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Despite a series of reforms designed to improve the education system in Ghana, the quality of education remains low. This paper uses a political settlements analysis to explore why this is the case. Focusing on the issue of teacher accountability and performance, we argue that a key reform-decentralisation-remains a highly contested process. The current system generates insufficient incentives, from either a top-down or bottom-up direction, for effective forms of policy implementation and accountability to emerge at scale. In practice, educational quality differs significantly between districts. An explanation for the variation observed is the significant negative impact that intense party political competition can have in reducing the capacity of local actors to cooperate and to facilitate difficult reforms. The evidence suggests that improving educational quality depends on reform-minded coalitions made up of state and non-state actors at both district and school levels, and a stable political settlement at the district level. We conclude that where good practice is observed, it is as a result of efforts by these coalitions to devise and enforce local-level solutions to local problems.

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An extended study was carried out to explore the possibility of recycling of concrete made with brick aggregate as coarse aggregate. Demolished concrete blocks were collected from six demolished building sites and then crushed into coarse aggregate manually. Physical properties of the coarse aggregate collected from the blocks were evaluated. Cylindrical concrete samples (100 mm by 200 mm) were made using recycled aggregates with W/C = 0.40, 0.45 and 0.50. The specimens were tested for compressive strength, tensile strength, and Young's modulus of concrete at the ages of 7, 14, and 28 days. Control specimens were also made using virgin brick aggregate to compare with the results of recycled aggregate. The experimental results revealed that recycled brick aggregates have lower absorption capacity compared to the virgin brick aggregate. The average strength of concrete made with recycled brick aggregate was found to be 29 MPa and 23.5 MPa for W/C=0.45 and 0.55 respectively.

Despite series of reforms designed to improve the basic education system in Ghana, the quality of education remains low. This chapter uses a political settlement analysis to explore why this is the case. Focusing on the issue of teacher accountability and performance, we argue that a key reform—decentralization—remains a highly contested process. The current system generates insufficient incentives for effective forms of policy implementation and accountability to emerge at scale. The evidence suggest that improving educational quality depends on reform-minded coalitions made up of state and non-state actors, and a stable political settlement at the district level. We conclude that where good practice is experienced, it is as a result of efforts by these coalitions to devise and enforce local-level solutions to local problems.