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Inequity curtails efficient delivery of basic education in Ghana – World Bank

A new World Bank report has found that

inequity is the central challenge facing basic education in Ghana.

According to the report, inequity in terms of education service

delivery and resource allocations undercut the potential contribution

of basic education to Ghana's national development goals.

"Persistent disparities in education service delivery and inequitable

allocation of resources in Ghana lead to highly inequitable

educational outcomes," said the report titled "Basic education beyond

the

Millennium Development Goals in Ghana: How equity in service delivery

affects educational and learning outcomes".

Authored by Peter Darvas and David Balwanz, the World Bank report

noted that these inequities negatively affect system quality,

efficiency and accountability and ultimately undermine broader

national development.

It added, "Wide-spread inequity in education service delivery

significantly depresses

system learning outcomes."

The report identifies a "missing middle" in terms of learning outcomes

stating that "while

a small number of children perform well, the majority of pupils (more

than 60%) pass

through primary school without becoming proficient in numeracy and literacy".

Another report on education in Ghana by the UNESCO released October

16, 2012 shows

that a large population in Ghana can't read a sentence after leaving

school the previous

four years.

"In Ghana, for example, over half of women and over one-third of men

aged 15 to 29

who had completed six years of school could not read a sentence at all

in 2008. A further

28% of the young women and 33% of the young men could only read part

of a sentence,"

it says.

"New analysis of household surveys for this Report shows, however, that far more

children than expected in low and lower middle income countries are

completing primary

school without becoming literate," the UNESCO report adds.

Specifically, the World Bank report highlighted that children from

Ghana's northern

regions and deprived districts, poor and rural households and ethnic

and linguistic

minorities – students who require the most support to meet learning

outcomes – receive,

on average, disproportionately fewer resources from the government

than their peers.

"Systemic inequities create this missing middle and drag down system

performance," it

said.

The World Bank observed that following a decade of rapid change, as of

2013, more

children are attending basic and senior high schools than at any time

in the history of

Ghana. In the past decade, Ghana has realized great growth, progress and change.

Population growth, urbanization and significant GDP growth have

changed the economic,

political and social landscape of Ghana.

According to the report, the introduction of Free, Compulsory,

Universal Basic Education

(FCUBE) and kindergarten has supported a near doubling of basic

education enrollment in

the past 15 years.

Despite delivering basic education and ensuring equity has become more

challenging, the

report found out that recent experience has shown "accelerating

progress toward equity

and quality basic education for all is possible". It said several

recent initiatives in Ghana

point to the possibility of improving equitable resource allocation,

strengthening social

protection and providing additional support to improve learning outcomes.

It cited children with below-average learning outcomes in poorly

resourced environments

are likely to show measurable gains when provided additional support

(e.g. instructional

support, learning resources, management support, demand-side incentives).

The report recommended that government should improve the equitable

allocation and

increase the number of qualified teachers to schools.

It also advised government to increase the expenditure on basic

education and to foster a

culture of innovation and collaborative learning across the country.

Ekow Quandzie|GBN reported

Kofi Oppong Kyekyeku

I am a Ghanaian Broadcast Journalist/Writer who has an interest in General News, Sports, Entertainment, Health, Lifestyle and many more.

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