A researcher behind a recent study on school proximity to contaminated sites in Ghana has warned that environmental pollution may be affecting children’s learning outcomes more than many policymakers recognise.
The comments follow earlier JoyNews reporting which highlighted that an estimated two million Ghanaian children attend schools located within five kilometres of documented contaminated sites, according to a study titled Schools in the Shadow of Toxic Sites: Pollution Proximity in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
Speaking to JoyNews’ Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen after the publication of the findings, Lee Crawfurd of the Centre for Global Development said growing evidence points to pollution as a significant but often overlooked barrier to education in low- and middle-income countries.
For many years, education reforms have focused on improving teacher quality, reducing class sizes and providing learning materials. However, Crawfurd believes the environment in which children learn deserves equal attention.
When asked whether parents should be as concerned about environmental conditions around schools as they are about academic quality, he responded in the affirmative.
“Absolutely,” he said.
“We have done some previous research which has shown that lead poisoning in particular plays a really big role in children’s learning.”
According to him, the impact of such exposure may be far greater than commonly assumed.
“We think it could explain up to a fifth of the gap between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries in terms of education quality,” he noted.
He added that the effects of lead exposure could be comparable to, and in some cases as significant as, widely studied education interventions such as teacher training and class size reduction.
The latest study, he explained, helps identify schools that may be exposed to pollution from nearby contaminated sites, offering a clearer picture of where risks are concentrated.
A concern beyond the classroom
The research estimates that around two million Ghanaian children attend schools within five kilometres of known contaminated sites.
Crawfurd warned that if left unaddressed, the implications could extend beyond classroom performance to broader economic outcomes.
“It’s a significant drain on the economy as well as the learning of children,” he said.
He noted that exposure to pollution can influence long-term outcomes such as future earnings, productivity and national development.
Although five kilometres may seem like a safe distance, he said evidence from multiple countries suggests otherwise.
“It sounds like a big distance, but we have good evidence now from several countries that children that far away from a contaminated site still suffer in terms of their educational abilities.”
He also acknowledged that pollution is often difficult for communities to recognise because its effects are not visible.
“It’s difficult because it’s something we can’t see,” he said. “But it’s there, and the science keeps building.”
Unexpected patterns in exposure
One of the study’s more surprising findings was that children from wealthier households were more likely to attend schools near contaminated sites than those from poorer backgrounds.
Crawfurd said this pattern was not unique to Ghana, but was observed across most of the 17 countries included in the study.
“It was wealthier households who were more likely to be exposed to pollution from these specific contaminated sites,” he explained.
The study also found that private schools were more likely than public schools to be located near such sites.
He attributed these patterns to urban development trends.
“All of these things cluster in cities together — wealthier households, private schools and contaminated sites,” he said.
Crawfurd described the situation as a reflection of gaps in urban planning and environmental management.
“It’s a real failure of urban planning that these sites have not been moved away from residential areas,” he noted.
He added that the issue is particularly evident in many capital cities where industrial and residential areas overlap.
‘A failure of regulation’
Crawfurd stressed that the challenge extends beyond schools alone.
“It’s not just schools. It’s where these children live as well,” he said.
Schools were included in the study because their locations are easier to map, making it simpler to assess exposure risk.
However, he argued that addressing the problem requires action beyond the education sector.
“Ultimately, this is not a problem for schools alone,” he said. “It is an environmental management issue and, in many cases, a failure of regulation.”
His remarks add to growing concern among researchers that environmental pollution may be quietly undermining children’s health, learning outcomes and future opportunities in ways that are not immediately visible — but increasingly difficult to ignore.