A Curriculum Refresh: Strengthening Ghana’s Complementary Basic Education Program
By: Nunya Apetsi
Around the world, millions of children are out of school. Even children who make it into the classroom often finish without mastering basic reading and math. In sub-Saharan Africa, 70% of 10-year-olds are in school but unable to read a simple text.
At the Luminos Fund, we have seen that when teaching is grounded in joyful, structured pedagogy and delivered in a language children understand, children learn more, and faster than anyone thought possible.
In Ghana, Luminos partners with the government’s Complementary Education Agency (CEA) to support Complementary Basic Education (CBE)—the national accelerated learning program for out-of-school children. Since 2021, our program has equipped over 12,000 formerly out-of-school children with foundational reading, writing, and math skills, enabling them to transition into government schools.
Over the last two years, this partnership has expanded from supporting CBE in targeted classrooms in the Ashanti region to strengthening the CBE program at a national level through a government-led curriculum redesign. Luminos supported the development of 3,844 pages of new teaching and learning materials across four languages. These materials have the potential to reach 13,000 out-of-school children each year with more effective instruction in languages they understand.
Luminos students have fun during class as they complete a math lesson. (Photo: Obeng Baah for the Luminos Fund)
languages: Asante Twi, Dagaare, Dagbani, and Ewe
pages of teaching and learning materials developed
children reached each year (potential)
Deputy Minister Apaak unveils the new CBE materials. (Photo: Nunya Apetsi/Luminos Fund)
“This revised curriculum is not just a document, it is the outcome of shared commitment, technical excellence, and a common vision for the Ghanaian child.”
Dr. Clement Abas Apaak, Deputy Minister
Ministry of Education, Ghana
The Challenge: Keeping Up with a Changing System
In 2019, Ghana introduced a new national curriculum that updated learning benchmarks and teaching approaches for all levels from kindergarten through the first year of senior high school. Despite these updates, the national CBE curriculum for out-of-school children remained unchanged.
With differing content, learning targets, and teaching approaches, formerly out-of-school children who enrolled in the CBE program struggled to truly catch up to their peers.
Updating the curriculum ensures that CBE continues to serve as a strong bridge back into the education system for out-of-school children.
A Government-Led Effort to Strengthen CBE
Recognizing this need, the Government of Ghana, through the CEA and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), led a national effort to review and revise the CBE curriculum.
The Luminos Fund, with support from UNICEF and FCDO, contributed technical expertise throughout this process.
Over the last two years, government officials, curriculum specialists, language experts, and practitioners worked together to:
- Align the CBE curriculum with the Standard-Based Curriculum
- Ensure it reflects the needs of out-of-school children
- Strengthen foundational reading, writing, and math skills
The result is a nationally owned curriculum, designed for out-of-school learners and aligned with the system they are preparing to enter.
Expanding Access through Language
Developed in four Ghanaian languages—Asante Twi, Dagaare, Dagbani, and Ewe—the revised materials ensure children learn in a language they understand, an essential foundation for early literacy.
Importantly, these materials were not simply translated. Expert teams developed materials to preserve a structured, phonics-based progression tailored to that language. Reading builds on sound patterns: a text that works in one language may not support learning in another.
By designing each version independently to achieve the same goals, the curriculum ensures that children only encounter sounds they have already learned—helping them build confidence and fluency step by step.
Samples of the newly revised CBE Teacher’s Guides and Primers (student workbooks) in all four languages: Ewe, Dagaare, Dagbani, and Asante Twi. (Photo: Nunya Apetsi/Luminos Fund)
What the Curriculum Includes
The revised curriculum covers the equivalent of Grade 1 through Grade 3, over 9–12 months and is segmented into three phases. Each phase includes 60 days of instruction with three hours of learning per day. The revised materials include structured Teacher’s Guides and Primers (student workbooks) and follow a consistent weekly structure: Days 1–4 introduce new content, and Day 5 focuses on assessment and review. This predictable structure helps both teachers and learners stay on track.
Grades 1-3
60 days of instruction
3 learning hours per day
Teacher’s Guides and Primers
Designed for Impact and Sustainability
The revised curriculum supports children in low-resourced, multilingual environments who are often the first in their family to learn to read. These children often begin the program unable to identify letter sounds—and many have never been in a classroom.
Lessons meet learners where they are, building basic skills such as identifying individual letter sounds and numbers, before introducing more complex skills such as writing words and simple addition. This clear, structured approach builds children’s confidence as they progress.
As part of the Technical Working Group, Luminos supported curriculum alignment, developed numeracy content, shaped the structure of teaching materials, and shared evidence-based global best practices on structured pedagogy and early learning.
The Technical Working Group at the CBE curriculum launch event. (Photo: Nunya Apetsi/Luminos Fund)
The result is a nationally owned curriculum that reflects both global best practice and Ghana’s education priorities.
By aligning the CBE program with the national system and tailoring it for the out-of-school children it serves, the revised curriculum ensures children not only return to school but are prepared to succeed once they do.
“We will continue to work until every child is in school, every child is learning and every child has the chance to reach their full potential.”
Osama Makkawi Khogali, UNICEF Ghana
Looking Ahead
The revised curriculum is now being piloted by the Ghanaian Ministry of Education during the 2025–26 school year. The next step is to expand the materials into additional languages and more communities.
This remarkable partnership demonstrates what is possible when government leadership, technical expertise, and donors come together to strengthen education systems.
For thousands of children across Ghana, the revised CBE curriculum represents something simple but profound: a second chance to catch up and thrive.
