AFRICA EDUCATION WATCH (AEW) PROJECT THE GHANA REPORT BY GHANA INTEGRITY INITIATIVE (GII) LOCAL CHAPTER OF TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL 1

ORDER OF PRESENTATION INTRODUCTION AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME DATA COLLECTION METHODS CHALLENGES SAMPLE SIZE AND COMPOSITION DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS 2

THE AFRICA EDUCATION WATCH PROGRAMME The Africa Education Watch is Transparency Internationals contribution towards solving the problems in the education sector in Africa with particular focus on primary education. It is a three year programme being implemented simultaneously in seven African countries; 3

INTRODUCTION CONTD Ghana, Morocco, Niger, Uganda, Senegal, Madagascar and Sierra Leone. The programme is in two phases:The programme is in two phases: The diagnostic phase or assessment phase, and The awareness-building and Advocacy phase, 4

INTRODUCTION CONTD The first phase was supposed to have started in July 2007 but actually took off in 2008; The second phase will take place at the national and regional levels over a two year period ( ). 5

FUNDING OF PROJECT The programme is supported by Hewlett Foundation in Washington Through Transparency International Secretariat in Berlin, Germany. Through Transparency International Secretariat in Berlin, Germany. 6

AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME To identify evidence of waste, inefficiency and corruption, if any, in primary education financing; To identify the effectiveness of local accountability mechanisms in the education sector with regards to controlling them; 7

CONTD To work in coalitions, alliances and partnerships for national educational campaigns to integrate the call for more transparency and accountability into their agendas. 8

CONTD To work for changes in policy and practice that, ultimately, will lead to more effective use of resources for primary education To carry out cross-country comparative analysis of national assessments that will inform policy recommendations to donors and international Education For All (EFA) stakeholders. 9

CONTD To make cross-country comparisons of the different national campaigns for increasing effectiveness of local accountability structures. 10

DATA COLLECTION METHODS Data collection adopted two approaches: Documentary reviews (desk study), including literature on primary education in Ghana, annual budgets, sector reviews and strategic planning documents, and Interviews (surveys) of key players in primary education in the country. 11

CONTD Four sets of questionnaires were administered to the four main stakeholders: Heads of households (parents), Municipal/District Directors of education, Chairpersons of Parent/Teacher Associations (PTAs), and Heads of Schools. 12

CONTD For the directors of education and school heads, the questionnaires comprised two parts each: narrative and financial data. Three regions, Greater Accra (coastal), Ashanti (forest/middle belt), and Upper East (savanna) To capture a good geographical spread. Two local authority jurisdictions from each region. 13

CONTD The Bolgatanga Municipal and the Kassena/Nankana District Assemblies from the Upper East Region; Tema Municipal and Dangme West District Assemblies from the Greater Accra Region. The Obuasi Municipal and the Asante Akim South District Assemblies from the Ashanti Region. 14

CONTD Sixty public schools were selected using the purposive sampling approach from a list of schools provided by the Ghana Education Service. The selection took into consideration the urban and rural divide not only for the districts but also for the schools within the districts. Two schools benefiting from the pilot School Feeding Programme were included in each district. 15

CONTD Selection and training of Research Assistants in January Pilot study in AMA and Dangbe East District Assembly areas The main study finally took place in March, 2008 in all the study areas. The researchers received utmost cooperation from all the Municipal/District Education offices and the school heads. 16

CHALLENGES In some schools, information records were scattered, incomplete or unavailable. The way records were kept and organized in schools made it difficult to answer some questions especially on the budget data sheet. Also, some head teachers were either newly appointed or transferred and so could not provide adequate information. 17

CONTD While the Education offices financial records are kept on annual basis school programmes are recorded on termly basis. Providing information by academic years was, therefore, a problem in some cases as supplies were for calendar years and/or for periods longer than the academic year 18

CONTD The question on the impact on decentralization was difficult for many respondents because they did not understand the concept. Some head teachers claimed that the practicality of the decentralization process was yet to be realized. This was because, among others, teacher transfers and processing of salaries still took place outside the districts. 19

SAMPLE SIZE AND COMPOSITION In all, a total of 1146 respondents were interviewed, that is: –Six Directors of Education. –60 Head teachers, –60 PTA chairpersons, –1020 heads of household (parents), Class register for Primary 4, 5 and 6 of each school was used to select every fourth pupils parent invited for interview However, in some cases, we had to rely on those we could get. 20

NoItemPercentage 1Households Respondents Characteristics Sex: Male Female Marital Status: Married Single Divorced Widowed Age Distribution: Below 30 yrs yrs 51+ yrs House Hold Size:

NoItemPercentage 5Level of Education: No School Part Primary School Primary School Secondary School Tertiary Education Income Distribution: Less than GHS 100 Between GHS 100 & GHS 1000 Above GHS 1000 Undisclosed/Dont know Ownership of Assets: Land, including house House Livestock Bicycle Radio Television Mobile/cell phone

NoItemPercentage 8Number of Children in School: In school Out of school Performance of Elders Child in School: Very well/well Average Very Poor/Poor Dont know Visit to the School by Parents in the Past 12 Months

Socio demographic Charateristics of PTA´s and SMC´s Sex: Male Female Age: Below 30yrs yrs Above 50 yrs Level of Education: Primary Secondary Tertiary None

Socio demographic Charateristics of Heads of Schools Sex: Male Female Category of Respondent Head Teacher Assistant Head Teacher Ordinary Teacher Age: Below 30yrs yrs Above 50 yrs Level of Education: Primary Secondary Tertiary

DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS 45% of the headteachers interviewed were femaleS; Only 3% of the PTA chairs were females 64% of the respondents in the households were females. 45% of the household respondents had not completed primary education. 26

THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION 27