By Gloria Amoh
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has initiated the eighth Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 8) to measure learning poverty nationwide. Learning poverty refers to a child’s inability to read and understand simple text and basic numeracy at their learning level. Starting in July this year, the one-year survey will assess children’s literacy and numeracy skills in any language.
Government Statistician Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, who launched the survey in Accra yesterday, said it was prompted by the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC), which found that 7.9 million citizens aged six and above could not read or write age-appropriate material.
The survey will collect data from 1,710 clusters across the country, involving 25,650 households. Findings are expected to be released following a national dissemination workshop in February 2026.
The GLSS is a nationally representative household survey that offers reliable, aggregated, and internationally comparable statistics on welfare and living conditions in Ghana. Since 1987, seven rounds of GLSS have been conducted at five-year intervals, with each data collection phase lasting two months. Recent surveys have focused on the labour force, non-farm household enterprises, and household financial services.
Prof. Annim emphasised that GLSS 8 would focus on learning poverty due to alarming statistics from the 2021 PHC. The survey aims to understand the dynamics of illiteracy, identify the problem’s sources, and recommend policy interventions. It will also provide crucial data for targeted policy formulation in the education sector.
He added that the survey data would help identify vulnerable groups and evaluate the effectiveness of policies, particularly those related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) One to Eight, 10, and 16. The survey will measure 74 of the 169 SDG targets and 98 of the 231 indicators. Prof. Annim stressed the importance of a central repository of microdata, statistics, and policy to understand and address complex issues comprehensively.
Deputy Minister of Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, praised the GSS’s focus on education, recognising its pivotal role in sustainable development. He pledged the ministry’s support to ensure credible data collection, which will underpin critical policies for achieving quality education under the SDGs.
“We aim for a complete transformation in people’s lives, and the best strategy is through quality and inclusive education that ensures prosperity for all,” the deputy minister concluded.
