Right To Play in Ghana

For close to 25 years, Right To Play has worked with local partners in Ghana to deliver high-quality education, girls' empowerment, and health and well-being programs.

Right To Play began working in Ghana in 2001 to support children’s health and well-being, particularly through vaccination campaigns, and to address child protection needs. Today, our programs focus on ensuring children have access to quality play-based education, supporting girls to have the same access to education and opportunity as boys, and supporting children’s emotional well-being. In 2023 alone, we reached more than three million children and youth, 80,000 teachers, 100 community leaders, and 10,000 parents and caregivers.

Right To Play Ghana’s 2024-26 program priorities

• Ensuring more children can access quality play-based education that helps them develop academic and holistic skills and a lifelong love of learning;
• Providing adolescents with sexual and reproductive health education that empowers them to make informed choices about their bodies and health;
• Training teachers and parents to support children's mental health and emotional well-being;
• Building strong partnerships with donors, government, universities and Colleges of Education, and local organizations to reach more children and young people.
• Generating evidence on the impact of play on children’s learning and development.

Challenges and Opportunities in Ghana

The Government of Ghana has invested heavily in education to transform the country into a “learning nation”. Since introducing free compulsory basic education in 1995, Ghana has made great strides in ensuring more children, including girls and young children can go to school.

However, many challenges remain. Thousands of children are still not in school, and many students are not meeting expected learning outcomes due to poor educational infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, and inadequate teacher training and learning materials. Children with disabilities face unequal access to education. Kindergarten enrolment is low. Girls face significant barriers to education, including pregnancy, forced marriage and poor menstrual hygiene management. Many children in farming and fishing communities also miss out on education.

Key Statistics:

• Only 37% of children in basic 4 are literate, and only 24% are proficient in mathematics. The goal is to reach 38% literacy and 53% numeracy by 2025/2026. (National Pre-Tertiary Education Curriculum Framework, 2018)
• In rural areas, only 79% of girls attend primary school, compared to 86% in urban areas. (MICS 2017 – 2018)
• 18% of girls in rural areas are teenage mothers, compared to 11% in urban areas. (MICS 2017 – 2018)
• About 51% of children live in agricultural households, and 55% are involved in child labour. (Cocoa Initiative, 2018/9)

Key Activities and Impact

We invest in children and young people to ensure they get high-quality education, develop the skills and confidence to reach their full potential and become leaders in their communities. We also train teachers to create safe, inclusive and engaging spaces for learning and playing.

We work with the LEGO Foundation to improve literacy skills among younger children in the Volta Region, laying the foundation for their success in primary school. We also collaborate with Global Affairs Canada under the GREAT ECE project to support pre-service teachers who are studying Early Childhood Education and Basic Education to complete their studies.

“Before our teacher learned to play with us in class, it was very boring. We would fall asleep because the subjects were hard to understand. Then we started playing, and learning became easier.” - Aisha, grade six student

In the Greater Accra Region, we help education officials integrate gender-responsive play-based learning into teacher training programs for primary schools. We also collaborate with teachers to build the leadership and socio-emotional skills of children in primary schools through Junior Leaders clubs. We reached more than 30,000 children from kindergarten to basic 6 with gender-responsive play-based learning under the Partners in Play Project (P3).

In four regions, we have collaborated with the LEGO Foundation to help more girls read fluently and demonstrate leadership. After our programs, 92% of girls demonstrated high levels of leadership, up from 75%. In the Northern and Upper East Regions, we raise awareness about Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for adolescents, especially girls. We also partner with parents, caregivers, community leaders, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders to improve knowledge and attitudes about SRHR and ensure adolescents and young people have access to SRH information and services.

We have a strong commitment to collect data on ongoing impact and strengthen research partnerships to inform programming for children in Ghana.

Key Supporters and Partners

Support for our programs in Ghana comes from the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Education; the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection; Ghana Education Service; Ghana Health Service; National Council for Curriculum and Assessment; National Inspectorate Authority; and the National Teaching Council.

Other partners include the Colleges of Education; the University of Education, Winneba; LEGO Foundation; Global Affairs Canada; Elma Foundation; the European Commission FAWE; FHI360; Sabre Education; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; UNICEF; Barry Callebaut; Innovation for Poverty Acton and Water Aid and supporters like you.

Country Office Address

No. 5 Potato Avenue, East Legon, Accra.