Education and Vocational Training in Ghana: Structural Challenges, Prospects and the Reshaping of Financing Architectures

Ghana has one of the most developed education institutional frameworks in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet persistent deficits in infrastructure, funding and the fit between training and the labour market weaken the progress made. An analysis of the dynamics at work is essential for any actor engaged in development cooperation in the region.

I. An education system in transformation: achievements and fragilities

Ghana has made substantial progress in access to education over the past two decades. The net primary enrolment rate rose from 72% in 2009 to 86% in 2019, while the adult literacy rate climbed from 71% to 80% between 2010 and 2020. The introduction of the Free Senior High School programme in 2017 allowed 5.7 million young people to access secondary education who would otherwise have been excluded.

These advances reflect sustained political will and an institutional capacity to roll out nationwide reforms. Ghana is one of the few Sub-Saharan African countries to have kept an education budget allocation above 20% of the national budget over a prolonged period, in line with international recommendations.

However, an examination of quality indicators reveals persistent tensions. The pupil–teacher ratio in primary school has deteriorated, rising from 33 to 38 pupils per teacher between 2001 and 2023. BECE pass rates have stagnated around 75% since 2015. Net enrolment at Senior High School level remains at 31%, far from the targets of the 2018–2030 Education Strategic Plan. These gaps between quantitative access and learning quality are among the system's most worrying structural challenges.

Key figures

• Net primary enrolment rate: 86% (2019)
• Pupil/teacher ratio in primary school: 38:1 (2023)
• Education spending / GDP in 2026: 2.7% — below the UNESCO threshold of 4–6%
• 2026 education budget: GH₵ 43.2 billion — an increase of only +2.6%, the weakest annual rise since 2021

II. Vocational training: a strategic, underfunded sub-sector

The technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector concentrates, on its own, the main contradictions of the Ghanaian education system. Its strategic importance is unanimously recognised: with a projection of 9 million digital jobs by 2030 according to the International Finance Corporation, and technical skills needs intensifying under the effect of the energy transition, TVET should be a central pillar of human capital development.

Yet the gap between the stated ambition and the means mobilised is striking. According to Africa Education Watch, the annual cost of adequate practical training for a welding student is about GH₵ 9,000 — but the public funding provided under the Free TVET policy covers only GH₵ 33 per student for practical training materials. This gap, a ratio of 1 to 270, illustrates the depth of the structural deficits.

Surveys of TVET institutions report widespread shortages of workshops, dormitories and basic equipment. In some automotive mechanics programmes, students still do not have access to a working engine block for their practical work.

This situation is aggravated by the geographic concentration of infrastructure in urban centres, leaving the Northern and Central regions of the country chronically under-equipped.

Institutional spotlight — CTVET: The Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training began building a Centre of Excellence in Salaga in November 2025, in partnership with De Lorenzo, an Italian technical company, under a turnkey model that includes technology transfer and training of trainers. If the six planned regional Centres of Excellence were completed and equipped to international standards, they would represent a structuring advance. Delivering them within the announced timeframe will be the acid test of the government's commitments to the sector.

III. Financing architectures: between ambition and the limits of execution

The question of education financing in Ghana is not reducible to a shortfall in raw resources. It reveals a structural tension between ambitious budget commitments and insufficient execution capacity. Africa Education Watch has documented that in 2024, only 65% of funds budgeted for special education were actually disbursed — a recurring gap that undermines institutional planning at every level.

The decision to use the GETFund to finance the Free SHS and Free TVET programmes to the tune of GH₵ 4.2 billion, or 42% of its 2026 allocation, raises legitimate concerns: when GETFund covers recurrent expenditure, virtually nothing is left for infrastructure development at the tertiary level.

Moreover, the oil revenues that significantly financed Free SHS are no longer available to the sector, with no clearly identified substitute. This macro-budgetary constraint fuels growing pressure for alternative models.

Hybrid financing instruments in use

GETFund & DACF. The Ghana Education Trust Fund, endowed with GH₵ 9.9 billion in 2026, and the District Assemblies Common Fund are the two main public instruments for educational infrastructure. How they fit together remains insufficiently clarified, with a risk of overlapping allocations.

GALOP / GPE–World Bank. The Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project has mobilised $218.7 million since 2020 for the 10,000 lowest-performing schools. In May 2025, an additional mechanism of $118.8 million was activated — including $80 million raised from a consortium of more than ten philanthropic and private partners (SCALE), matched one-for-one by the GPE, the highest amount ever mobilised for education from foundations and private companies.

SCALE (System Change Architecture for Learning Excellence). This mechanism introduces a public-philanthropic-private co-investment logic, with the Jacobs Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation among the contributors. It foreshadows the emergence of a new generation of instruments in the sector.

EFPI / GETFund. Presented at the Kwahu Forum in April 2026, the Education Financing and Partnership Initiative introduces a digital voluntary contribution mechanism (via QR code) allowing individuals and companies to directly fund education projects outside conventional tax channels.

ACE Programme / World Bank–AFD. This programme, co-financed by the AFD to the tune of $72 million, is the main hybrid instrument supporting higher education and research at regional scale, with total funding of $657 million since 2014.

GPE – Systems grant. In February 2025, Ghana received a $2.23 million GPE grant, administered by UNICEF, to strengthen sector planning and the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Education until 2027.

IV. Prospects: towards a reshaping of the sector's offer

Several dynamics deserve careful reading for anyone seeking to grasp the likely trajectories of the sector in the medium term.

On financial governance, the introduction of a dedicated skills development levy — championed by EduWatch in December 2025 — aims to require the industries that benefit from TVET graduates to contribute to the funding of their training, by operationalising a dedicated TVET fund backed by sustainable financing mechanisms. Its effective implementation would require a robust regulatory framework and a collection capacity that the competent institutions will have to demonstrate.

On the technological front, the digitalisation of TVET, the rollout of digital infrastructure in rural institutions and the Ghana–Israel partnership on EdTech tools signal a desire to accelerate the digital transformation of the offer. The viability of these initiatives remains conditional on resolving persistent infrastructure challenges — access to electricity, connectivity, teacher training — particularly acute outside the major urban centres.

On aligning training with the labour market, the Ghana Skills Development Fund, launched in July 2023 in collaboration with CTVET and development partners, aims to support skills development. Its ramp-up will be decisive in reducing the structural mismatch between the training on offer and labour market needs.

Finally, the strengthened Franco-Ghanaian partnership, illustrated by President Mahama's visit to France in April 2026, offers a window of opportunity to deepen cooperation in education and vocational training. France, through the AFD and its position within the GPE architecture, has instruments and expertise capable of bringing real added value — provided it adopts the engagement terms and accountability standards expected by Ghanaian partners.

The decisive question is not the volume of financial commitments, but the institutional capacity to turn them into measurable and lasting improvements in learning outcomes and graduate employability.

Summary points

• Ghana has real educational achievements, but quality indicators reveal tensions that access reforms have not resolved.
• TVET is structurally underfunded: the gap between the real cost of training and public funding per student reaches a ratio of 1 to 270 in some technical tracks.
• Using GETFund to cover the recurrent costs of Free SHS compromises its original infrastructure mission and weakens the financing of tertiary education.
• The SCALE mechanism ($118.8M, May 2025) illustrates the emergence of a new generation of hybrid public-philanthropic-private instruments in the Ghanaian education sector.
• The digital transformation of the education offer remains conditional on prior infrastructure investment, particularly in rural areas.
• The Ghana Skills Development Fund and the proposed sector levy outline a more balanced financing architecture — whose effective implementation will remain the decisive test.

This article is entirely sourced from recent data (2024–2026): Africa Education Watch, GPE, World Bank, NewsGhana, Oxford Business Group, UNICEF Ghana.

Sonia Beguide