About 3 out of 10 Ghanaian children have not engaged in any learning activities since March

We discussed the implications of school closures on educational inequality in Ghana as not all children would be able to participate in virtual learning programmes because they did not have access to radio, TV, and/or internet.

The Ghana Statistical Service report from the first wave of their household and jobs survey confirms that a substantial proportion of children have not been able to engage in virtual learning since March.

World Immunization Week

We are in the middle of World Immunization Week which is from 24th to 30th April this year.

As the world waits for a vaccine to the Covid-19, it is important to remember the many infectious diseases for which we have vaccines that save millions of lives every year.

Covid-19 lockdown and educational inequality

The three-week lockdown in parts of the country has ended but all schools in the country are to continue to remain closed.

The Ministry of Education requests that students "Tune in to the Ghana Broadcasting Free to air Learning Channel GLTV (also on GoTV and DSTV), log in to www.iCampusGh.com (SHS students only) and use the Ghana Library Authority app to access various lessons, assessments and books‬."

This mode of service delivery raises the question, how many children will be able to access the educational material on television or online?

Today is World Health Day

The world marks World Health Day 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic takes a toll on populations all over the globe. The WHO guidelines highlight frequent hand washing and maintaining social distance as key strategies in the fight against the pandemic.  

Today's infographic uses data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey 7 conducted in 2017 to examine the socio-demographic factors that can make fighting coronavirus challenging in this context.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science

It's also that time of the year in Ghana where the annual National Science and Math Quiz (NSMQ) excitement begins to build across the country. A look at the winner's list indicates that no girls school has ever won the competition in its 25 year history. A mixed-sex school has won twice in 1998 and 2004; all other winners have been all boys schools.

Girls tend to lag behind boys in science, globally and not just in Ghana. Females lag behind males in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields - both in school and in the labour force. Females are more likely to enrolled in STEM educational programmes or working in STEM jobs.

Wealth inequality in literacy rates

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Social Inclusion (UNDESA) recently launched the World Social Report 2020. The report finds that 70% of the world's population are living in countries where the wealth inequality is increasing.