East Gonja District, situated in the South-Easter part of Northern Region, is with its 10,800sq km the largest district in Ghana today. Many areas in the rural sites of the district are difficult to access, especially during the rainy season were rivers and streams develop.

The ethnic diversity of the district gives it a multicultural character which has both positive and negative dimensions for development in the district. The predominant beliefs and cultures have led to a perpetuation of a male dominated society whereby the female tend to be tied to household chores with no room for compromises. Betrothal of girls into marriage is another practice that stifles the education of girls.

Ethnic groups in the district include the Gonja, Dagomba, Konkomba, Kotokoli, Nawuri, Nchumbulu, Basari, Bators and several other minority groups such as the Chekosi, Dande, and Ewe among others.

Ethnic politics in the district has been one of social mobilization for ethnic supremacy. Historically, the Gonjas had been the conquerors of the other ethnic groups mainly because the latter were people with no strong leadership like the Gonjas. This background led to the planting of Gonja chiefs in all villages and towns in the present East Gonja district to rule over the other ethnic groups. This practice was to ensure that the conquered groups owed their allegiance to the East Gonja overlord,- “the Kpembewura”.

Over the years the societies of the area have become more sophisticated leading to self assertiveness, self esteem and image redeeming in an attempt to overturn the hitherto master servant relationship between them and the Gonja. This situation has always left ethnic relationships in the area, very volatile. It was this long, suppressed feeling of hatred which found expression in the ethnic conflicts of 1992/93 in the area devastating the socio-economic base of the district with dire consequences to date.
 
Challenges of Education
1. Access and participation in basic education
Low income levels as a result of subsistence farming and other economic activities are some of the reasons for dropouts from school, whiles lack of social services including potable water, electricity and inadequate educational infrastructure are principal reasons for the lack of teachers in rural schools within the district.

Also the distance to and from school is a great disincentive to schooling. Children mostly trek up to 5 kilometres daily to attend school.

With 12 education circuits the district has 134 public primary schools and 38 Junior Secondary Schools (Ghana Education Service Statistics, East Gonja District). These schools are a far cry from what is really needed by the people. There are currently more untrained teachers (52%) than trained teachers in the classrooms, (GES Statistics, EGD).

2 Quality of education
The East Gonja District is one of the 53 most underserved districts in education delivery in the country in terms of performance, access and achievement. The district placed 105th and 106th position out of 110 districts at the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) in the 2003 and 2004 academic years respectively.

The East Gonja district has a pupil-teacher ratio of 48:1 and 82:1 in high enrolment communities like Buya and Talkpa, and needs up to 700 teachers to fill vacancies in the classrooms.

3. Girls in Education
There is a downward trend in enrolment figures from lower primary to upper primary for girls due to some of the aforementioned barriers. For instance in 2004/ 2005 there was an enrolment of 11,574 girls at the primary level of education in the East Gonja District, but the number dropped to 4,172 girls at the Junior Secondary School level. Again, in a particular school (Ketiejeli primary), a class began with 23 girls in Basic 1 and dropped to 4 girls in Basic 6.