2013 Joint Sector Review shows promising results

A hallmark of the Global Partnership for Education is our practice of working together with all partners in GPE developing countries to develop national Education Sector Plans and then monitor them in Joint Sector Reviews. I participated in Ghana’s 10th Joint Sector Review or National Education Sector Annual Review (NESAR) from June 25 to 27, 2013. Over these 10 years the sector review started as a meeting in which donors shared their concerns with the government and evolved into an inclusive and productive review.  This year 250 people attended, including donors, the Education Minister, Deputy Ministers, Director Generals, Regional and District Directors, academics, government officials, two teacher unions and several civil society organizations. Ghana’s vast experience in planning and organizing annual sector reviews to monitor the implementation of the sector strategy is appreciated by other countries which want to learn from Ghana’s experience. At a recent GPE Monitoring and Evaluation workshop held in Cape Town, South Africa, the Sudanese delegation sat with peers from the Ghana team to learn how best to go about Sudan’s first ever Joint Sector Review.

Ghana can show results

After joining the Global Partnership in 2004 Ghana experienced significant positive education results. The GPE report on girls’ education (“Fast Tracking Girls’ Education, 2011) highlights the 32% increase in enrollment between 2004 and 2008.Over the last few years there is a smaller but definite increase in education outcomes each year. According to Ghana’s Ministry of Education, during the last year (2012-2013), enrollment in primary schools has increased from 96.5% to 105% representing an additional 44,000 children in the school system. Similar enrollment increases are evident in kindergarten. Completion, which was 86% in 2008, increased to 96% in 2011.

The NESAR is guided by an Education Sector Performance Report that captures the recent activities and improvements in the education sector. The focus of this year’s review was learning and accountability. In technical discussions stakeholders recounted both their successes and frustrations. Examples of successes include the introduction of the Capitation Grant Scheme (4.5 GHc for each child), school feeding programs, improving pre-service education etc. The frustrations relate to unevenness in service delivery and teacher deployment, as well as the challenges to reducing inequity across regions. Technical teams came up with strategies that should be implemented by the next Joint Sector Review.

Improving accountability in the school system

Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, Minister of Education in Ghana

After her visit to six regions, Ghana’s new and engaged Minister of Education Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang made a strong plea to improve accountability in the school system. This plea is also conveyed in the NESAR studies done by the Ministry of Education, civil society, UNICEF, the World Bank and a local think tank, which point to the worrying levels of teacher absenteeism, uneven distribution of teachers across schools, shortage of learning materials and the limited time on task.

Two very critical observations were made: It appeared that the number of teachers in primary schools was disproportionally higher than the number of kindergarten teachers. Furthermore, teacher appointments seemed random and not based on needs. These studies will help the government to develop strategies to increase instructional time in schools.

The learning agenda is next

Ghana is well on its way to achieving the goal of having all children in school. Now, it will also be important to ensure that all children who are in school are learning. To achieve this, it will be crucial to make sure the early grade local language instruction policy is effectively implemented, ensure teachers are deployed based on need, improve teacher appraisal and supervision to reduce absenteeism, and ensure that children have adequate textbooks and workbooks.

Members of the teachers unions and civil society have pledged to support the government in addressing teacher absenteeism. Government officials participating in the Joint Sector Review and development partners expressed their commitment and seriousness in addressing these issues.

The Global Partnership for Education looks forward to continuing our work with Ghana, one of our first developing country partners in our 10-year history.