Literacy and Numeracy Production and Education Sector Reform: Evidence from Ghana

Few, if any, previous studies of the determinants of literacy and numeracy in Ghana and elsewhere have examined the impact of education reform on literacy and numeracy production and have mostly also been limited to considering the proficiency in only one language and numeracy and to considering only skills impacts from more traditional types of education. Examining the impact of traditional schooling, technical-vocational education and training, and adult literacy programs on literacy and numeracy in Ghana, this paper addresses all three issues. A comparison of outcomes before and after the 1987 Education Sector Reform indicates that, consistent with the objective of the Reform, the productivity of primary education in terms of literacy and numeracy increased, while the productivity of other levels and types of education decreased. Additionally, large skills differentials in Ghana related to gender, ethnicity, rural/urban location and region of residence are established. The results indicate that future education policy in Ghana should focus on strengthening the quality of both traditional education above the primary level and other types of education, including adult literacy programs. † I thank Bryan Boulier, Donald Parsons, David Ribar, participants at the Annual Meetings of the Southern Economic Association, the European Society for Population Economics, and the Population Association of America, and seminar participants at The George Washington University for helpful comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this paper. Remaining errors and omissions are my own. The data were kindly provided by the Ghana Statistical Service. The findings and interpretations, however, are those of the author and should not be attributed to the Ghana Statistical Service.