Exploring sub-national disparities in learning outcomes: understanding variation in Ghana's basic education system

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Sustainable Development Goal 4 calls upon governments to ensure inclusive, equitable quality education for all. To meet this commitment, education systems must work effectively through numerous agencies, offices, staff, and partners to deliver high quality education to all their school-age children. Ghana has achieved remarkable increases in primary and secondary education access (CITE UIS), but like many other low- and middle-income countries, lags behind in terms of learning outcomes: only 21% and 15% of students ages 7-14 achieve foundational literacy and numeracy (UNICEF and Ghana Ministry of Education, 2018). The basic education (grade 9) examination pass rate in Mathematics and Ghanaian Language is about 50%, with only 36% in English (UNICEF 2023).

As part of the Education Strategic Plan 2018-2030, Ghana’s Ministry of Education adopted many national policies and programmes to improve access, quality and governance of education. These include, notably, the adoption of free and compulsory upper secondary education, the revision of the national curriculum, and provision of learning grants and support to the country’s poorest performing basic schools (through the World Bank Supported GALOP programme).
Beneath these national statistics and national policies, however, there exists great variation at the sub-national level. Regions, districts and schools in Ghana vary widely in levels of education performance (Local Burden of Disease Educational Attainment Collaborators, 2020). Regions in the North of Ghana exhibit huge disparities in learning outcomes compared to the rest of the country. For instance, the share of children 7-14 years with basic reading skills in the national capital is three times more than the average reading skills in any of the Northern regions (UNICEF, 2020). At district level, the gap is more extreme: the pass rate for the basic education (grade 9) certificate examination in the top districts is universal, in others it is less than 1% (Ministry of Education, 2022). What are the reasons for this variation? This panel presents five papers which examine evidence of variation in Ghana’s basic education system and its sources, along the following dimensions:

· Outcomes: Learning outcomes at the regional level, and within regions at the district level, in basic education indicate that not all children in Ghana are receiving the same opportunities for school success.

· Context: Ghana is a country with very different contexts: (region, geography, language, socio-economic status, proximity of services, etc.) which shapes the work of the middle tier and schools, and ultimately students’ educational experiences.

· Policy implementation: Ghana has a de jure decentralized education system where policy implementation is led by the Ghana Education Service, through its middle tier (Regional and district offices) to schools. This decentralization, combined with variation in district and school access to resources and capacity, with context, lead to variations in how national policies are understood and implemented.

The panel will present five papers, the first quantitative analysis will examine the regional disparities in foundational learning outcomes in Ghana and explore the context and demand side factors affecting education using the 2017-18 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The second paper will examine how the middle tier, particularly district education offices in Ghana understand and implement national policies, and how their operational context influences their priorities and activities to support teaching and learning in schools. The third paper will explore how one such national policy, grade repetition, is enacted and understood at the school level. The fourth paper assesses and compares the preparedness of school heads in Ghanaian basic public and private schools for nurturing the core competencies outlined in the new national curriculum framework. And the last paper briefly describes the challenges of the current language-in-education system and how it creates inequities for students because it centres the English language. The final paper provides a glimpse into how communities are taking ownership of their learning in community that put their language, history, and culture in educating the youth. Taken together, these papers unpack the ways in which variation in Ghana's basic education system manifests at different levels and dimensions, shedding light on the complex factors that contribute to differential educational opportunities and outcomes. By analysing regional and district disparities, contextual influences, and policy implementation, this panel provides valuable insights into the challenges and potential solutions for achieving inclusive and equitable quality education for all children in Ghana.

Sub Unit

• Africa SIG

Organizer

• Sheena Bell, O.I.S.E. University of Toronto

Chair

• Sheena Bell, O.I.S.E. University of Toronto

Individual Presentations

• The middle-tier in education delivery: An exploratory study of district support to schools in Ghana - Sheena Bell, O.I.S.E. University of Toronto

• The Complexities of Grade Repetition: Exploring the Experiences of Repeated Students in Ghana - Daniel Owusu Kyereko, University of York

• Assessing School Heads’ Preparedness for Nurturing’ Core Competencies’ in Learners: A Comparison between Ghanaian Basic Public and Private Schools - Christopher Mensah Adosi, IEPA, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST, GHANA

• Lessons from Outside School: Opportunities for Learning Ghanaian Languages with Community - Edwin Nii Bonney, Clemson University; Akua Asantewaa Campbell, University of Ghana Legon, Accra