Education system in Ghana

The structure of the educational system can be summarized as the following levels;
• Pre-School
• Primary School
• Junior High School
• Senior High School
• Secondary Vocational & Technical
• Post Secondary Teacher Training/ Nurses Training Colleges
• Higher Education
• Non-Formal classes
The Pre-School is known as Early Childhood Education. It caters for children from crèche to 6 years.

The Primary School, also known as Basic Education starts from class 1 to 6. Children start this level at the age of 6.
The Junior High School also known as 1st Cycle Secondary Education takes 3 years to complete.
The Senior High School also known as 2nd Cycle Secondary is also over a period of 3 years.
The Secondary Vocational and Technical Education are on the same level as the Senior High School and as with Senior high schools takes 3 years to complete.
The Post Secondary Teacher Training and Nurses Training Colleges offers a professional diploma course over 3years.
Higher Education involves the universities and the Polytechnics. The university is over 4 years and the Polytechnic takes 3 years to complete.
The Non-Formal classes are designed for adults who did not get the opportunity to have formal educational and can be described as a form of adult basic education and training.

Attendance
The first three levels are free and compulsory. Enrolment was quite low with about 25 to 30 pupils to a teacher. However, with the introduction of the Free Compulsory Basic Education programme (FCUBE) and the school feeding programme in 2001, enrolment shot to 50- 70 pupils in a class. One reason could be that before the introduction of these programmes, many parents could not afford the school fees.
Challenges
• Financial; Many people could not afford to pay for their children's' education. Even with the government taking up the fees and feeding the kids at school, some parents can not buy uniforms for their children.
• Infrastructure; inadequate school buildings, furniture, stationery and technology among others. Some pupils still study under trees.
• Child Labour; Some parent use their children on the farms during season times and to harvest fish. So they hesitate in sending them to school.
• Certain Cultural Practices put the female child at a disadvantage. The female child is expected to keep the home. So it is in the minds of some parents that it is worthwhile to send the male child to school instead of the female child. As a result there are more males than females in the schools.

Links:
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/education/
http://www.lehigh.edu/~tqr0/ghanaweb/education.html
http://www.bibl.u-szeged.hu/oseas_adsec/ghana.htm
http://www.ghana.gov.gh/ghana/new_educational_reform_takes.jsp