ON THE SUSTAINABILITY OF GHANA'S CAPITATION GRANT IN NORTHERN GHANA

Abstract

Past and present governments in Ghana have introduced different policies to support pupils’ education at the basic level. The Capitation Grant is one of such schemes. It has been introduced to promote free and quality basic education to all children of school going age. Although the scheme has been acclaimed to have had significant impact on enrollment, there has not been any study measuring this impact and the sustainability of the scheme. The objective of the study was therefore to investigate the effectiveness and sustainability of Ghana’s Capitation Grant. Data were gathered from two districts in the Northern region of Ghana, where school enrollment has historically been low, by interviewing key stakeholders in education. A modified Likert scale was employed to assess the extent to which the capitation grant currently implemented in Ghana can be sustained in Northern Ghana. The findings are that though awareness of the existence of the Grant is high among all key education stakeholders its sustainability appears to be weak. NGOs play key role in sustaining the programme, particularly in terms of financial and logistical support. Key recommendations include increasing participation of civil society organizations, especially NGOs, building the capacity of school community representatives to enhance the quality of their participation in the management of the grant and simplifying procedures for accessing the grant