By Benjamin Nii Nai Anyetei
Despite modest increases in allocations for education in the 2026 national budget, Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) has cautioned that Ghana’s education system continues to face serious financing gaps that threaten efforts to achieve inclusive and quality education under Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4).
Presenting an analysis at the 2025 Education Financing Conference, EduWatch Programme Officer, Kwasi Nimo Jnr acknowledged that education remains a prominent item in national budgets but noted that allocations still fall short of global standards needed to drive meaningful sectoral transformation.
According to UNESCO, countries should dedicate between 4–6 per cent of GDP or 15–20 per cent of total public expenditure to education, with a strong focus on basic education, where disparities are most pronounced. However, EduWatch’s review of Ghana’s education financing from 2017 to 2026 shows an average spending of only 3.73 per cent of nominal GDP and a sectoral share of total government expenditure averaging 16.6 per cent—below the recommended minimum thresholds.
For 2026, Ghana plans to spend GH¢302.5 billion in total public expenditure, with GH¢49.1 billion allocated to education. This represents 16.2 per cent of total government spending and 3.1 per cent of GDP. While these figures align with Ghana’s decade-long averages and meet UNESCO’s minimum benchmarks, EduWatch maintains that they remain insufficient to deliver substantial improvements across the education system.
The 2026 budget proposes GH¢2 billion for constructing 200 Junior High Schools, 200 Primary Schools, 200 Kindergartens, 400 teachers’ bungalows, and 400 sanitation facilities. An additional GH¢1.4 billion from the District Assemblies Common Fund is earmarked for building 261 basic schools, alongside GH¢700 million for school furniture.
EduWatch raised concerns about whether the 461 schools represent separate projects or overlap, the lack of clarity on funding sources, and the absence of progress reports on 2025 allocations. Mr. Nimo stressed that “full disclosure and effective tracking of commitments are essential for transparency and civil society monitoring.”
The 2026 budget allocates GH¢4.2 billion from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), roughly 42 per cent of its total resources. EduWatch cautioned that most of these funds are directed toward Free SHS operational costs, such as feeding and day-to-day school expenses, rather than infrastructure development.
The organisation warned that over-reliance on GETFund for recurrent SHS costs could stall infrastructure development, particularly at the tertiary level, and increase the financial burden on fee-paying tertiary students.
EduWatch welcomed the GH¢1.1 billion allocation under the World Bank-supported Ghana Secondary Learning Improvement Programme (GSLIP), aimed at ending the Double Track system within two years. Initiatives under the programme include capacity expansion, upgrading selected Category A, B, and C schools, and completing 30 E-blocks. While the move was described as bold, EduWatch emphasized that success hinges on timely fund releases, transparent monitoring, and credible school placement processes.
The 2026 budget also earmarks resources to feed about 4.2 million pupils at a unit cost of GH¢1.98 per child. A new directive requires both basic and second-cycle schools to procure only locally produced rice, maize, chicken, and eggs. While this policy could stimulate job creation and strengthen agricultural value chains, EduWatch warned of potential challenges, including relabeling of imported foods and high costs of local staples, urging transparent procurement and active monitoring by civil society and farmer associations.
The government allocated GH¢292 million for free sanitary pads for female students in basic and secondary schools, expanding on the 6.6 million pads distributed in 2025. EduWatch recommended scheduled fund releases, transparent distribution, and prioritisation of local production, with the intervention formally embedded in national education policy.
Furthermore, GH¢50 million has been earmarked for special schools, alongside an annual GH¢50 million provision for free tertiary education for persons with disabilities (PWDs). EduWatch urged timely release of these funds and called for mainstreaming special education interventions into Ghana’s Inclusive Education policy, with a clear monitoring framework.
The 2026 budget sets aside GH¢537 million from the Consolidated Fund to finance the No-Fee-Stress policy for first-year tertiary students. EduWatch noted that the policy currently covers only about 55 per cent of STEM-related fees at certain institutions, such as Medicine at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), and estimated that an additional GH¢300 million is needed for full coverage. The organisation also criticized the refund-based system, which prevents needy students from accessing education without upfront fee payments.
Key Recommendations
EduWatch concluded by calling on government to:
Increase education’s share of expenditure to 20 per cent through a mid-year budget review.
Prioritise teacher recruitment and deployment in the first quarter of 2026.
Rebalance Free SHS financing to reduce dependence on GETFund.
Reform TVET budgeting to reflect realistic costs of practical training.
Implement strict monitoring of school infrastructure, furniture, and textbook delivery to ensure quality, equity, and value for money across the education system.
