"Political Economy and the Evolution of Education Reform in Ghana's Fourth Republic (1993–2025)"

This study will explore educational reform initiatives in Ghana's Fourth Republic (1993-2025) by examining how the ideological foundations of politics have influenced access, equity, and quality in education. The concept of political economy, grounded in institutional theory, provides a practical and analytical framework. Using a qualitative document analysis approach and employing multiple data sources (i.e., policy documents, government white papers, and academic literature), the study will analyze changes over time across six different administrations. The research indicates that, whereas policies such as Rawlings’ Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), Kufuor’s vocational and quality-oriented reforms, Mills’ cost-reduction interventions, Mahama’s Progressive Free SHS, and Akufo-Addo’s universal Free SHS with an emphasis on STEM have succeeded in expanding access, with secondary school enrolment rates rising from 60% in 1993 to more than 90% in 2025, underlying issues of equity in quality, teacher retention, and accessibility for rural students still exist. Changes in governments and ideological competition between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have restricted a consistent mode of policy continuity and long-term planning. This study concludes that improvements in Ghana’s education system can only be sustainable through cooperation across the political sphere toward evidence-based policies, and reviving investments in teacher training and infrastructure for equitable learning.