Accra, May 22, GNA - Research on access to education in the Ghana recommends that children should start school at an appropriate age during their first grade to avert high school drop-out rate. "There is a high risk of older children dropping out as they are pulled away into the informal labour market, especially in contexts where poverty is high. If they start school late chances are that they will drop out," the research found.

Dr. Kwame Acheampong, a Senior lecturer of University of Sussex, United Kingdom, made this known at the launch in Accra of a 101-page book titled; "Access to Basic Education in Ghana: The Evidence and Issues".

The official age for entry into primary school in Ghana is six years. However, only 31 per cent of grade one population in 2003 was 5-6 years, meaning the age of the grade one child in 2003 was estimated at seven-and-a-half years. Dr Akyampong said this added to the difficulty of providing quality education as it also posed challenges for teachers attempting to facilitate learning for children with very different learning abilities, interest and maturity levels.

The research embodied in a book, took place in 14 public schools, two private schools from six communities, namely Savelugu-Nanton (Northern Region), Ahafo-Ano South (Ashanti Region) and Mfanteman (Central Region).

The report seeks to review recent empirical and secondary analysis studies on access to basic education and maps out what the key challenges are to expanding access particularly for the poor and marginalized groups.

It further provides preliminary policy recommendations and identifies specific issues, themes and agenda for further research in Ghana.

Dr Akyeampong said the report was to provide basis for a more research-based policy that would improve access for all children in Ghana especially the most vulnerable and socio-economically deprived in the society.

He said the initial findings of the research, though not conclusive, indicated that over 80 per cent of majority of children were overage in the all grades adding enrolment in Ghana for the past 25 years had increased.

He said though many efforts were put in getting children to school, less effort was made to sustain them in school as they grew. Dr Akyeampong mentioned some of the causes of school dropout as poverty, lack of parental control and the pulling out to the labour market by the over-aged.

He expressed concern about the national and regional gross and net enrolment data, saying it only provided few clues about structures of education.

He further pointed out the tackling of child nutrition and health care as some of the key indicators of early enrolment and regular attendance.

"Evidence points to the fact that late entry and early withdrawal are influenced by children's health. Undernourished children are likely to start school late and more likely to drop out," he added Dr. Akyeampong stressed the need for district education officers to ensure that children enrolled continued to stay in school.

"We need a paradigm shift in our conceptualization of access, policy agenda and dialogue. We should focus on how we can promote a meaningful access."

Professor Keith Lewin, University of Sussex and Coordinator of Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transition and Equity (CREATE), said there were over 75 million children worldwide who did not have access to basic education while over 300 million did not get to the secondary education level.

He emphasized the need for countries to connect education to development by expanding the number of teachers in schools. "We need the private sector to contribute in the growth and quality in education," he added.

Ms. Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of State at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, who launched the Report, said as part of efforts to tackle overage in schools the Ministry should pay for the registration of all births.

"We in the education sector should work with the Births and Deaths Registry to ensure that all births are recorded." She expressed regret that the nation was not getting the needed results from education given the money spent on the sector. "With the amount of money pumped into education, we deserve to get better products," she said.

Copies of the books were presented to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, Ghana National Association of Teachers, West African Examinations Council and stakeholders in the education sector 22 May 08