Visible and Hidden Private Cost of Senior Secondary Education in Ghana A Multi-site Case Study in Central Region

Abstract

In Ghana, senior secondary education system is funded minimally by the government and depends heavily on households' cost-sharing. In this study, the authors compare the private cost of education among different types of school (urban high-performing schools, schools in small town, and Community Schools). Since the 1987 educational reform, 140 community senior secondary schools were established, with the aim to make education more accessible and less expensive to rural students. Having no boarding facility, Community School students are all considered to be commuting from home and pay less than students of urban prestigious schools whose students are from distance and stay at boarding houses.

The study reveals that the financial burden of Community School students is much heavier than generally believed. First, the fees charged by schools are six to ten times more than the amount officially approved by the government. Therefore, the school fee only takes up bigger part of per-student educational cost than government subsidy. In addition to that, there are large amount of household expenses which are not immediately visible. Many students come from communities which are not within commutable distance, and they rent houses near the school. The cost which is not immediately visible but necessary to continue education is large. While the living expense is a major part of extra private cost, students also spend considerable amount for items which are directly related to education: textbooks, pamphlets, and extra classes. All in all, these extra household expenses, which do not appear on the school bills, constitute 70-80% of the total per-student educational cost.

While the difference of private cost is much smaller than it has been said, there is a wide disparity of households' average financial capacity among different categories of schools. Having limited financial capacities, parents/guardians of Community School students are suffering to cover the cost of education, which is not much different from the amount paid by parents/guardians with better economic standing.