School Uniforms in Ghana

All children have to wear school uniforms in Ghana. Pupils in public schools have the same type of school uniform with the school's emblem is imprinted on the left chest. This helps to distinguish pupils of one school from the other. Private schools determine which uniforms their pupils wear.

Ghana like most African countries is characterised by low incomes and high levels of poverty. Hence the cost of school uniforms acts as one of the barriers to educational access. In an effort to achieve universal primary education the government, as part of its educational policy, initiated free school uniform distribution throughout the country in 2010. According to government data, a total of 170,221 pupils were supplied with free school uniforms in 2013 and it planned to supply 10,000 uniforms in 2014. There are public programs to offer poor families financial help to buy uniforms. Over 8,000 school uniforms have been distributed by the government to needy students in the communities from the Tarkwa Nsuaem municipality, one of the mining districts in Ghana, which is severely affected by poverty. This is part of a program instituted in 2010 to supply disadvantaged children with school uniforms.