The purpose of this report is to provide sound analytical foundations for strategic planning and sector dialogue between education policy makers, development partners and civil society representatives at a key turning point in the development of education in Ghana. During the last five years, access has radically improved. As the Government of Ghana (GOG) refines its economic development and poverty reduction agendas, it has become increasingly clear that better quality learning and increased educational attainment across the country are essential part of that agenda. After six years of accelerated growth in the sector, the Government and the stakeholders have come to the conclusion that an earlier strategic plan needs to be revised for a number of reasons. Extensive growth seems to have reached a point after which the scale of education services cannot be stretched too far. Gross admission rate to primary education is over a hundred percent, gross enrollment rate at primary level is in the upper 90 percentile, upper secondary provisions reached the maximum capacity within the available infrastructure, the sector employs about 40 percent of the total civil service and uses about a third of the public budget. In the meantime, persistent problems (including out-of-school children) and newly emerging issues (including widening disparities and limited learning outcomes) require new solutions. Further build-up of the system is unlikely. Attending to the challenges requires a new definition of performance by focusing on more equitable and more efficient services, more informed policies and strengthened accountability.