What is the difference between NaCCA, GES and NaSIA?

NaCCA develops the curriculum, GES implements pre-tertiary education policy and manages public schools, and NaSIA registers, licenses and inspects all public and private pre-tertiary schools under the Education Regulatory Bodies Act 2020.

What is the Common Core Programme?

The curriculum for B7 to B10, covering junior high school and the first year of senior high, implemented progressively from the 2021/22 academic year.

What is School-Based Assessment?

Continuous assessment conducted by the school that contributes to a learner's overall outcomes alongside external examinations, under NaCCA and GES policy.

Has the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination been cancelled?

The NTC has stated it was not cancelled but integrated into the final examination of teacher trainees rather than held separately, with a practical teaching component added. Confirm the current position with the NTC.

What is the difference between a data controller and a data processor?

The controller decides what personal data is collected and why; the processor acts on the controller's documented instructions. For learner data the school is the controller and the software supplier is the processor.

Ghana Education Glossary | NaCCA, GES, NaSIA, NTC, BECE, WASSCE

Curriculum and structure

NaCCA

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment — develops and reviews Ghana’s pre-tertiary curriculum. See curriculum.

SBC

Standards-Based Curriculum — introduced from September 2019 for KG and primary, organised into strands, sub-strands, content standards, learning indicators and learning outcomes. See Standards-Based Curriculum.

CCP

Common Core Programme — the curriculum for B7 to B10, implemented progressively from 2021/22. See Common Core Programme.

Learning indicator

The specific, observable expectation beneath a content standard. The level at which teaching happens, and the only level at which coverage reporting is meaningful.

4Rs

Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic and cReativity — the foundational emphases running through Ghana’s curricula.

Core Competencies

Critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, cultural identity and global citizenship, personal development and leadership, and digital literacy.

B1–B10

Basic levels. B1 to B6 covers primary; B7 to B9 covers junior high; B10 is the first year of senior high under the Common Core Programme.

SHS, SHTS and STEM schools

Senior high schools, senior high technical schools and STEM schools, each with curricula rolled out from November 2024. See SHS curriculum.

Examinations and assessment

WAEC

West African Examinations Council, which conducts the BECE and WASSCE.

BECE

Basic Education Certificate Examination, taken at the end of junior high school, driving senior high placement. See BECE.

WASSCE

West African Senior School Certificate Examination, taken at the end of senior high school and the basis for tertiary admission. See WASSCE.

SBA

School-Based Assessment — continuous assessment conducted by the school contributing to overall outcomes. See School-Based Assessment.

Regulators and agencies

MoE

Ministry of Education.

GES

Ghana Education Service — responsible for implementing pre-tertiary education policy and managing public schools.

NaSIA

National Schools Inspectorate Authority, formerly the National Inspectorate Board — registers, licenses and inspects all public and private pre-tertiary schools. See NaSIA.

NTC

National Teaching Council — registers and licenses teachers and oversees continuing professional development. See NTC.

GTLE

Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination. The NTC has stated it was not cancelled but integrated into the final examination of teacher trainees, with a practical teaching component added.

EMIS

Education Management Information System — the national education data system fed by school returns and the annual school census. See EMIS reporting.

CTVET

Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training, with the Ghana TVET Service delivering provision.

GTEC

Ghana Tertiary Education Commission — regulates tertiary institutions.

DPC

Data Protection Commission — administers the Data Protection Act 2012. See Act 843.

GNAPS and GNACOPS

Ghana National Association of Private Schools and Ghana National Council of Private Schools — representative bodies for the private school sector.

Legislation

Act 1049

Pre-Tertiary Education Act 2020 — the framework governing pre-tertiary education, under which basic education is defined.

Act 1023

Education Regulatory Bodies Act 2020 — establishes and mandates the education regulators including NaSIA and the NTC.

Act 843

Data Protection Act 2012 — requires data controllers to register with the Data Protection Commission and sets out data protection principles and rights.

Data controller

The party deciding what personal data is collected and why. For learner data this is the school, and the responsibility does not transfer to a software supplier.

Data processor

A party processing personal data on the controller’s documented instructions. This is a school software supplier’s role.

Platform vocabulary

School management system

Software holding the operational school record: admissions, learners, timetable, attendance, results, fees. See school management.

Learning management system

Software for delivering and tracking instructional content. An LMS is about teaching; a school management system is about records. Many schools run both and reconcile them by hand.

CBT

Computer-based testing — assessment delivered and marked on screen. See CBT and assessment.

Pedagogy with AI

Using AI to plan, adapt and evidence teaching while the teacher retains judgement and accountability, anchored to a stated model and a named learning indicator. See Pedagogy with AI.

Multi-tenant

An architecture in which many schools run on one platform with their data separated. What allows a district to deploy across many schools without many installations.

Offline tolerance

The ability to continue working through connectivity loss and sync afterwards. In Ghanaian conditions this is a requirement rather than a feature.