Ghana’s education has been ranked 125 out of 183 countries in the latest Global Youth Development Index released by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
According to the Secretariat, tracking progress is a process that enhances the status of young people, empowering them to build on their competencies and capabilities for life.
It also enables them to contribute to and benefit from a politically stable, economically viable and legally supportive environment, ensuring their full participation as active citizens in their countries.
The report noted a unique situation in the overall ranking of Ghana which has an overall score of 105.
It added that the West African Country together with the likes of Tonga, The Gambia, Fiji and Brunei Darussalam are among the countries that have moved the most places up the ranks relative to other Commonwealth countries since the 2020 report.
However, “it is important to remember that ranks are relative to the performance of other countries,” the Index pointed out.
The Youth Development Index (YDI) is a resource for researchers, policymakers and civil society, including young people, to track progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) associated with youth development.
The document further explained this context by saying that countries may improve their overall score and performance but not increase their relative ranking on the index.
For example, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea have improved their YDI scores since 2010 but remain among the lowest-ranked countries – and indeed have fallen four and six ranks respectively relative to other Commonwealth countries.
Mozambique remains the lowest-ranked country, despite having improved its YDI score by 2.4 per cent since 2010.
In terms of education, Ghana appears to be trailing behind the likes of El Salvador as the country now places 125 on the updated Global Youth Development Index.
Speaking in an interview with Joy News Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland, pointed out that the development index should not be seen as competition.
“This is an opportunity for us to work together. If you look at the Sustainable Development Goals they are a challenge for every one of us.
“This is not a competition between us…it is a competition between the threats that face us and what we have learnt in our Commonwealth if we coalesce around what works. If we share what does not work and collaborate then we can compete together…we are at our best if we collaborate,” she said.
The report comes at a time when the Secretary General of the Commonwealth prepares for the summit of the Commonwealth Education ministers in May where many African Education ministers will be represented.
The African Union declared 2024 as the year of education, a theme Patricia Scotland believes will complement the partnership between Africa and the Commonwealth in advancing education in the wake of technological inventions such as Artificial intelligence.
She highlighted this will be required for training and equipping the youthful population of the world especially those in the Commonwealth of Nations.
Painting the global and regional picture, the Global Youth Development Index pointed out that more than two-thirds of countries worldwide showed an improvement in the education domain, led by Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Laos.
The 53 countries that have deteriorated in education since 2010 are spread around the world, with Liberia recording the largest deterioration, followed by Papua New Guinea, South Sudan, Ukraine and Qatar.
Sub-Saharan Africa recorded the second-largest improvement, as the regional average score increased by 10.41 per cent, with three-fourths of its countries experiencing improvements.
