Returns to Secondary Education: Unpacking the Delivery of Secondary Schooling in Ghana

Evidence suggests that despite completion of secondary schooling, students in Ghana are not gaining basic skills important for their future success.  Furthermore, relatively little information about the quality of secondary school and its relationship to student outcomes currently exists.  The proposed project intends to fill this gap by collecting detailed information from 400 Junior and Senior High Schools as part of a larger randomized scholarship study examining the returns to secondary education.  The data collected through this project will allow us to both (1) understand the sources of heterogeneity in the returns to schooling (namely, what are the characteristics of the schools and programs within schools that yield higher cognitive gains and labor market returns?); and (2) shed light on the challenges associated with the delivery of secondary schooling.  The project presents a unique opportunity to explore potential policy levers and interventions that can improve the situation of disadvantaged student populations in Ghana and elsewhere in the developing world.  

*To learn more about key findings from this evaluation, read The Impact of Free Secondary Education: Experimental Evidence from Ghana.