There is a general problem of enrolment to basic education in northern Ghana. Available statistics indicate that from 2000–05 only about 42 per cent of qualified applicants of school-going age in the Northern Region were enrolled in basic schools. This paper assesses the implementation of the programme in the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly. The findings showed that, whilst the programme has increased primary school enrolment, the major impediment to the implementation of the programme is cash flow constraints.