By Kodjo Adams
Accra, June 26, GNA – The Africa Eduwatch Watch (Eduwatch), a policy research think tank, has called for a review of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) allocation formula to include education infrastructure deprivation indicators.Â
It said such a reform would ensure that districts with the greatest deficits receive proportionately higher support for basic education infrastructure development.
Mr Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Eduwatch, told the Ghana News Agency that the current DACF financing approach does not adequately address disparities in Junior High School (JHS) access across districts.
He was speaking on a report by Eduwatch, with support from Oxfam, on the implementation of Ghana’s 2025 education policies.
The report acknowledged improvements in areas such as the predictability of capitation grants and the Free Senior High School programme.
However, it noted persistent inequities in the distribution of education inputs, including infrastructure financing and school furniture.
Government budget provisions for 2025 and 2026 indicate that 20 per cent of the DACF is to be allocated to basic education infrastructure.
In 2025, a total of GH¢7.57 billion was allocated to the DACF, with 80 per cent earmarked for direct disbursement to districts under the existing formula.
Mr Asare said while the 20 per cent allocation to education infrastructure was a positive policy step, its impact was limited by a formula that does not prioritise need.
He said as a result, districts such as Nabdam, which have significant infrastructure deficits, continue to receive comparatively lower allocations, while relatively better-resourced districts such as Adentan benefit more.
Mr Asareexplained that the DACF allocation formula is based on factors including population size, service pressure and internally generated funds capacity.
This, he said, tends to favour larger and economically active districts regardless of their education infrastructure gaps.
“As a result, resources tend to flow towards districts with relatively better provisions, while those with the greatest deficits remain underfunded.
“This disconnect undermines efforts to expand access to JHS and address transition inequalities across regions,” he said.
Mr Asare said evidence shows that 18 per cent of pupils in deprived districts drop out between Primary Six and JHS One, compared with eight per cent in more endowed areas.
He said despite national progress, significant numbers of children are excluded at the transition point, contributing to out-of-school figures and undermining universal basic education efforts.
Mr Asare identified the absence of JHS facilities in many primary schools in deprived areas as a key structural factor.
He said in the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Eastern Regions, the primary-to-JHS ratios stood at 1:0.98, 1:0.89 and 1:0.85 respectively.
“This means that at least 85 per cent of primary schools have a JHS,” he said.
In contrast, Mr Asare said the Northern Region (1:0.45), Savannah Region (1:0.47), North East Region (1:0.53) and Upper East Region (1:0.71) recorded significantly lower ratios.
He said this implies that up to 55 per cent of primary schools in those areas do not have JHS access.
Mr Asare said the gap forces many pupils to travel long distances to continue schooling, discouraging progression, particularly among children from low-income households and girls.
He recommended a needs-weighted DACF education sub-formula that reflects infrastructure deficits, transition gaps and district-level deprivation.
Mr Asare also proposed the ring-fencing of a rural infrastructure equalisation grant within the DACF to support deprived and high-deficit districts.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Kodjo Adams