What Works in Girls’ Education in Ghana

Acknowledgements Ghana's economic future looks bright. Education is a necessary prerequisite for all citizens to be able to contribute to and benefit from the dividends of this development. The returns from educating girls – in terms of health, social and economic outcomes – are well established. As such, the imperative of girls' education for Ghana has never been greater. This critical review of the Ghanaian and international literature is designed to inform planning underway by the Girls' Education Unit in the Ministry of Education to help more girls and young women make the transition from primary to secondary school, and successfully complete Senior High School. It is part of a suite of products intended to support this planning, which also includes a costing analysis of girls' education strategies, an inventory and mapping of interventions over the last decade in Ghana, and a tool designed to help planners consider evidence-based variables when designing or vetting strategies designed to promote girls' education. A comprehensive bibliography accompanies this literature review. We would like to acknowledge the consultant, Kate Greany, for her invaluable contribution in researching and compiling this review. Our thanks are extended to the Girls' Education Unit and AfC (Associates for Change) for the review of literature on girls' education in Ghana, and to the Ghana Education Service, the Ministry of Education, donor partners, NGOs and agencies who generously shared reports and insights. 1. Scholarship/stipends 17 2. Transportation/boarding 22 3. Community engagement/sensitisation 25 4. Child protection and safety 27 5. Gender friendly infrastructure 28 6. School feeding and other health related programming 30 7. Recruitment/training of female teachers, assistant teachers, and other educators 34 8. Gender training 37 9. Mentoring, tutoring, peer support 39 10. Complementary education 40 11. Strengthening school governance and accountability 41 Other strategies 42 This document critically reviews the international and Ghana-based evidence on the impact of strategies for girls' education. It analyses the impact of common, historically used strategies, as well as more recent, innovative approaches. The review draws out lessons learnt, issues of cost effectiveness and key contextual factors (including policy, legal and regional). The report particularly focuses on synergies between the various strategies and their impact on girls' educational outcomes. Further, the report highlights the need to see gender as one of a range of interacting determining factors of educational access and outcomes, along with factors such as poverty, social and physical location. The review's …