ALL CHILDREN IN SCHOOL BY 2015 Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children Government of Ghana GHANA COUNTRY STUDY April 2012 Cover image: ©UNICEF/Ghana/2009/Asseli 2 Contents Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. 6 Preface ................................................................................................................................................... 7 List of Tables ......................................................................................................................................... 8 List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 9 Acronyms ............................................................................................................................................. 10 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ 12 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 18 1.1. Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................... 18 1.2. Country Context ........................................................................................................................... 18 1.3. Overview of Education Sector .................................................................................................... 19 1.4. Introduction of 5 Dimensions of Exclusion ............................................................................... 21 1.5. Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 22 CHAPTER 2: PROFILES OF EXCLUDED CHILDREN ....................................................................... 23 2.1. Overview and Analysis of Data Sources ................................................................................... 23 2.1.1. Data Sources .......................................................................................................................... 23 2.1.2. Overview of Attendance .......................................................................................................... 23 2.1.3. Enrolment Rate Comparisons: GDHS and EMIS ................................................................... 25 2.2. Dimension 1: Profiles of Pre-primary Age (5 years) Children Out of School ....................... 27 2.3. Dimensions 2 and 3: Profiles of Primary-age and Junior Secondary-age Children Out of School ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….28 2.4. Dimensions 4 and 5: Profiles of Children at Risk of Exclusion .............................................. 37 2.4.1. Lack of School Readiness ..................................................................................................... 37 2.4.2. Late Entry .............................................................................................................................. 38 2.4.3. Repeaters .............................................................................................................................. 39 2.4.5. School Dropout ...................................................................................................................... 42 2.5. Disparity Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 44 2.5.1. Gender .................................................................................................................................... 44 2.5.2. Parental Education ................................................................................................................ 46 2.5.3. Ethnicity ................................................................................................................................. 48 2.5.4. Household Living Arrangements ........................................................................................... 50 2.5.5. Wealth Level .......................................................................................................................... 52 2.5.6. Child Labor Status ................................................................................................................. 55 2.5.7. Multiple Deprivation ............................................................................................................... 57 2.6. Multivariate Analysis ................................................................................................................... 57 2.7. Analytical Summary ..................................................................................................................... 60 3 CHAPTER 3: BARRIERS AND BOTTLENECKS .............................................................................. 62 3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 62 3.2. Sociocultural Demand Side Barriers and Bottlenecks ............................................................. 63 3.2.1. Lack of Child’s Interest in Schooling ....................................................................................... 64 3.2.2. Lack of Parental Awareness and Other Parental Factors ...................................................... 64 3.2.3. Negative Beliefs and Values towards Girls’ Education ........................................................... 65 3.2.4. Fosterage ................................................................................................................................ 66 3.2.5. Early Marriage ........................................................................................................................ 66 3.2.6. Teenage Pregnancy ............................................................................................................... 66 3.2.7. Negative Attitudes towards Children with Disabilities ............................................................. 67 3.2.8. Verbal, Physical and Sexual Abuse of Children at School and in the Community ................. 67 3.3. Economic Demand Side Barriers ............................................................................................... 68 3.3.1. Poverty Profile in Ghana ......................................................................................................... 69 3.3.2. Family Size and Affordability of Schooling ............................................................................. 70 3.3.3. Direct Costs of Schooling ....................................................................................................... 70 3.3.4. Opportunity Costs of Schooling for the Family ....................................................................... 71 3.3.5. Child Labor ............................................................................................................................. 72 3.3.6. Household Migration and Other Economic /Agricultural Factors............................................ 73 3.3.7. Child Hunger in the Classroom and Lack of Attention in Class .............................................. 73 3.3.8. Loss of Economic Earning of a Parent ................................................................................... 74 3.4. Supply Side Barriers and Bottlenecks ....................................................................................... 74 3.4.1. Distance to School .................................................................................................................. 75 3.4.2. Inadequate School Infrastructure ........................................................................................... 76 3.4.3. Seating and Writing Places in Schools ................................................................................... 76 3.4.4. Lack of Basic Water and Sanitation Facilities......................................................................... 77 3.4.5. Inadequate Teaching and Learning Materials ........................................................................ 78 3.4.6. Inefficient Teacher Supply, Allocation and Deployment ......................................................... 78 3.4.7. Child-friendly Instructional Practice and Classroom Management ......................................... 80 3.4.8. Language of Instruction .......................................................................................................... 80 3.5. Political Governance, Capacity and Financing Bottlenecks ................................................... 81 3.5.1. Inadequate Decision Making and Slow Pace of Policy Implementation ................................. 82 3.5.2. Inadequate Partnerships with CSOs to Address OOSC Challenges ..................................... 82 3.5.3. Lack of Voice of Marginalised Groups .................................................................................... 82 3.5.4. Educational Policy Tensions between Expansion and Quality Improvements ....................... 83 3.5.5. Weak Monitoring and Evaluation Capacity ............................................................................. 83 3.5.6. Weak District and Regional Oversight to OOSC .................................................................... 84 3.5.7.