Socio-economic impact of closing the rural-urban gap in pre-tertiary education in Ghana: context and strategies

Abstract

The Study sampled the views of 120 teachers across 30 schools in a rural school district and analysed documentary data across the school, district and national levels to investigate the socio-economic impact of the rural-urban inequality in pre-tertiary education in Ghana. The Study identified a 50 % loss in human capital or productivity annually in Ghana due to the rural-urban gap in pre-tertiary education. The Study estimates that an additional 2% of GDP investment into rural education improvement annually for 12 years will eliminate the rural-urban socio-economic gap in Ghana. However, the real GDP must grow above 8.5 %, and the additional investment must hinge on rural, equity and context-based strategies. The Study concludes that closing the gap will double Ghana's GDP within a decade, aside from the spillover benefits of improved social and health wellbeing of the people.