"30 Years of Free Basic Education in Ghana: A Report Card"

" 30 Years o f Free Basic Education i n Ghana: A Report Card \r\n\r\n Ghana, like many sub-Saharan Africa countries, began investing substantially in free education three decades ago. This led to an increase in the number of children that attend primary school. But what has the impact been on learning outcomes? \r\n\r\n The Conversation Africa spoke to demographer\u00a0 Pearl Kyei , who, with economists\u00a0 Fred Dzanku \u00a0and\u00a0 Samuel Annim , has\u00a0 researched \u00a0population literacy and numeracy in Ghana after three decades of free education. \r\n\r\n How long has Ghana offered free basic education? \r\n\r\nGhana introduced what it calls the\u00a0 Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme in 1994 . This meant that families could send children to public schools without paying school fees. In 2005, it introduced the Capitation Grant Scheme to further reduce financial barriers to education and increase access. The grant was to discourage schools from charging unapproved fees and levies to make up for the lost tuition fees.\r\n\r\nBasic education in Ghana currently covers the pre-primary, primary and lower secondary levels. Pre-primary involves two years of kindergarten (for ages 4 and 5 years), primary is six years (for ages 6 to 11 years), and lower secondary is three years of junior high school (for ages 12 to 14 years). After junior high school, students have the option to continue to senior high, technical or vocational school (for ages 15 to 17 years).\r\n\r\nSeveral other countries on the continent, such as Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, have put in place free basic education policies too. This is due to the adoption of the\u00a0 Continental Education Strategy for Africa (2016 \u2013 2025) \u00a0which references the post-2015 commitment of African governments to provide a basic education of 10 to 12 years and to provide at least one year of free pre-primary education.\r\n\r\nHow is the policy implemented?\r\n\r\nGhana\u2019s 1992 constitution\u00a0 states \u00a0that \u201cbasic education shall be free, compulsory and available to all\u201d. From 1994, primary and junior high schools had to provide fee-free tuition. Financial support from government was later introduced (capitation grants) to compensate public schools for the loss of fees.\r\n\r\nThe Capitation Grant Scheme provides money to schools each term to help cover costs. The government gives a set amount of money per student to public schools every year. This money is distributed to public schools based on the number of enrolled students, and each student receives a specific amount of money under the grant. This amount is in addition to the main education budget. The 2024 Mid-Year Budget Review reported that the capitation grant was\u00a0 GH\u20b5 15 per child \u00a0(approximately US$1) per term in 2024.\r\n\r\n Is it working? \r\n\r\nSince the introduction of the 1994 free schooling programme, Ghana has recorded substantial increases in enrolment rates at the basic education level.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nResearch shows there are several problems, however. These include:\r\n \r\n \t schools not having enough money to operate efficiently \r\n \t a shortage of books and other learning materials \r\n \t crowded classrooms \r\n \t too few teachers for the growing number of students \r\n \t hiring of untrained teachers to address national teacher shortages . \r\n \r\nAll these are likely to affect the quality of education and learning outcomes of students.\r\n\r\n What has the impact been on outcomes? \r\n\r\nWe conducted\u00a0 research \u00a0to understand whether people\u2019s basic reading and math skills in Ghana had improved over time after many years of expanding education. The study compared groups with similar levels of schooling using two national surveys taken 10 years apart to find out if there had been a meaningful change in basic reading and math skills.\r\n\r\nWe used data from two nationwide\u00a0 Ghana Living Standards Surveys , conducted in 2006 and 2017. During the data collection, interviewers used flashcards to measure the basic reading and math skills of survey respondents. Persons aged 11 or older were shown flashcards. To answer \u201cyes\u201d to questions about whether they could read or solve written calculations, they had to read a sentence fully and answer a simple math problem correctly.\r\n\r\nIn the study we defined \u201cbasically literate\u201d as being able to read a short English sentence, and \u201cbasically numerate\u201d meant being able to solve a simple written math problem. The sample for our study comprised 25,424 and 42,376 persons in 2006 and in 2017 respectively.\r\n\r\nWe found that the percentage of persons 11 years and older in the sample who have never attended school declined from 28% in 2006 to 16% in 2017. But there was a decline in literacy and numeracy for persons with basic education.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe observed decline was larger for math than for literacy. For instance, those with upper primary education (class 4 to 6) were 14% less likely to be able to correctly read a short sentence in 2017 compared to 2006. For math, the likelihood of persons with upper primary education correctly solving the math problem was 25% lower in 2017.\r\n\r\nThe study additionally found that basic literacy and numeracy declined more in urban areas than in rural areas at the lower and upper primary levels. Trends for males and females were largely similar.\r\n\r\n How can it be improved? \r\n\r\nOur findings suggest that without focusing on investments that maintain quality as enrolment increases \u2013 like hiring well-trained teachers, providing enough funding, and supplying schools with adequate materials \u2013 free education programmes could lead to long-term declines in learning outcomes.\r\n\r\nSuch declines in basic literacy and numeracy would likely have a negative effect on job productivity, the economy, and social inclusion in the long run.\r\n\r\nSo there is a need to invest more in quality education to go along with increased access. These investments would help students acquire the foundational skills they need and ensure that free education leads to lasting improvements in skills that are crucial for national growth."

"30 Years of Free Basic Education in Ghana: A Report Card"

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