Presenting Preliminary Results from Ghana Secondary Education Program
Pascaline Dupas (Stanford; Co-Chair, J-PAL’s Health Sector, CEGA and IPA affiliate) and IPA, in collaboration with the World Bank and Ghana’s Ministry of Education (MoE), presented preliminary results from the Ghana Secondary Education Program. This ongoing study is investigating the impact of secondary school scholarships on enrollment and completion, as well as later life outcomes. Enoch Cobbinah (Chief Director, MoE) opened the event, addressing 51 participants from development partners in education (including DFID and the World Bank), the Ghana Education Service, the Ministry of Education, and representatives from NGOs and the private sector (including Vodafone Ghana Limited). The preliminary findings show that scholarships produced large gains in education attainment and delayed childbirth for women. Coinciding with the launch of the Government of Ghana’s Progressively Free Education program–which will provide scholarships for students to attend secondary schools–these results are relevant to ongoing policy discussion on funding for secondary education.