Understanding the learning gaps between private schools and public schools in Ghana

Abstract

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to evaluate the learning gap between private and public school children in primary school, and ascertain the part of the private–public school learning gap that is due to differences in observables and the part that can be attributed to private school effect.Design/methodology/approachThe paper utilized a household survey data from Ghana that assessed children on numeracy and literacy in both English and local languages. The primary methodology for this study is non-linear Oaxaca decomposition. The study also utilized Welch's t-statistics to test if there are any differences in the private–public school learning gaps across several sub-groups.FindingsFindings from this study show a substantial gain for private school attendance on both numeracy and literacy. The results show that a little over 60% of the total learning gap in numeracy and literacy in English is explained by observable characteristics. However, observable characteristics almost explain all the learning gaps in the reading and writing of local languages. Evidence from the study suggests that the private school effect is homogeneous across several sub-groups. The results reveal years of education, expenditure on extra classes, religion and urbanicity as the most important variables explaining the gap that is caused by differences in observables.Originality/valueDespite the belief that private school children in Ghana have better learning outcomes, there has not been any study to quantify this learning gap in the country and this study fills this gap. While there is literature on the differences in the learning outcomes between public and private schools, those studies have focused on the differences that are attributable to the private school effect. This article does not only present the differences in the learning outcomes but also shows the proportion that is due to observable characteristics and the part that can be attributed to the private school effect.

Teacher Hiring Processes in Private Educational Institutions: Methods, Qualifications, and Challenges

“…Private schools offer significant gains, especially in acquiring mathematical and literacy skills. They achieve homogeneous success in different subgroups (Adu Boahen, 2022). The low student-to-teacher ratio, effective monitoring mechanisms, and generally young teaching staff can be cited as reasons for the higher performance of private schools (Goyal and Pandey, 2012;Kingdon, 2020).…”

Impact of Socio-Economic Changes on Economically Weak Children in English Language Teaching

“…Similarly, school is a part of society and in school the children of rich families are seen and treated differently than the children from low economic backgrounds. At first, the parents having good economic conditions send children to private school and children from low economic backgrounds are sent to public school (Boahen, 2022). Inside the school also, children from good economic backgrounds are treated differently than others; teachers mostly watch such students and remain always aware towards them either in public or private schools; they get more facilities as far as possible.…”