Author: Kofi Asare
Site of publication: Africa Education Watch
Type of publication: Policy brief
Date of publication: April 2025
Introduction
Ghana has made considerable progress in achieving Universal Primary Education over the past two decades, as primary school enrolment increased from 2,586,434 in 2001 to 4,777,131 in 2023 with primary Net Enrolment Rate (NER) increasing from 59 per cent in 2001 to 79 per cent by 2023. At the Junior High School (JHS) level, enrolment within the same period increased from 865,636 to 2,005,885 with a completion rate of 94 per cent by 2023. Despite the overall positive signs, in 2021, the Government of Ghana reported that some 1 million children aged 4 to 18, constituting 9 per cent of the total age cohort population of 10,589,615 had never attended school, with another 400,000 children dropping out of school.
School buildings
Among the major drivers of this out-of-school challenge are supply side deficiencies manifested in the absence and poor state of basic school infrastructure in underserved and derived communities. Between 2017 and 2023, the number of public Kindergartens (KGs) increased from 14,432 to 15,213, a cumulative addition of 781, with an annual average of 111 distributed across 261 districts nationally. The number of public primary schools also increased by a cumulative figure of 798 from 14,923 to 15,721 new schools, an annual average of 114 primary schools. At the JHS level, 1,714 new JHS were added to the national stock, representing the highest national average within the seven (7) year period-244 new JHS each year.
At the district level, the additions statistically represent 0.4 new KG and primary schools, and 0.9 new JHS per district, per year over the seven (7) year period, a growth rate too slow to catalyse Ghana’s successful march to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) finish line in 2030. The growth of 0.9 JHS per district, per annum is commendable. Although relatively higher than KG (0.4) and primary (0.4) and purposively aimed at bridging the traditional 25 per cent gap between primary and JHS, it only reduced the deficit by three percentage points over a seven (7) year period. Given this pace, it would take Ghana another 58 years to bridge the primary-JHS gap.
Among the major drivers of this out-of-school challenge are supply side deficiencies manifested in the absence and poor state of basic school infrastructure in underserved and derived communities
Desks
The Ministry of Education (MoE) recommends a Pupil Seating Ratio of 2:1, meaning two (2) pupils are entitled to share a dual desk. By 2021, about 40 per cent of pupils did not have adequate access to desks as prescribed by the MoE, with 50 per cent (596,949) KG pupils, 40 per cent (1,308,479) primary pupils and 30 per cent (425,465) JHS pupils lacking seating and writing places in 2021. The deficit is worse in deprived regions with the rates being 80 per cent in North East, 70 per cent in Northern, 60 per cent in Savannah, 60 per cent in Upper East, 60 per cent in Bono East, 50 per cent in Upper West, and 50 per cent in Oti, all above the national average (40%).
In 2023, GHC 15 million was allocated for basic school furniture under the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund). In 2024, another 100 million was allocated for basic school furniture, including desks for pupils, teacher’s furniture and school cupboards. Even if the total budget was allocated and fully released for procuring only desks for pupils, considering that a desk deficit of one million existed by 2021, the situation may have only improved by 20 per cent, given that the entire allocated amount was the equivalent of 190,000 desks.
What is the recent situation in schools?
There is some level of local government support for desks in basic schools. However, given the challenges with revenue mobilisation by local governments in districts where the desk deficit is highest, very little has been done to supplement national level provision of desks to warrant any significant change in the 2021 situation.
A 2024 Eduwatch field monitoring report on desks in Gushegu and Kintampo North municipalities in the Northern and Bono East regions revealed that, even though Gushegu municipal had a public basic school desk deficit of 17,849, the municipality received only 180 dual desks from the MoE/GETFund in 2023. The highest number of desks supplied to a school was 10, with six (6) schools benefitting. The least supplied desks were two (2) – to Katani M/A Primary.
In Kintampo North too, the desk situation was dire, with a deficit of 16,795. In Jato Akura Basic School for instance, only 32 dual desks were available to 351 students. Jato Akura Basic School had not received desks since 2018. In Gruma-line Islamic Basic School, only 25 dual and 20 mono desks were available for a student population of 368, and the school had not received desks since 2015.
Both schools had to compel parents to buy desks for their wards transitioning from Primary 6 to JHS due to the non-availability of desks in the JHS, a situation which negatively affected transition to JHS.
There is some level of local government support for desks in basic schools. However, given the challenges with revenue mobilisation by local governments in districts where the desk deficit is highest, very little has been done to supplement national level provision of desks to warrant any significant change in the 2021 situation
Digital infrastructure
The state of digital learning infrastructure in public basic schools has even more severe deficits and consequences on learning than physical infrastructure. While Ghana’s basic school curriculum prioritizes digital skills as a core competency in producing 21st century graduates, Eduwatch’s 2024 survey found that only 2 per cent of basic schools in deprived districts have functioning ICT facilities, compared to 8 per cent in endowed districts.
The disparity in digital infrastructure affects the teaching and learning of ‘Computing’, a compulsory subject from upper primary to JHS. This also impacts the quality of digital skills acquisition, as approximately 50 per cent of basic schools teach Computing despite the lack of adequate digital infrastructure.
Electricity connectivity
A critical vehicle for providing access to ICT facilities is electricity. By 2020, only 44 per cent of primary schools and 63.9 per cent of JHS in Ghana were connected to the national electricity grid at a time national electricity penetration was 82 per cent. Given that the national penetration had since improved by 4 percentage points by 2024, it is estimated that about half of the 15,721 primary schools and a third of the 12,096 JHS have no electricity access.
In line with the manifesto of the ruling National Democratic Congress government, the Minister for Education has announced government’s plans to introduce solar systems in all public schools to reduce their reliance on the national electricity grid. While this sounds progressive, Eduwatch has recommended that the government begins the initiative with off grid basic schools, before considering other basic and secondary schools currently connected to the national electricity grid.
It is equally important for the solar connectivity to be complemented with digital learning facilities, including internet, as many deprived basic schools may not find any use for the solar system without computers and internet for teaching and learning.
Infrastructure requirements for 2030
Out-Of-School-Children (OOSC)
With five (5) years to the SDG finish line of 2030, Ghana still has about 1 million OOSC, of which 400,000 are dropouts, mainly due to the lack of basic schools in underserved communities and the long distance commuted to schools. Absorbing OOSC into the formal education system and preventing enrolled pupils from dropping out requires providing basic schools in underserved communities without putting a strain on already existing large class sizes or increasing the already lengthy distance commuted to school, which itself is a major cause of dropouts in rural Ghana.
To position Ghana to meet SDG 4 targets of Universal Basic Enrolment and Completion with relevant learning outcomes, including digital literacy, Ghana requires about 2,000 fully furnished new basic schools, 3,600 fully furnished JHS for existing primary schools, 508 fully furnished KGs for underserved primary schools, 5,300 new schools to replace the documented schools under trees, 800,000 pupil furniture for existing underserved basic schools, while ensuring that all existing and new primary schools and JHSs have access to electricity and digital learning infrastructure, including tablets, internet, electricity connectivity, and solar power for over 5,000 off-grid basic schools.
Considering that a complete (Primary-KG-JHS) fully furnished basic school with digital infrastructure, a solar system and basic Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) facilities costs about US$ 250,000, about US$ 2 billion is required by Ghana in the medium-term to meet the SDG 4 and ESP infrastructure target at the basic level.
Financing gap, dwindling donor support and tight fiscal space
Ghana’s financing options are limited, giving an ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme that restricts access to external borrowing. In 2025, Ghana is unable to borrow more than US$ 250 million from the credit market.
Development partners are gradually reducing funding, not only to Ghana, but the rest of the developing world. With the United States Agency for International Development recently terminating all projects in Ghana’s education sector, and the British government set to reduce Overseas Development Assistance from the 0.7 per cent of GDP in 2021 to 0.3 in 2027, donor financing remains ominous.
Similar fiscal constrictions exist within the national education budget. Between 2017 and 2022, only 10 percent of education expenditure was invested into infrastructure, with GETFund (61%) and Internally Generate Funds (25%) being the major source of financing. Of the total amount (GHC 10 billion), basic education received only 12 per cent, with secondary (40%) and tertiary (37%) receiving the largest shares.
Ghana’s new government’s decision to uncap GETFund is the first right step to free about US$2.8 billion in the medium-term (2025-2028) for infrastructure financing. However, the $2.8 billion alone would be inadequate due to the competing demands from consumption expenditure. While GETFund’s uncapping is freeing about GHC 4 billion previously capped funds for investment by GETFund in 2025, the government’s decision to finance the free SHS policy (GHC 3.5 billion) and curriculum-based textbooks for basic schools (GHC 415 million) from GETFund means almost the entire uncapping outcomes of GHC 4 billion will be consumed by consumption expenditure than infrastructure investment.
This should necessitate conversations on innovative cost-efficient financing of education infrastructure through among others, concessional finance, grants and blended finance.
In addition, similar conversations around cost-efficient but climate resilient building technology for schools must be held. Community-led but government supported school furniture initiatives using local lumber resources, mobile, virtual but effective digital learning, and STEM facilities must be encouraged. Satellite underserved communities with smaller pupil numbers, including island communities where pupils commute via risky boat journeys daily to school should be prioritized.
The Ministry of Education must develop a framework to harvest Corporate Social Responsibility, Alumni contributions and align with pressing infrastructural needs for optimum impact.