Secondary School Development in Ghana: Costs and Financing on Access and Participation. Kwame Akyeampong University of Sussex, UK

Transcription

1 Secondary School Development in Ghana: Costs and Financing on Access and Participation Kwame Akyeampong University of Sussex, UK

2 Context 6,4,7 school system replaced with 6,3,3 Changes in Secondary Education - Community day secondary schools - Diversification of the secondary curriculum - Reduction in boarding secondary schooling - Withdrawal of government subsidies

3 Employment and Educational Attainment (GLSS) Those with secondary or higher educational attainment more likely to be in skilled professional job. About 52% self-employed in agriculture and 34% are either in private informal sector or self-employment outside agriculture. Only 4% of people engaged in Agriculture have a secondary or higher qualification Only a tenth of workforce in various industrial sectors have an upper secondary education or higher Increasing the number of people in the workforce and society with secondary or higher qualification should be critical part of development strategy.

4 Community day secondary schools From 1987 to 2002 Secondary Schools increased from 240 to 474 (140 community secondary schools) Most have low enrolment because they serve smaller catchments areas. Overall, contributes to a lowering of secondary education costs Lower enrolments (< 100) increases unit costs appreciably especially for TVE subjects 16% of secondary schools have student enrolment of less than 100

5 Diversification of the Curriculum To motivate changes towards selfemployment and further education About 50% of all SSS students now study TVE subjects. Diversification appears to make a difference to the pattern of pupils career choices But, patterns of choice influenced by location of school (urban/rural)

6 Reduction in Boarding Secondary Schooling % boarders % day ASHANTI BRONG AHAFO CENTRAL EASTERN GREATER ACCRA NORTHERN UPPER EAST UPPER WEST VOLTA WESTERN NATIONAL

7 Costs to Governments and Parents For boarders government to parent cost-sharing ratio is about 1:5. For day students, government to parent cost sharing ratio is 1:1 Overall, costs to parents is 4 times government costs Subsidies enjoyed by all rich and poor But, income and location are important indices for participation in secondary education.

8 Participation by household income fig Richest Middle Poorest P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 JSS1 JSS2 JSS3

9 Participation by Urban & Rural Urban Rural P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 JSS1 JSS2 JSS3

10 SYSTEM PROFILE / / Primary Middle Secondary Primary Junior Secondary Secondary Primary Junior Secondary Secondary Primary Junior Secondary Secondary Gross enrolment rate (GER) Attendance rate (AR) 1 Note: 1/ Attendance rates are age, not school, specific. The age ranges used here correspond to the relevant school age ranges. Source: World Bank (2003) Net enrolment rate (NER)

11 Transition JSS to SS1 BECE Results Percentage % passed (agg 6-36) % Qualified for SSS % enroled in S Years

12 PTR and School Size by Districts (no outliers) School Size PTR

13 System Profile - Summary About 43% of SSS have PTRs below 15, 45% have PTRs that range from 15 to 24. Many SSS are under-enrolled and overstaffed. Senior secondary participation has remained largely unchanged and low - NER is about 20%.

14 Curriculum and Cost Wide variations in costs between schools attributed to: (a) resource availability, (b) intensity of practical activity, (c) enrolment levels, and (d) subject specific fees charged Curriculum orientation, relevance and its realistic preparation of students for the labour market needs to be properly analysed and evaluated against what it cost government and parents to provide such an education.

15 FINANCING ISSUES SSS share of recurrent education budget has reduced more than any other sub-sector. Forecast: secondary school sub-sector public recurrent expenditure as % of total recurrent expenditure on education will continue to drop Any significant enrolment increases will have to be matched by effective staff rationalisation. Government expenses (services, investment, development allocation etc) for SSS student 6x that of primary pupil and 4x JSS pupil. Non-teaching staff salaries can be as high as 3x that of teaching staff

16 Conclusions Reduce inefficiencies through more effective staff rationalisation to reduce teaching costs per student Review curriculum to reduce costs associated with high expenditure programmes that have low enrolments. Introduce incentives for secondary schools to manage their finances in ways that encourage expenditure savings for maintenance and infrastructural development. Subsidies work, but develop formulae to target neediest households

17 Thank You!