Cumulative District Educational Disadvantage and Sustainable Development in Ghana: Spatial Patterns of Literacy, Child Poverty and Residential School‐Proximity Deficit

Educational disadvantage in Ghana is often assessed nationally or regionally, obscuring district‐level patterns and spatial dependence. This ecological study analyses 2021 Population and Housing Census data for all 261 districts using a Composite District Educational Disadvantage Index (CDEDI), integrating illiteracy prevalence, the female–male prevalence gap, child poverty and residential school‐proximity deficit. Inequality decomposition, Moran statistics, spatial‐error modelling, sensitivity analysis and profile analysis were applied. CDEDI scores ranged from 7.74 to 79.01, with a district mean of 36.26 and population‐weighted mean of 32.74. Inequality was substantial (Gini = 0.258), with 51.0% of Theil inequality occurring between regions. Strong spatial clustering emerged (Moran's I = 0.716, p < 0.001), particularly across Savannah, Northern, Oti and North East regions. Spatial‐error models showed that child poverty ( b = 0.486) and school‐proximity deficit ( b = 0.350) were positively associated with illiteracy, while population density was negatively associated ( b = −1.113). Three district profiles revealed distinct configurations of educational disadvantage. The findings demonstrate that achieving SDGs 4 and 10 requires nationally coordinated responses to regional concentration alongside district‐specific interventions addressing within‐region inequalities.