Education Ministry Secures $80m Partnership with SCALE Consortium

Accra, Ghana - 31 May, 2025 - The Ghanaian government has signed a landmark partnership agreement securing $80 million in funding to enhance the country's education sector.

Minister of Education Haruna Iddrisu formalized the deal at the Embassy of Switzerland in Accra, uniting philanthropic organizations, cocoa industry leaders, and the Global Partnership for Education under the System Change Architecture for Learning Excellence (SCALE) consortium.

The $80 million funding package, which includes $40 million raised by SCALE and a matching grant from GPE's Multiplier Fund, aims to drive improvements in literacy, numeracy, teacher training, and emotional and social wellbeing in schools across the country.

The initiative will expand the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP) to reach 16,000 schools, up from 10,000, and benefit over 14,700 kindergartens. Additionally, the Ghana Education Evidence and Data Lab (GEEDLab) will be launched within the Ministry of Education to enhance decision-making and policy design.

The funding will particularly target cocoa-growing regions, where child labor remains a concern, with research showing that quality education can significantly reduce child labor rates. The SCALE consortium includes philanthropic leaders such as the Jacobs Foundation, Fondation Botnar, and the UBS Optimus Foundation, alongside major industry partners like Nestlé, Mars, and Mondelez.

According to Minister Iddrisu, this partnership is a "shared vision and innovative financing for education that comes at a crucial time" and an extension of the successes achieved through GALOP.

The initiative is expected to benefit over 2 million children in more than 100 cocoa districts, demonstrating the potential of collaborative public-private partnerships to deliver long-term impact in education.

Source: Lead News Online