year	Ghana	Senegal	South Africa	Japan	USA	UK	Denmark	Finland
2008	5.8	5	5.1	3.4	5.5	5.4	7.7	6.1
2009	5.3	5.6	5.5	n/a	5.4	5.6	8.7	6.8
2010	5.5	5.6	6	3.8	5.6	n/a	n/a	6.8
2011	6.3	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

REF: http://databank.worldbank.org/data/views/reports/- Navigate to relevant data

The table below shows education expenditure ratios to GDP and government expenditure for the years 2008 to 2011

Table 4
EDUCATION EXPENDITURE RATIO TO GDP AND GOG EXPENDITURE (2008-2011)
YEAR	2008 (GH¢)	2009 (GH¢)	2010 (GH¢)	2011 (GH¢)
GDP	30,179,000,000	36,598,000,000	46,232,000,000	57,013,000,000
GOG EXP.	9,538,244,209	8,756,146,694	11,039,923,940	13,837,325,330
EDUCATION EXP.	1,743,571,719	1,949,768,414	2,564,363,358	3,565,710,571
EDUCATION EXP as % of GDP	*5.8*	*5.3*	*5.5*	*6.25*
EDUCATION EXP. as a % of GOG EXP.	*18.28*	*22.27*	*23.23*	*25.77*

From tables 3 &4, it is obvious that Ghana spends a substantial amount of GDP on education and needs to get better returns on education expenditure.

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT WITHIN THE PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL SECTOR

Since the government during the first Republic took over church schools, the management of education has become highly centralized. Despite the overall national decentralization policy, very little autonomy exists at the district levels of education. Schools' management and supervision remain weak; the head teacher has virtually no authority, limited orientation or training to be a leader and manager, and has little incentive to perform. Effective decentralization, improved management and supervision, as well as motivation will be important elements in turning the state of education around for the better in the public sector.

THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN EDUCATION

History shows that private schools have always been a feature of Ghana's education landscape and their importance has been growing at every stage of education: primary, secondary and tertiary.

At all levels of education in Ghana, there is a significant participation in the delivery of education by the private sector; thus public-private partnership is the norm as the table below shows.

Table 5
Distribution of Public and Private Schools
LEVEL	PUBLIC	%	PRIVATE	%
KINDERGARTEN	13,305	69	5,972	31
PRIMARY	14,112	71.1	5,742	28.9
JHS	8,818	70.9	3,618	29.1
SHS	535	64.6	293	35.4
Technical and Vocational Institutions	125	54.1	106	45.9
POLYTECHNICS	10	100	0	0
UNIVERSITIES	9	14.1	55	85.9

REF: Education Sector Report 2013

It is critical for government to clarify its policy towards private education at all levels, in view of their growing importance and potential to contribute more to the entire education system. It is imperative for Government to develop incentives to facilitate investment in private education and encourage the existing ones to expand.

FUNDING OF EDUCATION

Government has a non-negotiable primary responsibility to ensure that it provides accessible and quality public education for all Ghanaian youth. However, the issue of parental contribution to the cost of education, even within the public sector, must be a subject of critical analysis. There is never 'free education', even within the public sector. The question therefore is whether we will fund it fully, and collectively do it via a tax system or through a combination of state funding and parental contribution.

CONCLUSION

Ghana's development discussion must elevate education to the highest rung, because of the strong nexus between education and development.

The Forum for Education Reform believes that the issues we have raised in this report must be at the forefront of any discussion on our country's development plans. We need to find workable solutions and paradigms which will ensure that the Ghanaian youth has access to quality and affordable education.

Subsequent releases will focus on specific aspects of education in the country with the view to providing practical suggestions for improving the quality of education.

Signed:

The Forum for Education Reform (FFER), under the auspices of IMANI-GHANA is group of eminent Ghanaians, educationists, leaders of industry, business people and researchers. The Forum for Education Reform is working with government and like-minded organizations to improve standards in education.

1. Sir Sam Jonah K.B.E. O.S.G. Chairman, Jonah Mining – CHAIRMAN

2. Prof. Stephen Adei Educationist (former Rector of GIMPA) – VICE CHAIRMAN

3. Prof. Seth Buatsi Educationist (formerly of UNIVERSITY GHANA/MOED)

4. Mr. Kenneth Quartey Businessman, MD, SYDALS LTD. & OLD ACHIMOTANS ASSO

5. Mr. Franklin Cudjoe Founding President and CEO, IMANI

6. Ms. Adelaide Ahwireng Managing Director, FIO ENTERPRISES

7. Mr. Kofi Bentil Vice-President, IMANI & GEN SECRETARY TO FORUM.

8. Dr. Patrick Awuah President, ASHESI UNIVERSITY

9. Mr. Israel Titi-Ofei Principal, SOS-HERMANN GMEINER INTL.COLLEGE

10. Dr. Tony Oteng-Gyasi Managing Director, TROPICAL CABLE LTD & IMANI BOARD

11. Prof. Addae Mensah Educationist (FORMER VICE CHANCELOR, UNIV OF GHANA

12. Prof. J. S. Djangmah Former Director-General. GHANA EDUCATION SERVICE.