This review has raised a number of issues which need to be addressed in this concluding part of the report. Among others, the claim has been made that the MOE regards research as an essential factor in education sector policy formulation. The review has revealed that the majority of the sector studies were initiated and/or sponsored by the development partners. Only 4 of the 34 studies were initiated and/or sponsored wholly by the MOE. Development partners initiated and/or sponsored studies either in pursuance of their global aim of giving support to the development efforts of the government through the ministry or as a means of identifying and rationalizing their specific assistance packages to the education sector. It is unlikely that the development partners would continue in this refrain ad infinitum. Besides, it is in the interest of the ministry to initiate, sponsor or fund more studies on its own in order to have the moral courage to determine or dictate the tune it wants to be played in education policy formulation. There is, therefore, the need for the ministry to invest more in research and show greater commitment and dependence on the use of research results for policy formulation.

The quality of studies conducted by local researchers/consultants has been critically examined. This review has revealed that Ghana has a good crop of education sector researchers on whom the ministry can depend to conduct the studies for its policies. This is borne out by the generally high quality of the studies reviewed, regardless of the funding agencies or the researchers who conducted them. This is further confirmed by the fact that the findings and recommendations of the studies have been judged by policy makers/implementers to be reliable and relevant to the needs of the sector. The contention, therefore, that locally initiated and executed studies do not measure up to standard in comparison with foreign supported and executed studies cannot be supported by this review. It has been noted, however, that the predominant approaches used in the studies were the survey and analytical documentary analysis. These approaches could have been enriched by the use of the triangulation method. It has also been noted that capacity in computer skills is generally low among local researchers. There is, therefore, the need to address these problems which call for the building of computer skills capacity in education sector research.

There are rapid and constant developments in the world of research in terms of new trends, techniques/methodologies and technologies. These developments call for further skills development for all researchers in order to constantly maintain and improve the quality of their research outputs. Development partners can be of tremendous help in this direction. They have the resources to help update the human capacity as well as equip research centres and institutions. Such assistance is less likely to tempt them to put themselves in the unenviable position of being unduly involved in policy formulation. It would also remove the temptation on their part to determine the objectives of studies and thereby allow the government to set its own education sector study objectives based on the country’s priority needs.

Yet another claim that has been taken for granted is that the results of education sector studies merely reflect the viewpoints of the funding agencies. This is not supported in this review. The findings and recommendations have been judged by policy makers and implementers to be relevant and useful for the needs of the sector.

It has been noted that the design of this review did not allow for impact assessment in a way that would help determine the actual impact which the studies made on policy formulation in the education sector. The view of the review team is that this is an important missing link. The team therefore recommends that this issue be addressed in the future.

Although the review did not evaluate the impact of existing studies on policy formulation, all the stakeholders interviewed agree that good sector studies are a necessary requirement for the formulation of good policies in education. For the studies to have the desired impact on the education sector, they must be made readily accessible to all the stakeholders who should also have regular dialogue with each other to evaluate them and assess their usefulness for policy formulation.

Ensuring easy accessibility to existing sector studies and promoting regular dialogue among stakeholders would also help to prevent the culture of repetition or re-inventing the wheel which has characterized education sector studies in Africa. In this regard, the call for the setting-up of a documentation centre or centres should be carried to its logical conclusion. Accordingly, the actions reportedly being taken are worth noting.

Co-operation among stakeholders creates an enabling environment for successful execution of studies. As has been noted, policy-makers show co-operation through making needed documents available and granting interviews to researchers. However, that co-operation could be better strengthened if policy-makers went beyond that and showed genuine interest in the conduct and outcome of the studies. Researchers on their part should constantly keep policy-makers briefed on the progress of their studies and make copies of the final reports available to them.

It has been observed that the participation of women in the authorship of the studies reviewed is low. Six were targeted during the sample survey and only 3 responded. There is a clear case for establishing a special programme for making research interesting, attractive and rewarding to women. Otherwise the contributions which women could bring to research may continue to elude the sector.

The project team for the National Review of Education Sector Analysis in Ghana is conscious of the need to ensure that the findings and recommendations of this review are implemented and its overall benefits sustained. Accordingly, the team plans to undertake follow-up actions with particular reference to the following issues:

1. Sustenance of collaboration among stakeholders: In order to ensure relevance of sector analyses and their utility for policy formulation, the review team considers it to be critical to put in place a scheme or a platform that will regularly bring together all key stakeholders to deliberate on policy issues and strategies for improving them. To this effect, the review team, under the umbrella of ERNWACA, proposes to organize a National Conference on Sector Studies which is expected to be convened after the MOE-proposed National Forum on Education. While the National Forum will focus on all critical issues in the sector, the proposed National Conference on Sector Studies will seek to evolve a scientific strategy to address issues and problems that will emanate from the National Forum.

2. Establishment of documentation centre: As stated previously, there is general agreement among all stakeholders in the education sector that there is a need for proper documentation of studies. Accordingly, the following steps have been taken: