"There Is a Problem with Ghana's School System" – Prof Aryeetey Warns of Declining Standards, Policy Driven by Personal Preferences

One of Ghana's most respected development economists has issued a blunt warning about the state of the country's education system, revealing that more than a third of students at Achimota School—one of Ghana's most prestigious secondary institutions—now fail to gain admission to any tertiary institution, a dramatic reversal from an era when the figure was around five per cent.

Professor Ernest Aryeetey, Professor of Development Economics at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana, made the remarks at the Achimota Speaks event on Wednesday, November 11, 2026 .

A Startling Decline at the Elite Level

Aryeetey used Achimota School, his own platform and one of the country's oldest and most storied institutions, as a barometer for systemic decay. "Today, if you go to Achimota School, your chances of not earning a beneficiary institution are more than 35 per cent. In some cases, in some years, more than 40 per cent," he said .

"In the good old days, if you went to Achimota School and you didn't end up in university, you were part of some five per cent" .

He acknowledged that in the past, some students who missed university admission on their first attempt eventually secured places through subsequent efforts. That safety net, he argued, has largely disappeared. And the problem is not confined to Achimota. "There's enough evidence that there is a problem with the school system, and it's not only Achimota School. All the best schools in Ghana have the same problem," he said .

Reforms Driven by Conference Encounters, Not Evidence

Aryeetey reserved some of his sharpest criticism for the process by which education policy is made in Ghana. Education, he noted, has seen more changes than any other sector in the country—yet many of those changes have been prompted by "personal preferences" rather than broad consultation or evidence of public dissatisfaction .

He offered a vivid illustration of how reforms are conceived: "Individuals go to conferences, they sit by somebody from Malaysia, and the Malaysian tells them about how they are doing and is impressed. Now as soon as they return to Ghana, they start a memo to the minister, they start a memo to the chief director, and that's how our changes are. They will push and push and push" .

He said he could not recall any major education reform in Ghana—apart from the shift from the five-year secondary plus two-year sixth form system to junior secondary school—that was precipitated by widespread community discussion or obvious stakeholder dissatisfaction .

"It's not surprising that the changes have not led to any meaningful outcomes, meaningful outcomes that we can all see as evidence of improvement. I haven't seen any report that suggests that there have been any, but we've changed things so many times," he said .

The Jobs Gap: Schools Cannot Be Fixed in Isolation

In separate remarks at the same event, Aryeetey linked the school system's problems to a broader economic failure: the absence of opportunities for graduates when they leave school.

"We are doing everything possible to keep kids in school, but we are not interested in what they will do when they leave school," he said. "That incentive is not there. For me, you can't fix the school system without fixing what the kids will do when they leave" .

He pointed to stagnant manufacturing, which has left engineering graduates with few factories to work in, and questioned the availability of modern farms for agriculture graduates. Schools like Achimota, he noted, were originally established to train professionals who could support national development—but education has expanded without corresponding growth in the industries that would absorb its products .

"By all means, invest in schools, but don't end there," he urged, calling for education planning to be tied to strengthening manufacturing, agriculture, and other productive sectors .

The Broader Context

Aryeetey's intervention comes amid growing national anxiety about educational outcomes. The 2025 West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results showed a sharp deterioration in core subjects, with the Core Mathematics pass rate (A1–C6) falling to 48.73 per cent—more than half of candidates failing to meet university admission requirements in the subject . The Ghana Education Service itself described the results as "worrying" and called for urgent national discussion about the quality of education .

At the same time, the government is pushing through major structural changes to secondary education. The double-track system, introduced in 2018 to manage overcrowding under the Free SHS policy, is now targeted for phase-out, though the deadline has been pushed from 2027 to 2029 to allow for infrastructure expansion under the US$331 million STAR-J programme . Achimota School and Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School were specifically cited by the Education Minister as examples of institutions where enrolment surged without matching growth in classrooms, dormitories, or laboratories .

For Aryeetey, the lesson is that neither infrastructure nor curriculum tweaks alone will solve the problem. Without a coherent, evidence-based approach to policy—and without an economy capable of absorbing the graduates the system produces—Ghana risks continuing to churn through reforms that produce little measurable improvement.

---

Reporter's note: The 35–40 per cent figure refers to Achimota School students failing to gain admission to any tertiary institution, as stated by Professor Aryeetey. His remarks were delivered at the Achimota Speaks event on November 11, 2026. The 2025 WASSCE data cited provides national context on educational outcomes and is sourced from the Ghana Education Service's public statements.