Education in Ghana: Influences of the Outsiders (original) (raw)

Donor Contribution to Non-Formal Education in Ghana: The Case of World Bank Support to Upper West Region

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2022

Education plays a pivotal role in the socioeconomic transformation of every human society. Ghana is not an exception to this. Due to lack of sufficient financial resources, governments of Ghana have not been able to provide adequate educational facilities to meet the needs of all Ghanaians. This has led to the search for an alternative way to ensuring that majority of Ghanaians especially the rural poor including women have access to basic education. This brought about the introduction of the concept of Non-Formal Education which aims at ensuring that the human resources of the country are efficiently harnessed. The implementation process of Non-Formal Education in Ghana was strongly supported by the World Bank from 1991 to 2006. The study therefore assessed the contributions of the World Bank to the development of Non-Formal Education in Ghana with particular reference to the Upper West Region of Ghana. The study revealed that enrolment and graduation rates of learners were very remarkable from 1991-2006. Generally, the performance of NFE programme under the support of the World Bank was highly significant. It further discovered that lack of funds and political will led to the abysmal performance of the programme between 2007 and 2014. The study makes policy recommendations aimed at revamping Non-Formal Education in the study area and the nation at large. Notable among them including: government's commitment to the programme in making financial resources available for the programme's implementation, seeking for donors to partner and complement the efforts of governments.

An Assessment of the Impact of International Aid on Basic Education in Ghana

In Ghana and many other developing countries, the substantial investment in and provision of quality education have been identified as the surest path out of persistent poverty. The hope of accelerated development is now hinged on the provision of quality education for it citizenry. However, the inability to raise enough revenue by the government is as a result of varied factors including but not limited to macroeconomic and growth instability, high debt ratios, weak tax administration and large informal (non-taxable) sectors. The intent and desire of the state and government to provide quality accessible education to its citizens and the constraint of inadequate financial resources has compelled Ghana to seek external assistance to fill the resources gaps. Bilateral and multinational donors have responded in diverse ways to the call and over the last two decades, aid increased in quantity and prominence in Ghana's education sector. There are and may be several reasons that could be assigned to the quick response of these bilateral and multinational donors to the call made by Ghana for aid. The paper seeks to comparatively assess the impact international aid has had on Ghana's educational sector over the last two decades in term of access to " quality " education, educational financing and infrastructure expansion at the basic level. This paper argues that, notwithstanding the challenges the educational sector in Ghana is facing, the impact of international stakeholders on educational policy making and practice especially at the basic level has been positive in terms of access, financing and infrastructural expansion.

Aid for Self-Help Effort? A Sustainable Alternative Route to Basic Education in Northern Ghana (SPECIAL ISSUE: International Education Cooperation: Towards Greater Autonomy or Dependency in Sub-Saharan Africa?)

2004

Northern Ghana presents an interesting case of the limitations of the conventional school system in reaching underserved and deprived populations with basic education. Due to the peculiar nature of its demographic characteristics and the socio-economic challenges that confront this area of Ghana, conventional school systems are unable to thrive and make an impact in remote areas. Many of these communities are sparsely populated and scattered making distance a hindrance to school. attendance. A major barrier to access and participation is also the cost. In poor deprived communities whether or not children attend school usually depends on the direct or indirect costs to families. Direct costs arises from schooling accessories such as uniforms, books and writing materials whilst the indirect costs are largely in the form of income lost from the child’s potential employment or contribution to household income through direct labor. Yet another obstacle is the official school calendar whi...

AID DELIVERY TO THE EDUCATION SECTOR IN GHANA, 1990 - 2010

ABSTRACT Education is seen as the bedrock of national development. It contributes to national development through human capital formation, a prerequisite for every nation’s socioeconomic development. However quality education requires substantial resource investment. However, public provision of educational services is always constrained by the availability of public resources. Their ability to raise enough public revenue is constrained by macroeconomic and growth instability, high debt ratios, weak tax administration and large informal sectors. The desire for quality accessible education and the constraints of inadequate financial resources has compelled Ghana to seek external assistance to fill the resources gaps in providing quality education to its citizenry. Over the last two decades, aid has increased in quantity and prominence in Ghana’s education sector. The research seeks to assess the impact of aid to the educational sector over the last two decades in term of access to quality education especially at the basic level. Provide a trend analysis of financing education in Ghana over the last two decades. It Identifies and discusses how aid has transformed the educational landscape in terms of provision of education inputs such as infrastructure. The study over the years donor assistance has helped increased the educational infrastructure as wells other educational quality inputs. Although government funding of education has been increasing, donor resources remained important because it fills gap in financing in the investment and services aspect of education since government spending in the sector largely (almost 90%) to salaries and administration

Education and Reform In Ghana

My purpose in writing this literature is to document the evolution of western-styled education in Ghana through the post-colonial era. This is not to say a broader conversation on the inclusion of traditional elements is without merit. However, this piece is an attempt to understand the modern elements in Ghanaian formal education as well as considerations of its economic elements.

MANAGING EDUCATION IN GHANA.docx

Education remain a critical tool in overcoming poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. ghana educational system is yet to see any revolutional change from what was handed over by the colonial masters. with an increasing in the job market and the dynamics of global development, countries are positioning their education systems to meet the growing demand for human resource base that is poised to unravel developmental challenges through careful and diligent critical thinking. This paper focus on assessing how the Ghanaian education system is managed to ensure that it produces the require manpower for national development while suggesting areas that need critical attention.

OVERVIEW AND CHALLENGES OF GHANA’S EDUCATION SYSTEM: HOW TO FIX IT

In most countries across the globe, Governments’ commitments toward ensuring quality education and lifelong learning are markedly becoming vibrant, given the pervasive role education plays in stimulating highly skilled, well-informed and morally sound citizens. Ghana is not an exception. Since political independence, there have been considerable policy reforms, interventions, and directions as well as structural changes to our education system with the view to meeting contemporary educational standards (e.g. Kwapong Educational Review Committee in 1966; Dzobo Educational Review Committee in 1974; Amanuah-Mensah Educational Review Committee in 2002). To save time and space, this paper considers the major changes that have occurred since the late 1980's with emphasis on the pre-tertiary level of education. The paper argues that the current education system in Ghana has been characterized by three fundamental challenges, namely fragmented and over loaded curriculum, unequal access to education, and weak and incoherent administrative control. The paper concludes by offering a vision for a structural reform, capable of delivering quality lifelong learning to all young people.