World Bank pleased with GALOP Programme

Deputy Education Minister, Rev. Hon. Ntim Fordjour and MD for World Bank Operations, Anna Bjerde (with bouquet of flowers)
Managing Director in charge of World Bank Operations, Ms. Anna Bjerde, has expressed her satisfaction with the progress made in implementing the Ghana Accountability and Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP).

She commended the strong teacher-student engagement, which has resulted in improved reading and comprehension skills among pupils.


Accompanied by a World Bank delegation, Ms. Bjerde visited various projects financed by the Bank, including GALOP. This initiative, supported by the International Development Association (IDA), focuses on seven out of the 28 basic schools in the Weija Gbawe Municipality.

As part of GALOP, teachers have received training in differentiated learning and targeted instruction, which includes teaching reading and numeracy skills to children and developing teaching and learning materials.


Notably, the New Gbawe Municipal Basic School, one of the participating schools, achieved excellent results in the 2021 National Standardized Test for primary four pupils.

Their scores surpassed the national average, with 83 percent in English and 57 percent in Mathematics, compared to the respective national averages of 54 percent and 46 percent.


Ms Bjerde was satisfied with the outcome of the project, saying, “What I saw at the school was very engaging, especially with the teachers and the pupils, and the excellent skills exhibited by the teachers to keep the pupils motivated in learning.”

She stated that building strong human capital was an important ingredient in ensuring sustainable development, adding that promoting technical and vocational training would create job opportunities for the youth.

She said the World Bank would work to scale up the project across the country to improve teaching and learning.

“Going forward, we will ask the teachers if they need any support to improve the implementation of the projects,” she added according to the Ghana News Agency, and urged the government to work on the ratio of teachers to pupils to enable the teachers to fully understand the educational needs of pupils and develop innovative ways to address them.

On his part, Deputy Minister for Education, Rev. Hon. John Ntim Fordjour, disclosed that the Ghana Accountability and Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP) has received a total funding of $150 million from the International Development Association (IDA) and $60.7 million from Trust Funds. The funding covers the period from 2019 to 2025.

The primary objective of GALOP is to enhance the quality of education in underperforming basic schools while promoting equity and accountability within the education sector in Ghana.

Rev. Hon. John Ntim Fordjour highlighted that the project has provided support to 10,500 schools nationwide. Additionally, he noted that 81 percent of primary schools benefiting from GALOP now have a pupil-trained-teacher ratio below 50:1. This represents an increase from the baseline of 75 percent in 2019.

The Deputy Minister emphasized that Ghana is committed to transforming its education system and preparing students to meet the learning outcomes of the 21st century. He emphasized the country’s efforts to create a positive learning environment that enables students to thrive in the evolving market space.

Ghana has been receiving support from the World Bank since 1957, and the current active portfolio consists of 21 projects amounting to $3.6 billion. These projects encompass various sectors, including nutrition, education, finance, social protection, jobs, and digital development.