The Challenge
Since independence, Ghana has pursued policies aimed at providing quality education for all, but significant gaps remain in terms of both enrollment and, above all, learning.
In 2005 the Ghana Education Service (GES) mandated fee-free provision of basic education in government schools regardless of socioeconomic status or location through a system of capitation grants to the schools. Enrollment surged but the country still faces challenges of retention and completion. As of 2013, 597,000 children remained out-of-school and only 72% of students completed primary school. The household costs of education are one major factor in poor attendance and high dropout rates.
As state-run schools in Ghana struggle to meet the needs of their students, many families in Ghana are increasingly choosing to enroll their children in private schools. A 2010 IFC-commissioned report estimated that low-cost private schools (LCPSs) constitute 40% of all private schools in Ghana, or about 12% of all schools in the country. In the fast- growing semi-urban areas just outside the capitol city of Accra, as many as two-thirds of children are enrolled in private schools.
In short, the education landscape in Ghana is changing rapidly, and many basic questions about the increasingly diverse education options’ cost and quality remain unanswered.
The Opportunity
To better understand the costs involved with private education, as well as the implications of these costs, Results for Development Institute, with support from the UBS Optimus Foundation, oversaw and analyzed a survey of household decision-making and expenditure on education in Kasoa, a semi-urban community just outside Accra.
The report, “Implications of education fees and their effect on household decisions in Ghana,” bases its findings on a survey of 1,000 households, and a school-based survey of 30 government and private institutions. Study design and data collection were conducted in 2014 in partnership with the Ghana Center for Democratic Dialogue.
Our Work
Our work analyzing this survey’s results resulted in 6 key findings:
- Kasoa families perceive private education to be superior to that in government schools and prefer to enroll their children in private schools.
- The household costs of private education are about 50 percent higher than those of government schools. As a result, private education is still not accessible for all families, especially those in the lowest economic bracket.
- Extra fees, many of which are hidden, are prevalent across government and school settings.
- The government does not have enough subsidy or scholarship measures in place to meet its goal of fee-free provision of basic education.
- A lack of information constrains households’ abilities to make informed school choice decisions.
- Private schools are much cheaper than government ones in terms of total costs.
Additional public-private partnerships
Since the total cost of a student’s place in a private school is lower than that in a government school, the government may wish to (a) make more use of the private sector; and (b) adapt its own cost structure to emulate the more efficient levels of the private sector.
More effective monitoring and regulation of private schools, especially of learning outcomes
Particularly important is the measurement of learning; there are no means to compare learning outcomes of government and private schools, or between schools, other than exam results.
Additional policies to promote equity
The cost of food in schools especially, as well as other extra fees, create a significant challenge for many of the families surveyed. Measures like needs-based assistance and waivers would likely make a significant impact on school attendance and affordability (for government and private schools alike).
Increasing transparency about costs at both government and private schools
This includes clarifying which costs are required up front, which are mandatory and which optional, and the timetable of payments. Our survey showed the high additional costs on top of advertised tuition rates, costs that parents need to take into account when selecting schools.
