1.2m children aged 4 and 17years do not attend school – PHC

Approximately 1.2 million children between the ages of four and 17 in the country according to a report by the Population and Housing Census (PHC) do not attend school. 942,427 out of the number have never attended school.

According to a release published by the Ghana Statistical Service and sighted by AcademicWeek.com, the Savannah region leads the population of children who had never attended school. The region accounts for 43.2 per cent.

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The management of the Statistical Service said the findings were based on the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) Thematic Brief on Childhood which presented statistics on children in the country.

Aside from the 1.2 million children who are out of school, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) also said nationally, a total of 51,081 boys and 79,733 girls aged 12 to 17 years it said had been married or living together with a partner.

In a related development, Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) has expressed worry about why 10 per cent of children aged 6 to 11 are not in primary school despite the government’s compulsory universal basic education policy.

“About 10% of Ghanaians aged 6-11 are not in primary school. Where are they, and why aren’t they in school despite the free compulsory universal basic education policy of the government?” the Watch quizzed in a social media post.

In its statement on the 2022 World Children’s Day, Education think tank – Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) said children in the country cannot realize their full human potential without access to quality basic education.

“Seventeen (17) years after implementing the Rights of the Child, which includes the Right to Education (fCUBE), public basic education is still neither truly free, compulsory nor universally accessible to all Ghanaian children.

Hidden fees, low government investment in building new schools and maintaining and operating existing ones, and poverty continue to hamper universal access,” the Education Policy Research and Advocacy Organization stated.

EduWatch following the World Children’s Day celebration has urged the government to revisit fCUBE and re-commit to making basic education free, universally accessible and compulsory for all Ghanaian children by increasing capital investments and financing of public basic education