Girls and boys in Ghanaian schools: where parity has been reached
By 2018/19 enrolment was at parity in primary and junior high, and senior high stood at 0.95. Girls have been the majority of WASSCE entrants every year since 2020.
Gender parity index, 2009/10 against 2018/19
Ministry of Education ESPR 2015 and 2019. One means equal numbers of girls and boys. Levels in each year, not a forecast.
The figures
| Gender parity index, 2009/10 against 2018/19 | 2009/10 | 2018/19 |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | 0.96 | 1 |
| Junior high | 0.92 | 1.02 |
| Senior high | 0.85 | 0.95 |
WASSCE school candidates entered, girls and boys
WASSCE school candidates entered: girlsWASSCE school candidates entered: boys
Graphic Online reporting WAEC for 2017, 2018 and 2020 to 2022 and 2025, WAEC releases for 2023 and 2024. No sex split is held for 2019.
The figures
| WASSCE school candidates entered: girls | WASSCE school candidates entered: boys | |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 141,619 | 147,591 |
| 2018 | 158,449 | 158,550 |
| 2020 | 188,182 | 187,581 |
| 2021 | 224,913 | 221,439 |
| 2022 | 219,130 | 203,753 |
| 2023 | 236,221 | 212,453 |
| 2024 | 247,657 | 212,954 |
| 2025 | 254,321 | 207,415 |
Literacy rate, men against women
MenWomen
Census 2021, Ghana Statistical Service, people aged 6 and over.
The figures
| Literacy rate by sex, Census 2021 | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Men and women aged 6 and over | 74.1 | 65.6 |
What the data show
- In 2018/19 the gender parity index was 1.00 in primary and 1.02 in junior high. At senior high it was 0.95, up from 0.85 in 2009/10. A value of one means equal numbers of girls and boys.
- Girls were the majority of WASSCE entrants in every year from 2020 to 2025. In 2020 there were 188,182 girls against 187,581 boys, and in 2025 there were 254,321 against 207,415. Boys led in 2017, with 147,591 against 141,619 girls.
- Census 2021 puts literacy among people aged 6 and over at 74.1 percent for men and 65.6 percent for women.
- Among people aged 3 and over, 17.0 percent of men and 24.4 percent of women never attended school.
- We cannot say how girls performed in exams, or whether the literacy gap is narrowing among young people. The census table we hold covers everyone aged 6 and over, or 3 and over, together.
What the data cannot say. We cannot say how girls or boys performed at WASSCE. The WAEC releases we hold count entrants by sex and do not split passes by sex. We cannot say whether the literacy gap between men and women is narrowing among young people. The census table covers everyone aged 6 and over together. We cannot say what happened to parity after 2018/19. The official series we hold stops there. Entry numbers show who sat the exam. They do not show who did better.
Questions people ask
- What percentage of girls are in school in Ghana?
- We hold no single percentage for girls in school. What we hold is parity: the senior high index was 0.95 in 2018/19, and girls were 48.0 percent of senior high students. In primary and junior high the index was 1.00 and 1.02.
- Are there more girls or boys in school in Ghana?
- By 2018/19 the numbers were about equal in primary and junior high. At senior high there were fewer girls than boys, with an index of 0.95. Among WASSCE entrants girls were the majority every year from 2020 to 2025.
- What is the literacy rate for women in Ghana?
- Census 2021 gives 65.6 percent for women aged 6 and over, against 74.1 percent for men.
- What is the gender parity index?
- It compares the number of girls with the number of boys in school. One means equal. Below one means fewer girls than boys, and above one means more girls. At senior high it moved from 0.85 in 2009/10 to 0.95 in 2018/19.
- Do girls pass WASSCE more than boys?
- The WAEC releases we hold do not split passes by sex, so we cannot say. We can say that girls were the majority of entrants every year from 2020 to 2025.