Any Suggestion to Extend State Help to Private Educational Efforts Is Welcome- The Bigger Question Is How?

Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim, Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs (MLGCRA), says the Government is exploring ways to extend indirect support to private primary and Junior High Schools (JHS) through early childhood education investments and possible capitation grants.

He said the emphasis was on stakeholder engagement, equitable funding, and targeted relief for low-fee private schools in under-served communities.

The Minister was speaking at the climax of the 60th anniversary celebration of Mothercare International School in Accra.

There is no doubt that private school for Ghanaian children is a major contributor to the efforts of the nation to create an educated and trained populace.

At the level of primary and junior secondary school, the infrastructure provided by private schools, and therefore the access they create, in many districts, far outweigh that provided by state infrastructure. This means that these institutions could quite possibly be providing the educational needs of significant populations of children in Ghana.

Sadly, unlike their partners in the public sector, these educational facilities do not receive any direct governmental support.

This is understandable, though not justifiable. It is understandable in that the State’s funding for its public schools have always been below par; public educational facilities are perennially under-funded and in need, and with that situation, it would be hard to justify extending funding to the private schools.

This, however, cannot be used as justification to refuse assistance to those in the private sector providing services in the educational space.

The question that then needs to be posed is how government can support those in the private education space, without affecting necessary support for those in the public space.

It is a conundrum that would, at a point in future, need to be debated. Suffice it to say that we should not completely throw out of the window any suggestion that the State should extend to private educational facilities.

It is not a far-fetched idea at all.

(Editorial of the Daily Searchlight of 25^th August, 2025).