Despite significant governmentinvestments in the public education system, populationgrowth and migration have led to an undersupply of schoolplaces, especially in urban centers, leading to an increasein private education enrollments in Ghana. Ghana has nearlydoubled enrollment at the primary and junior high schoollevels since the introduction of free and compulsoryuniversal basic education. Ghana’s primary net enrollmentrate of 86.8 percent in 2013 is still slightly below theaverage for lower-middle-income countries, which was 87.3percent. Its net rate of secondary enrollment (includingjunior and senior high school), 51 percent, is also lowerthan the 58 percent average for lower-middle-incomecountries (EdStats). Ghana’s public spending on education iscomparable to that of other middle-income countries and thegovernment is currently focusing its attention on uppersecondary education (senior high school), with plans tobuild more schools to increase access. Rising enrollmentrates have not been accompanied by gains in studentlearning; some parents are choosing private schools due totheir perceived higher quality. The education system inGhana is currently facing fiscal pressures due to low levelsof accountability, inefficient allocation of resources, andplans to expand upper secondary provision. Although theGhanaian government has made progress in improving equitableaccess to education through new programs and policies,government resources are currently unevenly distributedacross regions in terms of spending per pupil as well as theallocation of teachers. Ghana currently has a budgetdeficit, with teacher salaries forming a large part ofrecurrent costs in education. The country also plans toexpand education at the senior secondary level to meet theneeds of the economy. The construction of 200 schools willput further pressure on government budgets.
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