The Institute for Education Studies, Accra, (formerly VIAM Africa) was founded in August 2013 as an independent policy and research institute. www.theifest.org
The Institute for Education Studies, Accra, (formerly VIAM Africa) was founded in August 2013. Established as an independent policy and research institute, the IFEST was launched with the principal aim of better informing public debate on contemporary education issues in order to promote the development of effective research, policy and practices. Through the establishment of rigorous advocacy cam
09/04/2026
Worth reading the details.
Let me start by indicating that most of us in the advocacy and policy analysis space do our work with the default assumption that our leaders have the country at heart and...
Read more; https://thebftonline.com/2026/04/08/proposed-model-for-an-ideal-teacher-training-and-recruitment-system/
04/02/2026
For Immediate Release; Call For Strategic Measures to Improve Performance in WASSCE 2026.
IFEST was copiously referenced by the Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Education, Ghana in his keynote speech at the 7th Quadrennial Delegates Conference of GNAT.
29/12/2025
At 8am this morning our Executive Directors will discuss the Maiden launch of our Education 365. Don't miss it!
21/12/2025
📚 365 days, countless lessons. See how Ghana’s schools, teachers, and students fared this year in the Education 365 report!
📖 Education 365 is here! Explore a year of Ghana’s education sector—access, quality, and equity. See the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping learning for all.
Re-introducing our Official Newsletter:
IFEST POLICY FOCUS
Stay Anticipate
11/06/2025
23/02/2025
National Education Forum - Ghana
Financing Education in a developing country is a huge issue since there is the need to build the human capital base of such countries while leveraging on education to promote economic growth. So I was excited when I had the invitation from the National Education Forum planning committee to present a paper on “Challenges and Opportunities in Education Financing”.
The Institute for Education Studies (IFEST) of which I represented made a strong point that the current government will need to be:
1. Efficient in its spending
2. Equitable in its financing
3. Innovative in financing education
I believe that there are serious challenges in funding education in the country, however, the opportunities are also enormous and that to be able to reach the international standards of using 16% - 20% of total government revenue to fund education and bridge the funding gap, government should be deliberate in reducing the inefficiencies in the system, ensure equity in spending and more importantly assess the feasibility of various innovative funding mechanisms like Debt-for-education swap, social impact bonds, PPPs among others.
Education remains one of the most potent tools to reduce poverty and bridge the gap of inequality and as such it should be a top priority of any government that intends to transform the fortunes of the citizenry.
23/02/2025