SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT on several programmes, including the National Health Insurance Scheme, the National HIV/Aids Programme, and HIV/Aids Surveillance. ii. Findings of the CRM 53. Stakeholders are concerned that the quality of primary and secondary education had eroded in recent years. They want the authorities to consider carefully possible contributing factors, such as teacher-learner ratios and the quality of instruction. As some of the subsequent remedial steps by the government might require significant time before yielding results, the stakeholders feel that measures with more immediate results are necessary. The use of television and information technology in the classroom to improve numeric and literacy skills should be urgently considered, especially as the authorities have expressed recognition of the strength of the case. 54. Despite the expansion of tertiary education institutions, male students significantly outnumber females. The representatives of the authorities have agreed with other stakeholders that this situation requires immediate attention. 55. Stakeholders have also highlighted the issue of the brain drain, which has seen the departure of teachers, particularly those in sciences, to greener pastures. It is suggested that incentives be found to retain teachers, especially in rural areas. iii. Recommendations 56. The Panel recommends that Ghana: ? Undertake “good faith” reviews to see where capacity increases make economic sense from a cost-benefit perspective. ? Identify areas where improvements could be made via policies and measures that augment efficiency without incurring large additional expenses, as would be necessary for capacity increases. ? Raise productivity of resources with little or no additional expenditure by reorganising and reallocating facilities, redistributing funds and refining processes and procedures. Areas where attention could be given in this regard are: - The relative incentives of teachers and health professionals to work in cities and in the South vis-à-vis the rural areas and the North; - Access to financial services across regions and rural-urban households and businesses; 129