Challenges, Prospects and Achievements of the Ghana Education Service, GES

Challenges, Prospects and Achievements of the GES

TheGhana Education Service (GES) was established, as part of the Public Service of Ghana, in 1974 by NRCD 247 and was subsequently amended by NRCD 252, 357 and SMCD 63. Under the fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana, these earlier legislations have been amended by Acts of Parliament, including Act 506 (1994) and Act 778 (2008). The GES is governed by a fifteen-member Council called the GES Council.

Challenges, Prospects and Achievements of the GES

• Approximately 82% of the total GES budget is allocated for the payment of salaries crowding out other expenditures
• Inadequate furniture, especially at the basic school level
• Inadequate supply of sanitation facilities such as gender-friendly toilets/urinals, especially at the basic school level
• Inadequate infrastructure in over-subscribed Senior High Schools
• Inadequate logistics for effective monitoring and supervision

• Inadequate TLMs and core textbooks
• Lack of teachers to handle key subject areas like Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry
• Inadequate facilities for In-service Education and Training
• Inadequate Language experts and facilities for implementing the Language Policy
• Lack of science equipment in basic schools

• Non-release of transfer grant for the Staff Rationalisation Policy
• Delayed payment of salary arrears due to the Ministry of Finance’s policy on payment of three (3) months of salary arrears and which affects staff motivation

• To reduce the attrition rate through teacher motivation and increase the number of trained teachers through ongoing programmes, such as the UTDBE
• To deploy more teachers to deprived areas, such as the three Northern regions of Ghana, to reduce the disparity in Pupil-Teacher Ratios (PTR)

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• To resource the newly created districts with office and residential accommodation facilities, including vehicles, for District Directors
• To strengthen School Performance Appraisal Meetings in communities and to promote quality preparation of School Performance Improvement Plans (SPIPs)
• To introduce measures to reduce cost of utilities for second-cycle institutions
• To enforce the implementation of staff establishment norms so as to ensure that teachers in JHS/SHS cover a minimum of 24 periods a week

Achievements od the GES

• There has been a successful implementation of the Government’s Free SHS programme
• There has been access to CBE classes for 182,652 out of school children over the last four-year period (2013/14-2016/17) with over 49.4% female participation
• There has been significant success in the project targets of the SEIP programme
• There has been 100 per cent increase in the Capitation grant for schools and the releases have been timely.