Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch) has sounded the alarm on the stark digital divide in Ghana’s basic schools, urging the government to take immediate action as over 600,000 candidates prepare for the 2025 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
In a statement issued on Tuesday, June 10, Eduwatch described the current situation as a case of “unequal access, unequal exam”, warning that thousands of candidates, particularly from deprived districts, will be forced to take the Computing paper without ever having used a computer.
According to Eduwatch’s monitoring, only 2 percent of schools in deprived districts have functional computers.
These districts, mainly located in the five northern regions, Oti, and Western North, serve over 2 million children but suffer from critical deficits in ICT infrastructure.
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Even in relatively resourced areas, many schools struggle to provide basic access to computers for effective teaching and learning.
Eduwatch highlighted that 72 percent of children aged 6-14 in the Savannah Region have never used an ICT device, with similarly high rates of digital illiteracy in the North-East (67%), Northern (65%), Upper East, and Bono East (56%) regions.
“No child should be academically disadvantaged due to where they live or their school’s resources,” Eduwatch stressed.
“Transformative education must bridge inequality, not deepen it.” The organisation is calling on the government to roll out a targeted intervention that includes the provision of ICT infrastructure, electricity, and trained personnel in deprived schools to ensure inclusive access to digital learning.
Eduwatch emphasised that Ghana’s digital transformation must begin with inclusive digital literacy at the basic level.
A total of 603,328 candidates, comprising 297,250 males and 306,078 females from both public and private schools, are expected to take part in the examination.
The Ghana Education Service (GES) has announced that it is fully prepared for a smooth and credible examination process, with all materials and timetables already dispatched to centres.
The BECE is scheduled to run from Tuesday, June 11 to Tuesday, June 18, across the country. Eduwatch’s call for action underscores the importance of ensuring that all students, regardless of their location or school resources, have equal access to digital learning opportunities.