Ghana: 1.2 Million Children Not Attending School | Education

Statistics from the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) reveal that 1,215,546 children of school-going age (4 to 17 years) in Ghana are not attending school.

Out of that number, almost one million (942,427) children have never attended school.

The Savannah Region has 43.2 per cent of children who have never attended school which is the highest percentage in the country.

These findings are contained in the 2021 PHC Thematic Brief on Childhood Vulnerabilities in Ghana which presents statistics on children in Ghana focusing on the number and distribution of vulnerable children and the correlates of child vulnerabilities.

Over a quarter of a million children (275,562) aged between 5 years to 17 years have difficulty in performing activities in at least one of the following domains: sight, hearing, physical (walking or climbing stairs), intellectual (remembering or concentrating), self-care, and speech.

There are 5,976 children in Ghana living without shelter ie sleeping outdoors. About two in every five (43.6%) of the children without shelter are in the Greater Accra Region, which has the highest share followed by the Ashanti (15.7%) and Eastern (5.4%) regions.

Nationally, 51,081 boys and 79,733 girls aged 12 years to 17 years have ever been in union ie married or living together with a partner.

One out of every five (20.4%) children that have ever been in union is in the Northern Region which has the highest number of children ever in union (26,698).

The report further indicates that one-third of the household population under 18 years representing 3,862,259 children are multidimensionally poor.

The regions with the highest numbers, Greater Accra (550,118) and Ashanti (539,048) have more than half a million children each being multidimensionally poor.

It was released by the Ghana Statistical Service ahead of World Children's Day which is celebrated annually on November 20, 2022.

This year, UNICEF is encouraging a focus on equality and inclusion for every child.