Impact Evaluation of Basic Education in Ghana

April 27, 2015

Impact Evaluation of Basic Education in Ghana

The Operations Evaluation Department’s impact evaluation of World Bank support to basic education in Ghana presents new evidence clearly demonstrating improvements in the quality of education over the last fifteen years. More children are attending school, drop out rates are falling, and learning outcomes have improved. These improvements can be directly attributed to investments in school infrastructure and textbook supply, for both of which the Bank has been the main financier. Some aspects of school management, such as close supervision, and the language of tuition, are also found to affect learning outcomes, though no effect is found from community involvement in school management. The report also points to the downside of increased reliance on district and community financing for school resources – the disparity between schools in poor areas and those in less poor ones is widening. Hence there is a need for compensatory finance from the center, which is being instituted under the most recent Bank project.

For the study OED collected data in collaboration with Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MOEYS). This survey followed on from the second round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, conducted in 1988, and included a household survey, school questionnaire and English and math test administered to all household members aged 9-55. In addition to the OED report, the Ghanaian agencies produced their own analysis of the survey data utilizing Dutch trust funds for evaluation capacity development.

Through the collection of a broad range of data, the report is able to address a broad range of issues, in addition to impact of Bank education lending. For example, recommendations are made on the use of household survey data, rather than administrative data, in monitoring the education sector, and a policy-oriented analysis of teacher morale and absenteeism is presented.

Source: World Bank Web

Resource1: Presentation pdf

Resource2: Report pdf