Africa

February 17, 2012

Ghana Lauded for Free Primary School Program

In Ghana, primary school enrollment has been boosted by the elimination of fees and the introduction
of supportive social programs. Today, over 90 percent of all children aged six to 12 [or nearly 3.2
million] attend primary school. But development specialists say they’re still concerned about the
quality and number of teachers available for the schools.
Joana Mantey | Accra,Ghana

In Ghana, primary education is free, and in recent years, more students have been enrolled.

Fees were abolished in public schools seven years ago when the government introduced yearly grants of
about $2.50 for each pupil.

The funding covers the cost of learning materials, sanitation and sports equipment, and minor school repairs.

Kofi Asare is the executive director of the NGO Action for Rural Education and a former national program
officer for the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition.

He says the government has also introduced other forms of support for school children.

“They include the free school feeding program where each child is entitled to a square meal a day in
school," he expalined. "It is currently on-going and involves about one million children out of the 7.5 million
children in basic [including primary] schools. Though it covers barely 10 percent of the population of pupils,
it has made significant impact in rural areas where issues of nutrition affect school enrolment and retention.”

Success brings new challenges

Despite these successes, there are also drawbacks.

Asare says school administrators complain of staff shortages.

“There is a deficit of 20,000 teachers," said Asare, "which has caused some 15,000 classrooms to be empty.
In some cases, you have to merge classes one to three for one teacher to handle.”

Asare says it’s also difficult to recruit – and retain – instructors.

Part of the problem, he says, may be due to low pay: The average primary school teacher earns about 300
dollars per month. As a result, Asare says many teachers who go on paid study leave refuse to return to the
classrooms. And, he says only about half of the nearly 4,000 teachers who receive advanced training each
year return to work.

Many teachers prefer to stay in urban areas, depriving children in rural areas of the right to an education. In
comparison, he says that three years ago, it was reported that over 550 teachers in and around the capital
Accra were underemployed due to the excess number of instructors.

1 of 2 Instructor: Tran Minh Chuong, MA. | tranminhchuong@qnu.edu.vn

 He also says the growing number of students has led to the hiring of many teachers who are not qualified.
Currently, 38 percent of primary school teachers have not been trained.

Asare says these challenges have had a negative impact on the performance of pupils in basic schools, which
include nursery school, kindergarten and primary school.

“Standards have been compromised hugely in the past 10 to 15 years," he asserts. "Available data from the
National Educational Assessment suggests that less than 40 per cent of pupils in basic schools are proficient
in English and math, and that is a worrying scenario.”

As a result, Asare said, many pupils fail to qualify for senior high school.

Improved training, accountability

Asare says action is being taken.

In 2006, the government and foreign donors including Great Britain’s Department for International
Development introduced the Untrained Teacher Training Diploma in Basic Education program, a four-year
effort to help 25,000 teachers obtain diplomas in basic education. Funding shortages have delayed the start
of the second phase.

Asare says the problem could be eased by cancelling paid leave for teachers, which costs nearly $9 million
per year.He also recommends an increased allowance for rural teachers and improved supervision of
teaching and learning in primary schools.

Ghana spends over 10 percent of its gross domestic product and 31 percent of its budget on education.
Asare says school administrators must protect that investment by eliminating waste and mismanagement.

Assignment
- In your group of five, from the article above identify 1 simple sentence, 1 complex
sentence, 1 compound sentence, and 1 compound-complex sentence.
- Identify 2 sentences that have parallel structures.
- Get ideas from the article to rewrite 2 complex sentences, 2 compound sentences, and
2 compound-complex sentences.
- Extract at least 10 phrases (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and preposition phrases),
each at least 3-word long.

Arrange your assignment on an A4 sheet, word-processed with font Time New Roman,
13 in size. Submit your paper in class next Thursday.

2 of 2 Instructor: Tran Minh Chuong, MA. | tranminhchuong@qnu.edu.vn