About Ghana

Ghana is located on the west coast of Africa. Ghana borders with Ivory coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north and Togo in the east. Ghana has approximately 24 million inhabitats and the capital is Accra.

Primary school in Ghana is basically compulsory and free of charge. Officially, more than 75% of the children go to school. However, many students drop out early because they need to help at home or work to gain some extra income. Or they can’t go to school because their parents can’t afford to pay for the (compulsory) school uniform or school materials.
All children must attend primary school for six years. In the lower classes they often teach in one of the local languages (there are almost 100 local languages) but they also start to teach in English quite soon. The last years of primary school they often teach in English.
Even after primary school education is compulsory. Everyone must also complete junior secondary school that is closed with a central exam.
After junior secondary school, education is no longer compulsory. Students can choose to start to work, but there also several options for attending further education.