Moving back to Ghana with your kids? The school-choice guide for returning families

Moving back to Ghana with children is exciting, but school choice can turn a straightforward relocation into a long list of WhatsApp messages, websites, calls, fees, documents and competing opinions. The easiest way to make it manageable is to treat the school search as a six-week project rather than something you solve in one frantic week after landing.

This guide is for families returning from the UK, US, Canada, Nigeria, the Middle East or elsewhere who want to settle in Accra and need a realistic way to narrow the options.

Six weeks before the move: define what “right” means

Start with the things that cannot easily change. Write down your child’s age, intended start date, current year or class, preferred area, maximum realistic budget and any non-negotiables. If your child needs a particular learning environment, language provision, curriculum pathway, transport arrangement or support, put that on the list too.

Do not begin by searching for the “best school in Accra”. That question is too broad. A school can be excellent and still be wrong for your family because it is too far from home, starts at the wrong point in the academic year, does not offer the curriculum you need, or simply does not fit your budget.

Use the Accra school directory to build an initial list. At this stage, aim for perhaps eight to twelve possibilities rather than three. You are gathering candidates, not making the final decision.

Five weeks before: understand the areas

Accra school choice is partly a location decision. A school that looks close on a map can feel very different once daily traffic and school-run timing enter the picture. If you already know where you will live, start there. If your housing is not final, use your likely school areas to inform the housing decision as well.

For younger children, you may want to compare options in places such as East Legon and Adjiringanor rather than treating “Accra” as one neighbourhood. EarlyDays has dedicated pages for preschools in East Legon and preschools in Adjiringanor, which can make the first round of research more manageable.

Keep your shortlist geographically sensible. Three schools that are individually attractive but spread across Accra may be less useful than three good options within a practical daily route.

Four weeks before: compare the school experience, not just the brochure

Now move beyond the headline claims. Look at the actual child experience. What age groups does the school serve? What does a normal day look like? How are children welcomed in the morning? How large are classes? What happens at break time? How does the school communicate with parents?

If you are moving from abroad, ask how the school handles children arriving from another country or education system. You do not need a special “returnee” programme for every child, but the admissions team should be able to explain where a new pupil would fit and what information they need from the current school.

For creche and early-years choices, use a more detailed checklist. Our guide on how to choose a creche in Accra can help you focus on care, routines, communication and practical arrangements rather than relying on photographs alone.

Three weeks before: contact schools directly

This is where your list should shrink. Contact each school and ask the same core questions. Is there likely to be a place for your child's age group? What is the application process? Which documents are required? Are visits available? What are the next steps?

Do not assume a school is available simply because its website is active. Admissions, vacancies and tour arrangements can change. The safest approach is to treat the school's current response as the source of truth.

Keep a simple comparison sheet with columns for location, curriculum, age/class, estimated cost range, admissions status, tour date and your notes. The goal is not a complicated scoring system. It is to stop ten separate conversations from becoming one blur.

Two weeks before: book the visits

If possible, schedule visits close together. A school can sound very different on a phone call from how it feels when you walk through the gates. During a visit, watch how adults speak to children, whether classrooms feel calm or chaotic, how staff answer ordinary questions and whether the environment matches your child's personality.

Ask to see the spaces your child will actually use. If you are shown only impressive reception areas, politely ask for the classroom, outdoor space and practical facilities relevant to your child's age.

Take notes immediately after each visit. After three or four schools, details begin to merge.

Week six: choose, apply and prepare

Once you have visited your finalists, stop expanding the shortlist unless a serious issue appears. Compare the schools against the requirements you wrote down at the beginning. Which option works for your child, your route, your budget and your likely length of stay?

Then confirm the school's current admissions requirements, submit the necessary documents and ask for the next steps in writing. Keep copies of applications and payment records.

For a child moving between education systems, also collect recent school reports and any documents that help the new school understand the child's current level. The exact requirements vary, so check directly with the school rather than relying on a generic checklist.

What if you are still abroad?

You can do a surprising amount remotely: research, shortlist, calls, virtual conversations and document preparation. The part that benefits most from being physically present is the final comparison. If your trip to Ghana is short, do not spend it trying to visit ten schools without a plan. Arrive with a shortlist and a schedule.

If you're planning a school visit from abroad, you don't have to spend weeks coordinating the shortlist yourself. EarlyDays Concierge can match your child's age, preferred area and budget with three school options and arrange the visits around one Accra trip.

The important thing is to make the move feel like a family transition rather than an admissions emergency. Start early, keep the criteria simple, speak to schools directly and let the shortlist get smaller as you learn more. The right school is not necessarily the most famous one. It is the one that makes sense for your child and your new daily life in Ghana.