Accra, Ghana, November 5, 2018//-A staggering World Bank’s Human Capital Report has revealed that 56% of children Born in Ghana are Likely to be unproductive.
This is because they are not able to enjoy complete education and full healthcare in the country.
Dr Antonio Giuffrida, the Human Development Program Leader for World Bank Ghana office who reviewed the 2017 Human Capital report in Accra, Ghana, also blamed the challenge on poor teaching.
According to the Human Capital Index, “A child born in Ghana today will be 44% as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health”.
While globally, 56% of all children born today will grow up to be at best, half as productive as they could be; and 92% will grow up to be, at best 75% as productive as they could, Dr Giuffrida added.
The report which has three components namely, survival, school and health ranked Ghana on 116th position out of 157 countries.
Survival
The report also lamented that the probability of children surviving at age five (5) in the country is too slim. It stated: “95 out of 100 children born in Ghana survive to age 5”.
School
In Ghana, a child who starts school at age 4 can expect to complete 11.6 years of school by her 18th birthday, the report said.
On harmonized test scores, the report noted: “Students in Ghana score 307 on a scale where 625 represents advanced attainment and 300 represents minimum attainment”.
Touching on learning-adjusted years of school, it again lamented: “Factoring in what children actually learn, expected years of school is only 5.7 years”.
Adult survival rate
Across Ghana, 76% of 15-year olds will survive until age 60. This statistics is a proxy for the range of fatal and non-fatal health outcomes that a child born today would experience as an adult under current conditions, Dr Giuffrida read from the report.
Healthy growth (Not stunted rate)
“81 out of 100 children are not stunted. 19 out of 100 children are stunted and so at risk of cognitive and physical limitations that can last a lifetime”.
Gender differences in the Human Capital Index
In Ghana, Human Capital Index for girls is higher than for boys.
Compare
In 2017, Ghana’s Human Capital Index is higher than the average for its region (Sub-Saharan Africa) but lower than the average for its income group.
Commenting on the report, the Minister of Education, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh welcomed the report and urged the directors of education, teachers and other stakeholders at the workshop to accept the finding of the report in good faith.
Instructively, the Human Capital Index measures the amount of human capital that a child born today can expect to attain by age 18. It conveys the productivity of the next generation of workers compared to a benchmark of complete education and full health.
The World Bank’s Human Capital Project seeks to raise awareness and increase demand for interventions to build human capital. It aims to accelerate better and more investments in people.
The project has three elements-the Human Capital Index; a program to strength research and measurement on human capital; and support to countries to accelerate progress in raising human capital outcomes.
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