What We Do USAID/Advancing Partnerships for Improved Learning

Advancing Partnerships for Improved Learning is a U.S. Government funded project in partnership with the Ministry of Education to enable proprietors, teachers, communities, financial organizations, professional networks, and the Government of Ghana (GoG) to improve student learning outcomes and financing options for low-fee schools over a five-year period in the Northern, North East, Upper East and Upper West Regions of Ghana.

WHY FOCUS ON LOW-FEE EDUCATION IN NORTHERN GHANA?

Despite encouraging primary enrollment gains in recent years, nationwide statistics highlight the challenges facing the education sector in Ghana as children progress through their studies. The highest concentration of education challenges is found in the northern regions of Ghana, and specifically impacts women, girls and marginalized communities. According to the 2018 Ghana Education Sector Analysis by Ghana’s Ministry of Education:

• While primary gross enrollment rates exceed 100 percent, this drops to 85 percent for junior high school and 50 percent for senior high school.
• Only 38 percent of children who enter primary complete senior high school.
• Women and girls who have never been to school is highest in the Northern region (59 percent) and Upper West region (53 percent), compared with only 14 percent of women and girls in Greater Accra.
• Only 4 percent of women and girls in northern Ghana have completed secondary education or higher, compared to 20 percent of women and girls in Greater Accra.

According to a report commissioned by USAID/Ghana in 2021, which used evidence from Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) assessments (2013; 2015) and National Education Assessments (2016; 2018), analysis suggests persistently low learning outcomes for primary school students:

According to market research from USAID, an estimated 10% of schools in northern Ghana are private schools, and the majority (65%) of these private schools are ‘low-fee.’ Despite widespread use and demand, many low-fee schools do not appear to be financially sustainable, and some teachers lack formal training.

ADVANCING PARTNERSHIPS FOR IMPROVED LEARNING

CAPTION: Acting Mission Director, Grace Lang and Minister for Education, Hon. Dr. Yaw Adutwum launch Advancing Partnerships for Improved Learning in Tamale.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded a cooperative agreement to Opportunity International (Opportunity) in February 2023, as the lead Implementing Partner for the Advancing Partnerships for Improved Learning Activity in northern Ghana.

The goal of the Activity is to enable proprietors, teachers, communities, financial organizations, professional networks, and the Government of Ghana (GoG) to improve student learning outcomes and financing options for low-fee private schools over a five-year period (February 2023 – February 2028).

Opportunity and partners will support the expansion and improvement of low-fee schools in some of the most disadvantaged communities in northern Ghana by:

• Strengthening business skills for 213 school leaders to run sustainable schools,
• Equipping 426 teacher mentors with the skills to cascade evidence-based classroom best practices to an additional 2,130 teachers,
• Certifying 1,278 untrained teachers over the life of the project,
• Creating a School Capacity Building Fund (SCBF) to assist targeted low-fee schools to improve their operations and become more credit worthy through catalytic grants,
• Mobilizing $3.9 million for investment in education by financial institutions lending to low-fee private school owners to improve schools, and to families to pay school fees.
• Co-developing new models with the MoE to strengthen its capacity for low-fee private school monitoring and oversight.
• Forming a community of practice to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration among stakeholders on issues affecting low-fee private schools in northern Ghana.

The Activity ultimately aims to improve the learning outcomes of nearly 52,000 students.

OUR IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS

Advancing Partnerships for Improved Learning is implemented by Opportunity International in collaboration with a consortium including The Ghana National Association of Private School (GNAPS), Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS), University of Development Studies (UDS), FHI360 and Results for Development (R4D).

WHERE WE ARE WORKING

Activities will be implemented in the regions and the 17 Zone of Influence (ZOI) districts of northern Ghana listed below:

STORIES OF OPPORTUNITY & IMPACT

• Impact Story - Ambition for the Needy School, Tamale, Ghana

LATEST ACTIVITY UPDATES

Read the latest updates on Advancing Partnerships for Improved Learning in our past Activity Newsletters:

• 2023 October Newsletter

OUR TEAM

Introducing our team that supports the USAID/OI project dedicated to enhancing low-fee private schools in Northern Ghana under the Advancing Partnerships for Improved Learning initiative. Meet our team here!