Statistical Service launches survey on learning poverty

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has launched the eighth Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 8), which will measure learning poverty across the country.

Learning poverty is the inability of a child to read and understand a simple text and basic numeracy at the child's learning level. The one-year survey, which begins in July, this year, seeks to establish the ability of children to read and write in any language, as well as their ability to perform numeracy.

The Government Statistician, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, who launched the survey in Accra yesterday, said it was triggered by the outcome of the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) which revealed that 7.9 million citizens, aged six years and above, could not read or write age-specific material.

He said the data collection for the survey would be carried out in 1,710 clusters across the country and would involve 25,650 households. Prof. Annim said findings of the survey were expected after a national dissemination workshop in February, 2026.

Context

The GLSS is a nationally representative household survey that provides reliable, aggregated and internationally comparable statistics on welfare and living conditions of individuals and households in the country.

So far, seven rounds of the GLSS had been collected since 1987, with a five-year interval between each round. Each survey field data collection spans two months. The last four GLSS surveys were focused on labour force, non-farm household enterprises, and household financial services. 

Rationale

Prof. Annim said GLSS 8 was focused on learning poverty because the 2021 PHC statistics on the phenomenon was alarming, and that it would study to understand the dynamics of the illiteracy situation, determine the source of the problem and make the appropriate recommendations for policy interventions.

He said it would also provide reliable and relevant data for targeted policy formulation, especially in the education sector.

Prof. Annim added that the survey data would help to identify vulnerable groups and track progress or measure the effectiveness of policies, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) One to Eight, 10 and 16.

It would further measure 74 out of the 169 SDG targets, as well as 98 out of the 231 indicators. "As a country, we can get a better understanding of what is happening in different areas and how integrated and complex issues could be.

“The only way out is when we have a central repository of our micro data, statistics and policy. So we're going to do this at various levels," he added. 

Support

The Deputy Minister of Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, said the decision by the GSS to focus on education was a good move because that sector played a central role in the nation’s sustainable development.

He said the ministry would support the GSS to ensure that credible data was obtained to provide an anchor for critical policies towards achieving the SDG on quality education.

“We want to see total transformation in the lives of the people, and the best strategy to achieve that is through quality and inclusive education that ensures prosperity for all,” the deputy minister added.