Teachers Are Showing Up. Classrooms Are Not Keeping Up.

What the 2026 District Education League Table reveals about Karaga, and what must happen next?

Teachers in Karaga District are present and delivering, but 71.2% of sampled schools report inadequate seating. A new policy brief from Simba Ghana sets out who must act, and with what funds, to close the gap.

Download the full policy brief: https://simbaghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Policy-Brief_-Karaga-District-Education-League-Table_2026.pdf

Zankali D/A Primary School, Nyong Circuit

Key figures

• 52.9%: overall district score
• 70.2%: frontline service delivery (strong)
• 39.3%: infrastructure and learning environment (weak)
• 31.4%: desk adequacy, the lowest indicator in the district

Karaga District’s teachers are doing their part. Teacher presence scores 80.9%, and frontline service delivery scores 70.2%. But the learning environment scores only 39.3%, a gap of 30.9 percentage points. The District Education League Table (DELT), implemented by Simba Ghana under the I Am Aware (IAA) initiative with support from CDD-Ghana and the Hewlett Foundation, shows that the district’s biggest barrier is not attendance. It is furniture and buildings.

Across sampled basic schools, 71.2% reported inadequate seating, with children sitting on bare floors or unplastered blockwork during lessons. No circuit reaches the 50% benchmark for desk adequacy. Karaga East is highest at 40.9% and Nyong lowest at 18.7%.

School building soundness scores 47.3%, which points to widespread structural needs.

Karaga West leads with 59.5% overall and Zandua ranks last at 41.9%. Nyong (50.4%) and Nakundugu (50.3%) are statistically tied.

Strong teaching cannot offset weak infrastructure.

• Zandua scores 71.1% on frontline service but only 29.1% on infrastructure, which pulls it to last place.
• Sung has the district’s highest frontline score (77.3%) but the second-lowest infrastructure score (31.0%).

The brief assigns specific actions to specific actors:

• District Chief Executive and Assembly: ring-fence at least 15% of the District Assemblies Common Fund for dual-desk procurement and classroom rehabilitation in Zandua and Nyong.
• Member of Parliament: allocate 20% of the Education Fund to furniture for basic schools with desk adequacy below 25%.
• District Education Oversight Committee and Director of Education: adopt the DELT scorecard as the quarterly monitoring framework and direct emergency desk spending to Zandua, Nyong and Sung.
• Circuit supervisors and headteachers: keep community-led maintenance registers and record desk shortages.
• SMCs, PTAs and traditional leaders: hold community durbars to advocate for fair distribution and co-fund minor repairs.

The brief makes four strategic recommendations:

1. Shift from equal distribution to need-based allocation.
2. Build the League Table indicators into the District Education Operational Plan.
3. Set up an emergency taskforce to procure and distribute 2,500 dual-desks within six months.
4. Share Red-Amber-Green scorecard results at community durbars.

Karaga’s teachers are showing up. The question for decision-makers is whether the district will give them the classrooms and furniture to match. The League Table gives every stakeholder the evidence to act.

Download the full policy brief: https://simbaghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Policy-Brief_-Karaga-District-Education-League-Table_2026.pdf

Produced by Simba Ghana under the I Am Aware initiative, with support from CDD-Ghana and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Published September 2026. Contact: simbaghana@gmail.com.