By Kodjo Adams
Accra, June 3, GNA – A monitoring report by Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), a policy research think tank, has revealed measurable progress in the implementation of Ghana’s 2025 education policies.
The report highlighted improvements in key areas such as the predictability of capitation grants, the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme, school feeding provision, and menstrual hygiene support. However, it also identified systemic inefficiencies in implementation.
Despite these gains, the report noted inequitable allocation of critical education inputs, including infrastructure financing, learning materials, school furniture, sanitary products, and teacher deployment. It further pointed to weak regulatory enforcement and institutional execution challenges.
The study, conducted with funding support from Oxfam, assessed implementation progress, equity outcomes, and operational challenges associated with selected education policies in 2025.
Eduwatch focused on 10 districts across rural and urban Ghana: Tatale-Sanguli, Zabzugu, Bongo, Nabdam, Nkwanta South, Ga East, Ga West, Adentan, Ledzokuku, and La Nkwantanang-Madina. These districts were chosen to reflect disparities in social development and to provide an evidence-based benchmark for measuring equity in education service delivery.
Speaking at the report’s launch on Wednesday, Mr. Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Eduwatch, said capitation grant disbursement improved significantly in 2025, with nine out of the 10 districts receiving all expected tranches on schedule. However, disparities persisted in Ga West.
The School Feeding Programme recorded improved coverage and better food quality in several districts, although delays in supplies and inadequate financing continued to affect implementation.
Mr. Asare noted that the Free Sanitary Pads Programme had a positive impact on girls’ attendance, despite inconsistencies in the quality and quantity of distribution across districts.
He added that school infrastructure development under the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) expanded in 2025, with 17 new basic school construction projects initiated. However, project distribution remained uneven between deprived and urban districts.
School furniture provision remained a major concern. According to the report, seven of the 10 districts monitored received no desks in 2025, despite an estimated GHS 600 million allocated for furniture.
Textbook distribution also remained inadequate and inequitable. In many basic schools, less than half of the required core subject textbooks were available, six years after the introduction of a new curriculum.
On teacher deployment, Mr. Asare emphasised that the issue was not a shortage of teachers but uneven distribution.
“The core problem of leaving tens of thousands of classrooms without teachers is primarily about where teachers are posted, not how many teachers exist,” he said.
The report also found that financing for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) remained critically low, falling short of Ghana’s industrialisation and youth employment ambitions.
Additionally, rising examination malpractice was identified as a growing concern for education quality and integrity.
“There is a sharp rise in WASSCE malpractice, increasing from 10 per cent in 2024 to 14.8 per cent in 2025, with nearly all cases linked to examination room collusion,” Mr. Asare stated.
The report further indicated that Free SHS transition efficiency declined sharply in 2025 due to growing infrastructure and placement constraints.
While funding for the programme has become more sustainable under the amended GETFund framework, the increasing diversion of funds towards recurrent expenditure poses a threat to long-term infrastructure expansion.
Stakeholders at the event commended Eduwatch for the report and called for a coordinated and holistic approach to addressing the identified gaps in order to improve learning outcomes across the country.
GNA
Reporter: Kodjo Adams
Email: [email protected]