ERNWACA Research Grants Programme
2009 edition
EDUCATION FOR SELF-RELIANCE IN GHANA: RETHINKING THE QUALITY OF
PRETERTIARY EDUCATION
Researchers
•
•
•
MATTHEW SABBI
JOSEPH SAKYI AMANKWAH
JULIETTE DUFIE BOATENG
Mentor : PROFESSOR DOMINIC KOFI AGYEMAN
Country: GHANA
Research financed by
Education Research Network for West and Central Africa (ERNWACA)
With project support from UEMOA regional Centre of Excellence
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
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DEDICATIONS
This work is dedicated to our parents for their unflinching support and guidance
throughout our educational life, and to the teaming masses of unemployed pre-tertiary
graduates.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are extremely grateful to the Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa
(ERNWACA) for the opportunity to participate in this Grant Research Programme without which
funding for the study would not have been possible.
Data collection for this study was made possible through the assistance of the following persons
who require special mention. Mr. Emmanuel Oppong worked extremely hard with data collection
from Tamale and its surrounding communities. Mr. Emmanuel Frimpong Nketiah and Ms. Grace
Affoah worked relentlessly gathering data from directors and assistant directors at the district
levels.
The project mentor, Professor Dominic Kofi Agyeman deserves special gratitude for his
constructive criticisms and directions that culminated into the success of this study.
Although working collectively as a team, our individual contributions to specific aspects of the
study are worth mentioning. Mr. Joseph Sakyi Amankwah deserves the credit for his inexorable
efforts at data collection at Winneba, Apam, Saltpond and Cape Coast while Ms. Juliette Dufie
Boateng deserves special commendation for her typing skills and critical comments on all
sections of the study. Mr. Matthew Sabbi deserves the credit for his efforts in data collection in
the central and northern regions of Ghana. Collectively, all team members deserve special
thanks for the sleepless nights spent on this work while doubling as graduate students working
on our individual theses.
We are also very grateful to all informants without whom this survey would not have been a
reality.
Last but not the least, we are also grateful to our colleagues at the School of Graduate Studies
and Research, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, for their invaluable contributions and
comments on the study.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Several studies have been conducted to examine the factors that determine skills and outcomes
among graduates at all levels of the educational system in Ghana. However, research on the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG) educational objectives and how they impact skills on
pretertiary graduates since its inception about ten years ago is still scant. This study examined
the self-employable skill development component of the MDG educational objectives in Ghana
in the light of ever rising armies of unemployable youth who graduate from the educational
system every year. This situation calls for improvement in the skills taught and learnt that is
crucial in addressing the unemployment problem among the pretertiary graduates in Ghana.
The study was conducted in the Northern and Central regions of Ghana with informants being
pretertiary teachers, educational researchers and directors and assistant directors of education.
Using proportional, purposive and random sampling techniques, views of 322 informants were
surveyed. It was observed that the MDG educational objectives promote enrolment without a
commensurate incorporation of quality and or self-employable skill teaching and learning. Also,
the inadequacy of logistics, support and personnel inhibit the acquisition of requisite skills
needed by pretertiary graduates to go into self-employment. Future curriculum improvements
should prioritize informal sector activities while providing logistics and support for improved skill
outcomes.
RÉSUMÉ
Plusieurs études ont été menées sur les facteurs déterminants les compétences et les résultats
chez les diplômés à tous les niveaux du système éducatif du Ghana. Cependant, depuis sa
création il y a environ dix ans, la recherche sur les objectifs pédagogiques des Objectifs du
Millénaire pour le Développement (OMD) et la manière dont ils influent sur les compétences des
diplômés pré-universitaire sont encore rares. Cette étude examine la composante du
développement des compétences auto-employables dans les objectifs éducatifs de l'OMD au
Ghana face à l’armée toujours croissante des jeunes diplômées inemployables qui chaque
année quittent le système éducatif. Cette situation demande une amélioration des compétences
techniques enseignées et apprises ce qui est essentielle pour s’adresser au problème du
chômage parmi les diplômés pré-universitaire au Ghana.
L'étude a été menée dans la région nord et centrale du Ghana avec des informateurs constitués
des enseignants pré-universitaires, des chercheurs en éducation et des directeurs et directeurs
adjoints de l'éducation. En utilisant des techniques d'échantillonnage proportionnelle, aléatoire
et à l’objet visé, 322 informateurs ont été interrogés. Il a été observé que les objectifs
pédagogiques des OMD promeuvent l’immatriculation sans considération adéquate de la qualité
et / ou de l’enseignement et de l'apprentissage des compétences auto-employables. Aussi,
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l'insuffisance de la logistique, du support et du personnel inhibent l'acquisition des compétences
requises par les diplômés pré-universitaires pour prendre le départ vers l’indépendance.
L'amélioration des programmes futures devrait prioriser les activités du secteur informel tout en
fournissant des moyens logistiques et du support pour les résultats de compétences améliorés
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Executive Summary
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables
Page
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iii
iv
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vii
Section One Introduction
Background
Statement of the Problem
Objective of the study
Specific Objectives
Research Questions
Justification for the Study
Definition of Terms and Concepts
Organization of the Study
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3
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Section Two Literature Review
Introduction
Theoretical Considerations
Education and Human Capital Development in Africa
The Challenge of Quality
Quality of Education and Self-Reliance
Educational Reforms and Quality Issues in Ghana
The Nature of Technical and Vocational Education in Ghana
The Millennium Development Goals and Quality of Education
in Ghana
Ghana’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and Quality of Pretertiary
Education
Conceptual Framework
Concluding Remarks on Literature Review
5
5
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6
7
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Section Three Methodology
Introduction
Research Design
The Scope of the Study Area
Target Population
Sample and Sampling Procedure
Data Collection Instrument
Pilot Study
Data Collection Procedure
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Return and Response Rates
Analysis
Reliability
Difficulties Encountered
Section Four Socio-Demographic Profile of the Sample
Introduction
Sex and Age Distribution
Educational Achievement of Respondents
Status and Occupational Life of Respondents
Concluding Remarks
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Section Five Quality of Education, MDGs and Self-Reliance
Introduction
The Millennium Development Goals and Education in Ghana
The Millennium Development Goals and Enrolment in Ghana
The Millennium Development Goals Principles and Quality-Quantity
Education
Millennium Development Goals and Self-Reliance Education
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Section Six Education and Self-Reliance in Ghana
Introduction
Education and Unemployment in Ghana
The School Curriculum and Informal Sector Activities
Education and National Development
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Section Seven Major findings, Conclusion and Recommendations
Introduction
Major Findings
Recommendations
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References
Appendix
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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Titles
Figure 1: Education for Self-Reliance Framework
Table 1: Summary Statistics of Sample
Table 2: Age Distribution of Respondents by Sex and by Region
Table 3: Level of Educational Achievement by Sex and by Region
Table 4: Occupation, Status and Years of Work of Respondents
Table 5: Knowledge of MDG Educational Principles by Region
of Residence
Table 6: Informants’ Perception of Gender-Bias by the
MDG Educational Objectives by Region
Table 7: Knowledge of Courses under MDG Educational
Principles by Region
Table 8: Awareness and Adequacy/Inadequacy of Courses under
MDG Educational Objectives for Pretertiary Schools
Table 9: Perception of Educational Policy that Favours
Self-Reliance
Table 10: MDG Educational Objectives’ Support for Self-Reliance
Table 11: Usefulness of MDG Educational Objectives for
Self-Reliance
Table 12: Consideration of Informal Sector Activities by
Status of Informants
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SECTION ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
The problems of education especially at the pretertiary level in Ghana, like many African
countries, are widely known. These problems are numerous and include, among others, the lack
of qualified personnel, poor and or inadequate infrastructure, inappropriate school curriculum for
skills development and poor personnel motivation. These consequences negatively affect the
quality of learning outcomes and, thus job prospects of students after their training.
The link between education and national development is well documented. If
development is understood, as in the words of Edelman and Haugerud, (2005) to mean
improved wellbeing, higher standards of living and increased opportunities, then, education has
a crucial role to play in achieving this dream.
Some authors (e.g. Agyeman, 1986 and Forojalla, 1993) have emphasized this crucial
role that education plays in the lives of students that eventually translates into national
development. They argue that no sound development could occur in the absence of equally
sound educational system because education provides the wealth of knowledge in solving novel
problems, personal mobility and leadership positions. The relationship between education and
development of society finds expression in huge sums of government revenues committed to
educational expenditures.
One thing that baffles many authorities, especially researchers in education, is the fact
that education has not realized its vision of equipping pretertiary graduates with self-employable
skills given the fact that there is a rising unemployment among graduates of all levels across
Africa. It has been suggested that the quality of education that is received in schools unable to
equip students with the skills necessary for self-employment (Addae-Mensah, 2000) and once
formal sector employment opportunities are closed, graduates have very little to offer in helping
themselves for their own livelihoods.
One reason that has been suggested to account for the mismatch between education
and national development is that educational policies and strategies usually take after Western
educational models that disregard the contextual differences in developing regions, especially in
Africa. In fact, these policies are usually designed to offer skills relevant to formal sector
employment but this sector is woefully inadequate to accommodate the teeming unemployed
graduates of all levels in Africa in general and Ghana in particular. These concerns were raised
by Nyerere (1968) several decades ago that education provided in a context like this only
prepares individuals for a future which is not open to them. Other scholars have suggested a
purposeful education for Africa that can provide skills necessary for graduates to make use of
their acquired human capital resources in their own countries (Busia, 1968).
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on education have informed educational
policies in Africa for about a decade and are supposed to address these contradictions in
education. This study therefore examines how far the MDG educational objectives are
addressed by the pretertiary schools to make important contribution to national development.
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Statement of the Problem
Ghana, like any African country that was colonized, has educational system modeled
after that of the colonial power, Britain. This system of education produces graduates with
requisite skills needed for formal sector jobs. Nyerere (1968) argued that the system of
education inherited from the colonial administration has resulted in turning out graduates who
are unable to contribute to national development because they are trained to work in the formal
sector of the economy which is woefully inadequate in developing regions such as Africa.
Besides, such educational system promotes brain drain.
The population of Ghana is estimated to be around 22 million with an annual growth rate
of about 2.5% The youth population (i.e. 10-24yrs) is estimated to be 7,500,000 (Population
Reference Bureau, 2006) and about 20% of the youth are unemployed (Ghana Statistical
Services, 2005). Yet over the years, the number of graduates produced in various institutions
continues to rise. The MDGs on education seek to provide education for all by the year 2015.
Thus, many people may pass through the education system with skills that are only useful for
the formal sector of the economy yet this sector is growing at a snail pace and thus unable to
absorb the graduates. Besides, many of the graduates have little or no knowledge in the
application of such skills to non-formal sector activities.
Although after independence, Ghana has made attempts to reform its educational
system, the problem of inability of graduates to use their acquired skills to effect development
has persisted. This is largely due to the fact that these reforms have paid little attention to the
informal sector. Yet the Ghanaian economy, like the economies of other African countries,
depends largely on the informal sector. The end result is mass unemployment,
underemployment, and poverty in the country.
At present Ghana’s educational system has been fashioned along the principles of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs on education namely, the achievement of
universal primary education and the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women
by 2015 were carved out of the Six Dakar Goals which seek to promote education for all (EFA)
in order to create opportunities to learn, enhance capabilities and also to achieve national
development (UNESCO, 2002). Notwithstanding the fact that the MDGs promise better
prospects for development in Africa, it seems the principles emphasize quantity at the expense
of quality of education within the context of individual countries involved. The MDGs principles
give the impression that the more graduates are turned out by the educational system, the
better it would be for industrial productivity without taking cognizance of the dearth of industries
in Ghana.
Against this backdrop, this study investigates the extent to which the type of education
provided at the pretertiary level in Ghana reflects the acquisition of self-employable skills by the
graduates in order to contribute to national development.
Objective of the Study
The broad objective of this study therefore is to examine the type of education provided
at the pretertiary level under the MDG educational objectives and how these objectives enhance
or inhibit the acquisition of self-employment skills by pretertiary graduates in Ghana.
Specific Objectives
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The study specifically:
• Examines the level of awareness of teachers, policy makers, and educational
researchers about the MDG educational principles in Ghana.
• Assesses whether the pretertiary schools teach self-employable skills.
• Assesses whether pretertiary graduates learn adequate self-employable skills under the
MDG educational objectives in Ghana.
• Examines the extent to which the self-employable skills learned by pretertiary graduates
influence their job chances.
• Examines the challenges involved in using the MDG educational objectives for the
acquisition of self-employable skills for pretertiary graduates.
To achieve the above objectives of the study, the following research questions are stated.
Research Questions
The study specifically addresses the following research questions:
• What is the level of awareness of teachers, researchers and policy makers on the MDGs
which informs current educational policies?
• To what extent do pretertiary schools teach self-employable skills under the MDG
educational objectives in Ghana?
• To what extent do the MDG educational objectives influence the self-employable skills
learned by pretertiary graduates?
• How do the skills learned by pretertiary graduates influence their job chances?
• What are the challenges faced by the use of the MDG educational objectives for selfemployable skills by pretertiary graduates?
Justification for the Study
This study seeks to unravel the factors that inhibit the potential of Ghana’s educational system
to produce pretertiary graduates who are self-reliant and can therefore meet the needs of the
society. The results of the study would be useful for guiding educational policy and also for
building capacities in research and implementation of educational policies.
Definition of Terms and Concepts
Throughout this study, some terms and concepts are used. It is therefore important that
their meanings are made clear.
Education: the kind of training that provides learners with requisite skills to solve novel
problems (Agyeman, 1993; Forojalla, 1993) and to take initiatives in adapting to changing
situations in their own context.
Quality Education: this concept, closely related to education for self-reliance, refers to the type
of education that provides learners with appropriate skills and competences for use in their own
context.
Self-Reliance Education: the type of education that provides learners with self-employable
skills and special ability in vocations such as catering, carpentry, agriculture and information
technology (Nyerere, 1968). It should make it possible for learners to adapt the skills they have
acquired to their own context.
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Pretertiary Education: the type of education provided in primary, junior high and senior high
schools.
MDG Educational Objectives: Millennium Development Goals on education namely; providing
universal basic education to all children of school going age; and closing the gender disparity in
school enrolment for children of school going age by 2015 (UN, 2008; UNESCO, 2002).
FCUBE: Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education.
Organization of the Study
The study is organized under seven sections. Section One introduces the background
and what informs the subject of the study as well as the objectives to be achieved. Section Two
examines existing literature on educational strategies and the policies that have informed the
curriculum used in pretertiary schools in Ghana. Section Three discusses the methodological
approaches used in collecting and organizing the data for this study. This covers the target
population, sampling procedures, data collection procedure as well as challenges encountered
in the field. Section Four examines the socio-demographic information of the respondents of the
study while Section Five discusses the quality of education provided under the MDG
educational principles and its potential for the development of self-employable skills among
pretertiary graduates. Section Six examines the possibility of using education for self-reliance
development as well as the problems and challenges encountered in achieving this objective.
Finally Section Seven provides the summary and conclusions of the findings and makes
recommendation for guiding policy action and also for future research in the area of education
for self-employable skills.
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SECTION TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This section examines some of the extant literature on educational strategies and their
effects on quality in Ghana. Drawing on theoretical and empirical findings from global, regional
and local perspectives, the various educational reforms, implementation and quality issues of
pretertiary education in Ghana are examined. Further, the section discusses the content of
education under the Millennium Development Goals to examine the extent to which these goals
are promoting learning outcomes which increase the job chances of pretertiary graduates in the
context of self-reliance.
Theoretical Considerations
Education, whether formal or informal, is generally accepted as a life-long endeavour
that permeates individuals’ life course from birth till death (Miranda, 2006) and largely involves
the acquisition of necessary skills required to perform roles in the economy. These skills, for
Agyeman (1993), bring the individuals to the perfection of their nature. Conceived this way,
education is a human capital. From the human capital perspective, education is seen as the
acquisition of assets or resources available to groups and individuals, that is to say, knowledge
and abilities people receive through formal and informal education, training and experiences.
For Cornell and Hartmann (1998), individuals with high human capital have particularly valuable
skills or knowledge which is fungible. From this perspective, it can be suggested that education
is human capital that, once acquired, enables its possessor to translate it into better job, higher
income, more authority and or more satisfying set of activities.
In the same direction it is plausible to establish the link between education and economic
development; when economic development is defined as the improvement in the lives of people
and manifested by positive changes in the levels and distribution of employment that translates
further into per capita income. In this light, the education and economic development model
lends more support for education in equipping individuals with requisite skills for the
performance of appropriate tasks with positive outcomes that translate into economic
development.
Education and Human Capital Development in Africa
The human capital theory that suggests the instrumentality of education in economic
development through the provision of skills and technologies designed to improve competencies
has influenced education in Africa. The theory sees a direct contribution of education to
development in terms of occupational skills because labour is a vital component of the factors of
national output (Forojalla, 1993). This idea of education and development had political,
educational and social planning implications. It led to the influx of educational materials such as
books and journal articles which sought to demonstrate this link between education and
development (Anderson and Bowman as cited in Forojalla, 1993). In developing countries, the
attainment of a literate population through universal primary education (UPE) and the expansion
in educational enrolments and expenditure became national policy priority (Coombs as cited in
Forojalla, 1993). In Africa, this line of thinking and persuasion found expression in the
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expansion of educational systems fuelled by a series of UNESCO-sponsored conferences
especially in the 1960s. In a 1961 Addis Ababa Conference, African states reached a
consensus to provide universal primary and secondary education for 30 percent of the relevant
age group by 1980. Additionally, ambitious economic development and manpower plans were
formulated which concentrated largely on education (Forojalla, 1993).
Unfortunately, many developing countries have failed to pay proper attention to the fact
that the content and context of education provided are crucial determinants of learning
outcomes. Many scholars have pointed to wholesale adoption of educational policies modeled
after western-style education that prepares students to work in the formal sector of the economy
as the bane of non-productivity of students in developing countries such as Ghana.
The above discussions point to the importance of the socio-economic context critical for
developing a framework for educational strategies in developing countries which depend largely
on their informal sector which has received scanty attention in African educational curriculum. In
fact, the type of education needed in developing countries is one that teaches students how to
make use of the resources within their social context capable of producing learning outcomes
that would lead to both personal and national development. It has been suggested that whereas
a general level of basic education may be conducive to economic development, it is probably
not the prime cause. Dore (1976) detests the education system in Africa where schools often do
not teach useful skills but rather encourage conformity at the expense of innovativeness and an
unthinking acceptance of the need for qualification rather than the application of useful
knowledge. This thus accounts for the discrepancy between education and national
development in Africa.
For countries whose economies largely depend on agriculture and the informal sector
activities, a blend of school and work programmes may be more relevant and productive. In this
connection, Nyerere’s (1968) philosophy of “education for self-reliance” is appropriate.
According to him, rural schools aside stressing agricultural technology should be instrumental in
inculcating the values, attitudes and behaviours related to rural life. Since economic growth
requires productivity in the primary sector, it is only reasonable that the education system
promotes the skills and individual motivation appropriate to the sector. In addressing curriculum
needs for improved learning outcomes, Busia (1968) on his part has suggested that learning
skills for manpower needs require changes in the social and economic structure so that the gap
between the living conditions of the industrial and agricultural sectors can be reduced.
Unfortunately, the educational systems in Africa are yet to reflect the contextual realities
necessary for equipping learners for self-employable skills.
The overarching concern of this study is the quality of education in relation to the social
context in which it is provided. This requires an integrated educational framework which will
combine with the social structure to produce an impact on productivity or attitudes and lead to
desirable outcomes for development at both the individual and national levels.
The Challenge of Quality
As noted earlier, the failure of educational policies to meet the desired goals in Africa
emanate from the fact that these policies and strategies have been modeled on the western
education philosophy as stated above. Indeed, western philosophy in general disregards the
internal differences and dynamics of individual societies in the world (Kumar, 1978). Since
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individual societies are different, what is needed is an alternative education-development model
that aims at personal and community empowerment and thus promotes learning experiences
and outcomes (Hoppers, 2005) that are relevant to the African context.
The education system in Ghana, just like many other African countries, was modeled on
those of the former colonial powers. The British system of education introduced in Ghana
placed emphasis on subservient attitudes and white collar skills and, as suggested by Nyerere
(1968), was based on the assumption of a colonialist and capitalist society which disregards the
unique African social context. The fact remains that there is an ever rising unemployment
among graduates of all levels in Africa. Research evidence from Togo and Benin, for example,
has shown that teaching and learning in schools are oriented towards objectives which are often
different from the context in which they are provided and thus have little connection with local
community occupations and concerns (Maclure, 1997). This is due mainly to the fact that the
educational system does not equip learners with requisite self-employable skills. Yet as has
been observed in Ghana in recent times many students leave school with the aim of working in
the formal sector of the economy. When job openings in the formal sector are closed or limited,
which is typical of Ghana, these graduates find it difficult to turn to alternative employment in the
informal sector because the education system does not prepare them to deal with the informal
sector.
As Nyerere (1968) rightly points out, education should consider issues regarding the
provision of individuals with an enquiring mind; an ability to learn from what others do; reject or
adapt to their own needs; and a basic confidence in their own position. This situation certainly
involves practical and hands-on application of what is learnt; and education becomes useful
when students learn the basic principle of modern knowledge in agriculture, and adapt them to
solve their own problems.
Quality of Education and Self-Reliance in Ghana
The quality of education in Ghana has been the subject of considerable critique in recent
years. For most people, education has not realized its expected ends because majority of
students from pretertiary to tertiary institutions usually leave school lacking the basic skills for
entrepreneurship. Nyerere (1968) has suggested that basic education should not be just a
preparation for higher education but instead, should be complete education in itself that
provides knowledge, skills and attitudes. It should go beyond teaching school children the basic
numeracy and literacy but rather produce individuals that are thoroughly integrated into local
life. This is the idea of self-reliance propelled by education.
According to Nyerere (1968), quality education is one that prepares learners for
occupations in agriculture, carving, blacksmithing, etc. and when education fails in any of these
fields of knowledge, skills, and attitudes for change in both the individual and the society, then
the society’s progress falters and learners may come to find that their education has prepared
them for a future which is not open to them. For Nyerere, self-reliant education, is one that
stresses concepts of equality and responsibility and provides learners with skills and special
ability in vocations such as carpentry, animal husbandry or academic pursuits. It thus should
encourage people to learn the basic principles of modern knowledge in for example, agriculture
and adapt them to solve their own problems. This type of quality in education in Ghana has not
been realized since the educational system is confronted with problems such as inadequate
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teaching and learning materials, personnel, and infrastructure. This situation adversely affects
the skills acquired by pretertiary graduates and thus renders them unemployable.
Educational Reforms and Quality Issues in Ghana
Ghana’s quest for quality education has informed a number of educational reforms and
reviews. However, the country is yet to exploit the full benefits of these reforms and reviews. Dr.
Nkrumah’s government sought to modify the educational system inherited from the colonial
administration and thus pave way for many Ghanaians to have access to basic education.
However, the rapid expansion in education resulted in a drop in quality since the inadequacy of
teachers compelled the government to settle for pupil teachers. Moreover, the graduates from
the primary schools could not find employment and had to migrate to urban areas in search of
jobs (Foster, 1965). Since then a number of review and reform committees have been formed
with the aim of improving the quality of basic education. These committees include the Kwapong
Education Review (1966); the Dzobo Committee (1972); the Evans-Anfom Committee (1986);
the Education Reform Review Committee (1993) and the Committee on the Review of
Education Reforms in Ghana (2002).
While all these reforms have sought to improve the quality of basic education, only three
specifically dealt with the quality of skills development by students at the pretertiary level. Firstly,
the Kwapong Education Review in 1966 recommended a two-year pre-vocational continuation
school to equip pupils in middle school with basic industrial and agricultural skills required to be
gainfully employed either in the formal sector or informal sector or self-employed (Tonah, 2009).
Training was to be given in kente weaving, sandal making, baking, cooking and needle work. It
has been suggested that the programme flopped because many of the students, especially
those from affluent homes, preferred entering into senior secondary schools to vocational and
technical institutes (Kadingdi, 2005).
Secondly, following the dwindled government investment and deteriorating technical
logistics and infrastructural facilities in public schools, a new education reform was introduced in
1987, based on recommendations from two committees namely the Dzobo Committee (1972)
and the Evans-Anfom Committee (1986). This led to a reduction in the length of pretertiary
education from 17 years to 12 years and organized into 6 years of primary education, 3 years of
Junior Secondary School (JSS) and 3 years Senior Secondary School (SSS). This
recommendation was based on the assumption that graduates from the JSS will be ready for
the world of work by offering them pre-tertiary and prevocational training (Tonah, 2009) such
that they will acquire the requisite skills to be gainfully employed. Although this reform led to
expansion in access and enrolment at the basic level plus a curriculum that emphasized the
socio-cultural context, inadequate infrastructure, non-availability of teachers, poorly-equipped
schools, inadequate workshops for technical and vocational training, and lack of teaching and
learning materials have accounted for the non-performance of the graduates (Agyeman, Baku,
& Gbadamosi, 2000).
Thirdly, a committee was set up in 2002 to review the educational system to make it
more responsive to current challenges. The committee recommended the introduction of basic
education programme of 2 years kindergarten, 6 years of primary school and 3 years of JHS
after which graduates of the JHS will enter into 4 years SHS to train in vocational, technical and
agricultural and general education or for a structured scheme of apprenticeship (Tonah, 2009).
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The key observation from these reviews and reforms is that they have failed to equip
pre-tertiary students with the basic skills necessary for developing job competences and finding
employment thereof. This situation has exacerbated the unemployment rate in the country since
graduates from the pre-tertiary and tertiary levels cannot find work.
The Nature of Technical and Vocational Education Training in Ghana
Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) was introduced in Ghana’s Free
Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) curriculum as part of measures to correct the
problems students in the old school system faced if they drop-out of school. However, the
programme has yet to realize its fullest potential since the curriculum was changed from the old
system to the new one without any qualitative improvement in the public schools (AddaeMensah, 2000). Specifically, the TVET subsector seeks to provide the human capital for
economic growth and development. Unfortunately, the TVET subsector is in a deplorable state
because key attention has been on Senior and Junior High School education. It has been
observed that of the technical institutions in Ghana, only six (6) are adequately equipped to
function well due to problems of neglect and funding (GoG, 2002). The numerous setbacks
suffered by the TVET programme include the absence of experimental laboratory, workshops,
tools, teaching and learning materials, and personnel or experts to facilitate learning of requisite
skills.
Infrastructural support, personnel training and motivation, as well as teaching and
learning materials are crucial for skill outcomes. Glewwe and Jacoby (1994) have observed that
infrastructural support such as repairing classrooms (a policy option ignored in most education
production function studies) is a cost-effective investment in Ghana, relative to providing more
instructional materials and improving teacher quality. Fobih, Koomson, and Godwyll (1996)
have added that the 1987 educational reform commenced with inadequate teaching personnel,
poor and inadequate infrastructure and equipment for technical, agricultural and science
subjects. It was purposely a change in name rather than logistics and support for
implementation.
Given these constraints, it is not surprising that the programme is unpopular among most
parents and students/pupils who have negative attitudes towards technical and vocational
courses (Kadingdi, 2005). Again, this could partly explain why most junior high school graduates
are not interested in pursuing technical and vocational programmes at the senior high school
because, as Foster (1965) has suggested, students are influenced by the industry (and or
formal sector employment) when choosing their programmes of study at the senior high and
tertiary levels. In the end, there is a large army of ill-educated and unemployable pretertiary
graduates that are churned out of the country’s education system and thus increasing the
unemployment rate in the country (Addae-Mensah, 2000).
The Millennium Development Goals and Quality of Education in Ghana
The problems encountered in using education to seek development in Ghana as
happens elsewhere in developing regions became alarming that in 2000, the United Nations
aspirations of development plans for the new millennium committed two goals to education.
These include first, achieving universal primary education; targeting children everywhere (boys
and girls) to complete a full course of primary education by 2015; and second, promoting
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gender equality and empowering women, which targets the elimination of gender disparity in
primary and secondary education, preferably by 2015 and to all levels of education no later than
2015 (United Nations, 2008). These goals were necessitated by the fact that poverty and
gender inequalities interplay to keep a substantive number of children out of school and such
goals were defined as crucial for the elimination of extreme poverty. The millennium
development goals (MDGs) on education sprang out of the Dakar Six Goals which were agreed
on in April 2000 at the World Education Forum in Dakar.
The Dakar goals seek to address issues regarding the expansion and improvement of
comprehensive early childhood care education, especially for the most vulnerable and
disadvantaged children; provision of access to and complete free and compulsory primary
education of good quality and the elimination of gender disparities in primary and secondary
education by 2005 with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in
basic education of good quality, and improving all aspects of quality education (EFA Global
Monitoring Report, 2002).
The MDGs on education and the Dakar Six goals are noble commitments and their
achievement hold a better prospects for the world as regards development. What these two
principles have overlooked, however, is the issue of education that provides skills for selfreliance in the development of individual beneficiaries and the societies which offer them
education. Despite the fact that the UN believes that achieving universal basic education means
more than full enrolment and encompasses quality education, its emphasis is limited to learning
of basic literacy and numeracy (United Nations, 2008). Although the UN has recorded some
gains in access and enrolment in education, the fact that there is a rising unemployment and
underemployment among graduates of all levels of the educational system throughout Africa is
indicative of the mismatch between education for all and economic development. The case of
Ghana reflects the situation in other parts of Africa.
The EFA goals and MDG educational objectives enjoin individual countries to include the
plans in their Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) in a bid to give greater priority to
these goals in national development debate and policy development. Unfortunately, EFA Global
Monitoring Report (2002) has asserted that there is often a weak link between the diagnosis of
education and poverty on the one hand, and the education outcomes and actions that are
proposed on the other.
Ghana’s Poverty Reduction Strategy and Quality of Pretertiary Education
Ghana’s Poverty Reduction Strategies (GPRS) paper has two strategies towards
meeting the quality needs of basic education namely; the capitation grant and the school
feeding programme. The growing concern to address the deteriorating educational enrolment,
quality and gender gaps led Ghana to embrace the commitments set out in the MDGs on
education. The GPRS has set out plans and strategies that go beyond the MDGs to educational
targets aimed at developing manpower needs of a future middle-income (NDPC, 2006). The
GPRS seeks to address issues such as access to different levels of the education ladder,
information and communication technology (ICT), distance education and financing of education
through:
i.
Increasing access to and participation in education and training at all levels;
ii.
Bridging gender gaps in access to education in all districts;
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iii.
iv.
v.
Improving quality of teaching and learning;
Improving efficiency in the delivery of education services; and
Promote science and technology education at all levels with particular attention to
increased participation of girls.
The first four priorities are captured in the capitation grant and the school feeding
programmes. The capitation grant and the school feeding programmes are meant to ease the
constraints posed by the demand-side to education on the one hand, as against the provision of
texts, infrastructural facilities, and trained teachers etc. to ease constraints on the supply-side of
education on the other (Osei, Owusu, Asem, Afutu-Kotey, 2009). The capitation grant is a
scheme for meeting the MDGs on education whereby the government through the Education
Strategy Plan (2003-2015) absorbs all fees charged by schools and also provide schools with a
small grant for each pupil enrolled. In this scheme, every public kindergarten, primary and junior
high school receives a grant of about $3.30 per pupil. Already, the scheme has chalked some
successes in terms of enrolment. UNICEF has observed that primary school enrolment
increased from 62% to 69% in 2007, and there have been tremendous rises in all the regions.
Additionally girls’ enrolment has been high going slightly beyond that of boys (as cited in Osei,
et al. 2009).
In conjunction with the capitation grant, the school feeding programme offers poor
children an opportunity to attend school while increasing their nutritional status; it also increases
enrolment and retention. Though the capitation grant and the school feeding programme in the
early periods of implementation have chalked some gains, their impact on the quality of
education is not well defined because any increase in enrolment resulting from these education
subsidies puts added pressure on existing school facilities with adverse implications for the
quality of education provided (Osei, et al. 2009).
Notwithstanding these successes, some challenges such as inadequate infrastructural
facilities to accommodate the rising numbers of pupils, inadequate texts and instructional
materials, delays in release of funds, etc. have emerged (Osei, et al. 2009). The school feeding
programme, on its part , targets children in primary schools (aged between 6-12) as well as
those at the preschool level who are entitled to a hot lunch a day. Girls who are able to make
monthly attendance of 85% or more are given a take home ration, especially in the north of
Ghana (CRS, 2003). The programme is being pilot tested in selected schools in each district in
the country.
More importantly, the promise of skill development and entrepreneurial training in the
GPRS paper, especially the demand-driven skills, and the promotion and establishment of
production units in all vocational training centres are yet to take on any significant meaning
though these standards have been spelt out in the National Apprenticeship Programme (NAP)
(NDPC, 2006). Consequently, a large number of primary, junior and senior high school
graduates keep trooping out with poor skills and employable capacities. These and other
findings militate against the prospects in the MDGs on education for the elimination of poverty
through skill development.
Conceptual Framework for the Study
The review of literature has so far discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the
models and strategies used in Ghana’s education system aimed at equipping pretertiary
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graduates with self-employable skills. This study proposes a conceptual framework that links
education to informal sector activities so that graduates from the pretertiary schools may
become self-employable after their training.
From the framework, it is observed that self-reliance could be achieved if there is a clear
understanding of MDG educational objectives with regard to educational provision. This can be
realized if there is an inter-relationship between curriculum innovation, logistic and support and
personnel capacity building with regard to the specific aims of education. When these are
properly integrated, learners are expected to be equipped with self-employable skills for the
world of work leading to national outcomes in the form of increased employment and improved
wellbeing among pretertiary graduates.
Figure one illustrates the inter-relationship between the various factors described above.
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MDG
Educational
Objectives
Education for
Self-Reliance
Input Factors
Outcomes
Curriculum
Innovation
Logistics and
Support
Courses for
employable
skills:
Teaching/Traini
ng and Learning
Materials
-Technical
-Physical
structures e.g.
laboratories,
computers, and
workshops
-Vocational
-Agricultural
Personnel
Capacity
Building
-Teacher
motivation
-Personnel
training
Individual
National
-Selfemployable
skills for
independent
living
-Increased
Employment
-ICT
-apprenticeship
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-Improved
well-being
Figure 1: Education for Self-Reliance Framework
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Concluding Remarks on Literature Review
Thus far, the foregoing has explored literature on education policies and strategies in
Ghana in particular and Africa in general. The review has unraveled the fact that education as
human capital development, leads to the acquisition of skills necessary for individual change
that eventually culminates into national or societal change and thus development. The
discussion has also explored key approaches/strategies in used in Ghana’s education system to
equip learners with self-employable skills.
One thing that is obvious from this review is that the benefits expected from educational
reforms and reviews plus the current MDG principles on education are yet to be felt. In fact,
education seems to have failed to equip the youth with requisite skills and entrepreneurial
capacities for employment. It is against this backdrop of rising unemployment among a large
number of graduates from both pretertiary and tertiary levels that this study seeks to examine
the whether the MDGs on education enhance or inhibit requisite quality of education for skills
development and thus contribute to self-reliance at the individual level.
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SECTION THREE
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This section describes the various methodological approaches used for gathering data
for the study. It describes the areas where the study was conducted, the design for the study,
the target population, sample and sampling procedures used. Also, the section examines
instrumentation and data collection procedures, issues of validity and reliability while throwing
light on some of the difficulties that were encountered during the collection of the data and the
ways by which these challenges were confronted.
Research Design
The study employed the cross-sectional survey design which involved surveying the
opinions of teachers, educational researchers and policy makers/administrators from the
northern and southern regions of Ghana.
Choice of the Study Areas
The study was conducted in two regions in Ghana namely the Central and Northern
Regions. These regions were selected purposively to allow comparison of opinions between
policy makers, teachers and educational researchers from the southern part of Ghana which
boasts of superior educational infrastructure and logistics and the northern part where these are
wanting. In essence, the two regions show differential degrees of educational conditions and
access to schools in Ghana. This will allow for comparison of the opinions of policy-makers,
teachers and educational researchers on the MDG principles on education and outcomes in the
two different parts of Ghana.
Target Population
The target population for this study was made up of three categories of respondents
namely teachers in pretertiary schools (primary, junior high schools and senior high schools);
policy-makers (i.e. directors and assistant directors of education); and lecturers and educational
researchers. The lecturers and educational researchers were selected from the University of
Cape Coast and University of Education, Winneba, which offer training and research in
education.
Sample and Sampling Procedure
The study employed mixed-bag of purposive, proportional and convenient sampling
procedures. Data from the Ministry of Education estimates that there are 6,418 public Junior
High Schools (JHS) and 474 public Senior High Schools (SHS) in the country. In the two study
regions, the figures are 48 listed SHS for the Central Region and 11 listed SHS for the Northern
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Region. From an initial observation, it was realized that some towns have only primary school/s
and JHS but no SHS. However, since the study was interested in all three categories of schools,
only towns with the listed SHS were selected. This is because towns with SHS usually have
primary and JHS as well. In each study region, the capital city and two other towns that met the
school-category criteria (i.e. towns with primary, JHS and SHS) were selected. For the Central
Region, Cape Coast, Gomoa and Mfantsiman districts were selected. In the Northern Region,
Tamale, East Mamprusi and Savelugu/Nanton districts were selected. In the absence of
adequate sampling frame for the teachers, those who were chanced on at the staff common
rooms were used for the study.
Two hundred teachers in pretertiary schools (categorized into SHS, JHS and Primary) in
the two regions were targeted. In each region, two schools from each category in the capital city
plus one school in each category in the other two districts were selected for the survey. Ten
teachers were chosen from each selected SHS, 10 from each selected JHS and 5 from each
selected primary school. The breakdown for the respondents in the schools by the districts is
given as follows:
Northern Region:
Tamale (capital city): Tamale Senior High School (10); Tamale Girls Senior High School (10);
Bishop’s JHS (10); Choggu JHS (10); Bishop’s Primary School (5), and Sakasaka Primary
School (5).
East Mamprusi: Nalerigu Senior High School (10); Nalerigu Roman Catholic JHS (10), and
Nalerigu Roman Catholic Primary School (5).
Savelugu/Nanton: Savelugu Senior High School (10); Savelugu Roman Catholic JHS (10),
and Savelugu Roman Catholic Primary School (5).
Central Region:
Cape Coast (capital city): University Practice Senior High School (10); Academy of Christ the
King Senior High School (10); St. Nicholas JHS (10); University Practice JHS (10); St. Nicholas
Primary School (5), and University Practice Primary School (5).
Gomoa West: Apam Senior High School (10); Apam Methodist JHS (10), and Apam Methodist
Primary School (5).
Mfantsiman: Saltpond Methodist Senior High School (10); Methodist JHS (10), and Methodist
Primary (5).
The total respondents for pretertiary teachers therefore is 200.
A census was attempted for the educational researchers and/ lecturers at the University
of Cape Coast and University of Education, Winneba, but only 100 of them (i.e. 48 from UCC
and 52 from UEW) availed themselves for participation.
Similarly, an attempt was made to include all districts directors and regional directors of
education in the two regions. However, due to their busy schedules many of them could not be
reached. Therefore 58 of them including assistant directors of education participated. They
comprised respondents from 10 and 5 districts in the central region and northern regions
respectively.
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Table 1
Summary Statistics of Sample (Targeted)
Region
Central
Northern
Category of Respondents
Teachers
Policy-makers
Educational Researchers
Teachers
Policy-makers
Total
Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
Number of Respondents
100
35
100
100
23
358
Data Collection Instrument
The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire designed by the researchers and
subjected to expert review by the project mentor. The choice of the questionnaire was informed
by the fact that the sample is a literate group and thus could respond to the items independently
of the researchers’ involvement and biases. The questionnaire was structured into five (5)
sections. Section A sought to gather socio-demographic information about the respondents.
Section B was designed to measure the respondents’ level of awareness of the MDG
educational objectives and their impact on learning outcomes for pretertiary graduates. Section
C was structured to capture information on the courses designed under the MDG educational
objectives, their adequacy and or inadequacy in meeting the desired skills for self-employment
among pretertiary graduates. Respondents who did not know about the courses designed under
the MDG educational objectives were asked to suggest courses needed to empower pretertiary
graduates to acquire self-employable skills. Section D was designed to capture information on
the problems faced by the educational system in meeting the skills needed by pretertiary
graduates for self-employment. Section E sought information on the challenges that prevent
education from contributing positively to national development. Respondents who did not
immediately perceive any challenges were asked to indicate their level of satisfaction with
education on performance and outcome indicators such as teacher motivation, teacher
performance, performance of pretertiary graduates, and skills acquired by pretertiary graduates.
Pilot study
A pilot study was conducted to test the reliability and validity of the data collection
instrument. The pilot study surveyed opinions of 20 pretertiary teachers and 10 lecturers at the
Kumasi campus of UEW and the comments received helped in modifying the instrument for the
main survey. Validity of the instrument was ensured through the expert advice of the project
mentor.
Data Collection Procedure
The instrument was administered by the researchers in the two regions with the help of
three trained data collection assistants. For the teachers, permission was sought from their
respective heads of schools before the respondents were reached mostly from their staff
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common rooms. Teachers were entreated to give unbiased responses to the question items.
They were assured of confidentiality with the explanation that the study was purely for
educational policy and capacity building. The lecturers and or educational researchers were
mainly reached through their heads of department who were contacted by the researchers for
their participation. The policy-makers, especially the directors of education, were visited at their
administrative offices while assistant directors were visited in their respective schools (while
collecting data from the teachers).
The administration of the questionnaires for the entire study lasted for nearly a month
but the retrieval of the completed survey instruments took much longer than expected. This was
especially true for lecturers and educational researchers which ran into more than two months.
Return and Response Rates
In all 329 questionnaires were retrieved from the respondents and thus providing a
return rate of 91.5%. However, upon careful examination of the instruments, 7 questionnaires
were discarded due to inconsistencies in responses and/ incomplete responses. The final
response rate therefore came to 322 (84%) out of the expected 329.
Analysis
The SPSS version 16 was used to analyze the data after a careful coding instruction
was created.
Reliability
Reliability tests were computed for the various dimensions of the instrument. A
coefficient alpha of 0.85 was obtained for the dimensions that measured awareness of the MDG
educational objectives and its effect on learning outcomes; 0.69 for the dimension measuring
the adequacy or inadequacy of the MDG educational objectives for self-reliance; 0.63 for the
dimension that measured problems faced by the educational system in meeting the self-reliant
needs of pretertiary graduates, and 0.66 for the dimension measuring the challenges that
prevent education from contributing to national development.
Difficulties Encountered
This survey confronted a number of constraints. The first had to do with retrieving the
questionnaires from the respondents, especially those from the lecturers and researchers
category which took relatively longer than the others. Second, our inability to predetermine the
number of teachers in each selected school implies that we cannot adequately ensure the
representativeness of the sample though attempts were made to incorporate as many females
as possible.
SECTION FOUR
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SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE SAMPLE
Introduction
This section presents a description of the background characteristics of the subjects of
the study. Variables such as age, sex, educational qualification, status in their organizations,
number of years of work and their spatial locations of the respondents are examined.
Sex and Age Distribution
As already mentioned in section three, the total sample under study is 322. Data from
the sample is biased in favour of men 69.3% (n=223) as against women 30.7% (n =99).
Regional distribution of the sample was skewed in favour of the Central Region. Thus,
71.7% (n =160) of the males reside in the Central Region while 28.3% (n =63) are in the
Northern region and 59.6% (n =59) of the females reside in the Central region while 40.4% (n
=40) come from the Northern region.
Unsurprisingly, the higher representation of males than females is because by opening
up the survey to all teachers and educational researchers without predetermining the sex
proportions, we were by implication dealing with more males than females especially at the JHS
and SHS levels where there are more males than females. Secondly, the large male
representation is accounted for by the educational researchers sub sample which comes mainly
from the Central Region.
In terms of age, our criterion for inclusion in the sample was that, on average, people
who complete teacher training education in Ghana are around age 23 but respondents should
have worked for at least 2 years. Therefore the starting point for inclusion into the sample was
25 years and above. It is noticed that in all cases, i.e. across the age groups, the male sample
outnumbered that of the female. The details of the sample age distribution are given in Table 2.
Table 2
Age Distribution of Respondents by Sex and by Region
Age Group
Sex
Region
Total
Central
Northern
25-34 (n=154)
Male
74
32
106
Female
29
19
48
35-44 (n =88)
Male
45
14
59
Female
19
10
29
45-54 (n =65)
Male
36
13
49
Female
7
9
16
55+ (n =65)
Male
5
4
9
Female
4
2
6
Total
219
103
322
Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
The average (mean) age of the total sample is 37.7 years with a standard deviation of
1.44. This shows that the respondents are relatively youthful and active. Comparing this with the
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mean ages of the sub samples for the two regions, we observe that the mean age for the
Central region is 37.6 years with a standard deviation of 1.75 while the Northern region has a
mean age of 37.8 years with a standard deviation of 2.57. this shows that respondents from the
Central Region are slightly younger than those from the Northern Region.
Educational Achievement
The educational achievement for the sample is high considering the fact that we are
dealing with a literate group of teachers and educational researchers. However, the Central
Region sub-sample possesses the highest level of educational qualification compared with their
Northern counterpart. Indeed while 27.7% (N=86) of the total sample with post graduate
qualification come from the Central Region, only one respondent has a postgraduate
qualification from the Northern region. However, a substantial number of the total sample 50.6%
(N=163) have had tertiary education. In general only a handful of the respondents (0.9%)
possess only secondary education.
The educational qualification skewed in favour of the Central Region is again not
surprising because respondents involved in educational research and are lecturers in the
universities come from the two universities in this region.
Table 3 depicts the educational achievement of the two sub samples by sex and region.
Table 3
Level of Educational Achievement by Sex and by Region
Sex
Educ. Qualification
Male (n =223)
Secondary
Post Sec
Tertiary
Post-Graduate
Subtotal
Female (n =99)
Subtotal
Secondary
Post-Sec
Tertiary
Post-Graduate
Region
Central (%)
Northern (%)
1 (0.6)
1 (1.6)
18 (11.3)
19 (30.2)
74 (46.3)
42 (66.7)
67 (41.9)
1 (1.6)
160 (100)
63 (100)
1 (1.7)
(-)
14 (23.7)
18 (45.0)
25 (42.4)
22 (55.0)
19 (32.2)
59 (100)
40 (100)
Total
2
37
116
68
223
1
32
47
(-)
19
99
Total
219
103
322
Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
Sex differential in terms of highest level of educational attainment is skewed in favour of
the male respondents in both regions. In all levels of education listed, males more than females
dominate in the two regions. In terms of regional educational achievement for the sexes, within
group proportions for the males in the Central Region indicates that 46.3% have tertiary
education; 41.9% have postgraduate education; 11.3% hold post-secondary education; and
0.6% holds secondary education. In contrast, the within group proportions for the males in the
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Northern Region shows that 66.7% have tertiary qualification; 1.6% hold postgraduate
qualification; 30.2% hold post-secondary qualification; and 1.6% hold secondary
education/qualification. Therefore within group, the Northern Region has proportionately more
tertiary graduates (66.7%) than the Central Region which has 46.3%.
For the female respondents, within group proportions show that for the Central Region,
42.4% have tertiary education; 32.2% have postgraduate qualification; 23.7% have postsecondary education; and 1.7% has secondary education. In contrast, within group proportions
for the female respondents in the Northern Region revealed that 55.0% have tertiary education
and 45.0% have post-secondary education. Therefore within groups, it is observed that the
Northern Region has more female respondents with tertiary education (55.0%) and postsecondary education (45.0%) than the Central Region which has 42.0% and 24.0%
respectively.
Status and Occupational Life of Respondents
As already stated, the respondents included people of literate background whose
occupations range from teaching, administration and/ research. On the whole, 18.0% (N=58)
are engaged in educational administration, 56.8% (N=183) teach at the pre tertiary level while
25.2% (N=81) are lecturers and/ researchers at the tertiary level.
It is observed that the respondents’ occupational life and status in their organizations
imply that they should be well informed about the current educational policies and how these
affect the quality of education.
Regarding regional differentials in terms of status, within group proportions show that for
the Central region, 15.9% are policy-makers; 37.0% are educational researchers and 47.0% are
teachers. In contrast, within group proportions for the Northern region show that 22.3% are
policy makers, 77.6% are teachers. Therefore, within group, it is observed that the Northern
Region has more educational directors (22.3%) and teachers (77.6%) than the Central region
which has 15.9% and 47.0% respectively.
The sample represents an experienced group of educational policy-makers and
administrators, implementers and researchers. Indeed 51.9% (N=167) have been involved in
their occupations for more than 6 years with some going beyond 21 years of work in their
chosen careers. Table 4 presents information on the respondent’s occupation, status and period
in occupation.
Table 4
Occupation, Status and Years of work of Respondents
Occupation
Status
Educ. Admn./
Policy-maker
Dist Dir
Director
Assist Dir
1-5
3
3
Number of Years in Occupation
6-10 11-15 16-20
21+
2
5
1
13
1
8
19
2
1
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Total
8
9
41
Teaching
(Pretertiary)
Teacher
98
40
25
13
7
183
Teaching
Lecturer
51
17
13
81
(Tertiary)
Total
155
64
52
41
10
322
Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
The average age of work for the total sample is 6.01 years with a standard deviation of
1.24. When we compare this with the mean age of work for respondents in the two regions, we
observe that the Central Region has a mean work age of 8.14 with a standard deviation of 1.31
while the Northern category has a mean age of 8.58 years with a standard deviation of 1.83.
Once again, it is observed that the respondents from the two regions are not so different in
terms of age of work though respondents from the Northern region are slightly higher than their
central regional counterparts.
Concluding Remarks
The foregoing description of the socio-demographic profile of the respondents has
shown that the sample represents a relatively young and experienced people from across the
central and northern regions of Ghana who are actively engaged in education related
occupations viz. teaching, educational administration/policy-making and educational research.
Their response in the sections that follow will help in uncovering the factors that affect the
quality of education in providing skill outcomes for pretertiary graduates to be self-employable.
SECTION FIVE
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QUALITY OF EDUCATION, MDGS AND SELF-RELIANCE
Introduction
This section examines the quality of education that provides skills needed for selfemployment. The quality issues comprise contextual factors in the curriculum and the logistics
that are provided for meeting the required learning outcomes for learners from the point of view
of implementers, policy makers and researchers.
The Millennium Development Goals and Education in Ghana
From the profile of the sample discussed above, it is expected that since respondents
are people concerned variously with issues of educational policy-formulation, implementation
and research, their degree of awareness and knowledge of the current educational system and
policy should be high. This is because the MDG policy enjoins all countries following these
principles on education to draft poverty reduction strategy papers in which the exact quality and
content of education needed to equip learners with the requisite outcomes for development are
enshrined. If policy-makers, implementers and researchers are highly knowledgeable of the
educational policy in use, then, they may well be able to make the necessary input, adjustment
and policy recommendations to ensure the success of the programme. The reverse is true for
the failure of the programme.
Interestingly, the data from the study show that 56.2% (181) said that they were aware
or had knowledge of the MDG principles on education and 43.8% (141) said they do not have
any awareness or knowledge of the principles. The degree of awareness and knowledge of the
MDG principles vary with the three different categories of respondents, namely
teachers/implementers, policy-makers, and lecturers/researchers. Teachers/implementers are
the least informed of the MDG objectives on education (about 51%). Knowledge among policy
makers was generally high. The majority, about 60% (35) are aware and knowledgeable of the
MDG educational objectives. The educational researchers’ category has the highest level of
awareness of the MDG principles. About two-thirds (53) of them were informed about the MDG
objectives on education.
A breakdown of the data by region shows that 64.4% (141) of the respondents from the
Central region were informed about the MDG principles on education. In contrast, only 38.8%
(78) of the respondents from the Northern region were aware of the MDG principles. This
observation from the two regions suggests the possibility of problems of information
dissemination. Educational policy information is usually not well disseminated especially, in
regions that are farther away from the capital city where these policies are formulated. It should,
however, be borne in mind that the Central Region is endowed with educational resources and
logistics than the Northern Region. The Central Region is also home to two universities
engaged in educational research and the researchers have high level of awareness of the
country’s educational policies and strategies. Table 5 presents information on respondents’
region of residence and their awareness of MDG principles.
Table 5
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Knowledge of MDG Educational Principles by Region of Residence (Work)
Knowledge of MDG Educ. Principles
Region of Work
Central (%)
Northern (%)
Total (%)
Yes
141 (64.4)
40 (38.8)
181(56.2)
No
78 (35.6)
63 (61.2)
141(43.8)
Total
219 (100)
103 (100)
322 (100)
Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
2
=17.553, df=1, p<0.05 n=322
2
The chi square
) test of significance was computed from Table 5 to ascertain
significant difference between opinions of respondents from the two regions. The test yielded a
Yates’s correction for continuity of 17.553 with p<0.05. Thus there is a significant difference
between region of residence and the level of information on the MDG educational objectives.
Millennium Development Goals and Enrolment in Ghana
Generally, respondents who are aware of the MDG objectives on education in Ghana
believed that the principles have influenced school enrolment positively. Out of the 181
respondents who knew about the MDG principles, the majority (80%) held the view that the
MDG objectives on education promote access to universal primary education and also close the
gender disparity in enrolment. However, they thought that the MDG principles do not necessarily
promote quality. This finding is given more support when the 181 respondents were further
asked to assess how different the MDGs on education are from the previous policy. Indeed 43
(23.8%) suggested that the principles seek to incorporate gender parity in the previous
educational policy i.e. the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) policy, 64
(35.4%) said the previous policy was poorly planned and executed while 54 (29.8%) suggested
that it is not so different from the FCUBE because it is equally quantitatively-inclined. Only 20
(11.0%) suggested that the MDG principles on education are skill-oriented.
All 181 respondents who were aware of the MDG objectives on education agreed
strongly that the objectives influence (educational) enrolment trends in Ghana and more
importantly seek to increase enrolment of students in pretertiary schools. Indeed, 98.3% (178)
believed that the MDG educational principles increase enrolment; only three respondents held
the view that they decrease enrolment among pretertiary students. 89.5% of the 181
respondents believed that the MDG principles’ influence on enrolment is in favour of females.
Only 10.5% held the view that the principles seek to influence school enrolment in favour of
males. As pointed out in the literature, the MDGs seek to close the gender gap in education. It is
therefore a healthy sign that majority of the respondents confirm this objective. While the
previous educational policy was intended to give equal access to education for both sexes, it
was in practice biased towards males because no effort was made to ensure that girls had
equal access to education. The education for food ration programme, an aspect of the school
feeding programme in some districts, seeks to increase access and retention of females who
have traditionally been kept out of the school system. The CRS (2003) reports that the
programme has increased the enrolment of girls up to 74,389 in 593 Take Home Ration (THR)
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schools. In these schools, 63,260 girls achieved 85% attendance rate thereby qualifying for
THR.
The MDG Principles and Quality-Quantity Education
The MDG principles on education promise both increases in quantity (access) and
quality (skill development) among pretertiary students so that they may be able to use the
learned skills to make an impact in their own context. In line with this premise, when the 181
respondents who know about the MDG principles on education were asked whether the
objectives consider both quality and quantity issues, 163 (90.1%) said they agreed that the
principles consider both quantity and quality; in contrast, only 18 (9.9%) held the view that the
principles do not consider the issues of quality and quantity. On the whole, the 163 respondents
further agreed that the objectives of the MDG principles are good for skills development among
pretertiary graduates. Using a 5-point Likert-type scale (1=not at all good; 2=not good;
3=somewhat good; 4=good; and 5=very good), it was discovered that 39.3% said that it is “very
good” for skills development; 50.3% argued that it is “good” for skill development; 6.1%
suggested that the objectives are “somewhat good” while 4.3% suggested that they are “not
good” for skill development (M=4.245, SD=0.754, n=163).
Those respondents (18) who argued that the principles do not consider both quality and
quantity and are thus not good for skill development mentioned some shortcomings of the
education principles. 55.5% mentioned inadequate logistics for addressing both quality and
quantity issues associated with the MDG principles on education; 44.4% believed that the
principles are quantity-oriented and thus pay little attention to the issue of quality of skills
acquired by learners.
Again, majority of the 181 respondents who are informed about the MDG principles
argued that the principles favour females more than males. Table 6 presents their views
according to their region of work. This observation is consistent with the policy’s objective to
close the gender gap between male and female enrolment in all levels of education. The chi
square test of significance shows that there is no significant difference of opinions between the
respondents’ from the Central and the Northern regions.
Table 6
Respondents’ Perception of Gender-Bias by the MDG Educational Principles by Region
Gender Favoured
Region of Work
Central (%)
Northern (%)
Male
11 (7.8)
Female
130 (92.2)
Total
141 (100)
Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
2
=3.722; df=1; p=0.54 ; n=181
8 (20.0)
32 (80.0)
40 (100)
Total (%)
19 (10.5)
162 (89.5)
181 (100)
Millennium Development Goals and Self-Reliance Education
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Respondents’ general notion of the kind of education needed for self-reliance is
consistent with what the literature suggests, namely education that provides learners with selfemployable skills. Indeed, the greater majority of the respondents, 276 (85.7%) held the view
that education for self-reliance provides learners with skills necessary for self-employment. Only
39 (12.1%) suggested that self-reliance education involves the provision of numeracy and
language skills. The rest of the respondents, 7 (2.2%) hold the view that self-reliance education
provides opportunity for formal sector employment.
In reacting to education and skill acquisition for self-reliance development, 210 (65.2%)
said that the educational policy before the introduction of the MDG principles did not ensure
self-reliance; 112 (34.8%) argued that the previous policy sought to ensure self-reliance. When
asked to give reasons for the above assertion, 50 (23.8%) out of the 210 respondents who
suggested that the previous education policy did not ensure self-reliance, stated that the
previous policy was not holistic while 160 (76.2%) argued that the FCUBE curriculum was
inappropriate for skill acquisition. All the respondents (112) who argued that the previous policy
ensured self-reliance gave as their reason for their response that the FCUBE policy was equally
skill-oriented. The impression that the above response gives is that majority of the respondents
support the view that the MDG principles are oriented to skill-acquisition for self-reliance
development.
Yet when asked whether they were aware of any courses designed under the MDGs on
education for self-reliance, only 40.1% of the 322 respondents said they were aware of any
such courses designed for that purpose; 59.9% said they were unaware of such courses.
Differences in respondents’ knowledge about the MDG educational objectives were
observed at the regions. Table 7 presents information on the knowledge of the courses
designed under the MDGs on education at the regional levels.
Table 7
Knowledge of Courses under MDG Educational Principles by Region
Region of Work
Central (%)
Northern (%)
Knowledge of MDG Courses
Total (%)
Yes
102 (46.6)
27 (26.2)
129 (40.1)
No
117 (53.4)
76 (73.8)
193 (59.9)
Total
219 (100)
103 (100)
322 (100)
Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
2
=11.262; df=1; p<0.05; n=322
The chi square test of independence was computed and it was found that there is a
significant difference between region of residence of respondents and their awareness of the
courses designed under MDGs.
Table 8 presents information on the awareness by the respondents of courses designed
under the MDG principles and the level of adequacy and inadequacy of these courses for the
various pretertiary levels of education.
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Respondents who do not know about the courses designed under the MDG principles
were asked to suggest courses that are relevant for achieving self-reliance. Out of the 193
respondents, 59.6% suggested prevocational/ technical skills, 34.7% proposed apprenticeship
while 5.7% suggested agricultural skills and practical training.
Table 8
Awareness and Adequacy/Inadequacy of Courses under MDG Educational Objectives for
Pretertiary Schools
Level & Courses
Primary
Creative Arts
Prevoc/Tech Skills
ICT
Junior High School
Creative Arts
Prevoc/Tech Skills
ICT
Senior High School
Creative Arts
Prevoc/Tech Skills
ICT
Awareness
Adequate
Inadequate
83
5
33
50
4
22
8
1
9
3
87
39
3
58
21
10
8
2
23
85
1
16
48
2
13
Total
360*
223*
51*
*= Multiple responses; Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
All these suggestions point to one thing namely, equipping students with skills and
competences for self-employment. Regarding the usefulness of the MDG educational principle
in supporting self-reliance, the majority, 58.6% of the 322 respondents held the view that the
MDG principles on education support self-reliance while 133 (41.3%) thought that the MDG
objectives on education do not necessarily support education for self-reliance.
Table 9
Perception of Educational Policy that Favours Self-Reliance
MDG Policy Supports
Self-Reliance
Previous Policy Supports Self-Reliance
Yes (%)
No (%)
Total (%)
Yes
77 (40.7)
No
35 (26.3)
Total
112 (34.8)
Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
2
=7.022; df=1; p<0.05 ; n=322
112 (59.3)
98 (73.7)
210 (65.2)
189 (100)
133 (100)
322 (100)
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From Table 10, it is observed that respondents believed that the MDG educational
objectives support self-reliance than the FCUBE policy. The chi-square test of independence
was computed to examine the relationship between respondents’ perception of the FCUBE and
MDG educational objectives for self-reliance. A statistically significant difference was observed
between the two policies with respondents perceiving that the MDG educational objectives
support education for self-reliance than the FCUBE policy.
Although female respondents strongly believed that the MDG educational objectives
support female enrolment, some of them (46.0%) did not think that the MDG educational
objectives support self-reliance. It was observed that 61% of the male and 54% of the female
respondents agree that the MDG educational objectives support self-reliance. Throwing more
light on the priority areas of focus in using the MDG principles on education for skill
development for self-reliance, out of the 189 informants who said that the MDG principles
support self-reliance, 73.5% gave vocational and technical training as the priority areas, 24.3%
held the view that ICT training are given priority while 2.1% each held the view that agricultural
skills and practical training as well as apprenticeship training are areas of focus in the MDG
principles on education. Information on gender differences in the use of the MDG educational
objectives for self-reliance is presented in Table 10.
Table 10
MDG Educational Objectives’ Support for Self-Reliance by Gender
Sex
MDG Objectives’ Support for Self-Reliance
Yes (%)
No (%)
Total (%)
Male
136 (61.0)
Female
53 (53.5)
Total
189
Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
2
=1.278; df=1; p<0.05; n=322
87 (39.0)
46 (46.5)
133
223 (100)
99 (100)
322
Throwing more light on the priority areas of focus in using the MDG principles on
education for skill development for self-reliance, out of the 189 respondents who said that the
MDG principles support self-reliance, 73.5% gave vocational and technical training as the
priority areas, 24.3% held the view that ICT training are given priority while 2.1% each held the
view that agricultural skills and practicals as well as apprenticeship training are areas of focus in
the MDG principles on education.
For the 133 respondents who argued that the MDG educational principles do not support
self-reliance, the majority (78.2%) suggested inadequate logistic support from the Ministry of
Education and government, especially the inadequacy of training materials as a fundamental
problem for using the principles for self-reliance, while 21.8% argued that the public has poor
attitude to vocational and technical subjects and this makes the use of the principles for selfreliance in Ghana problematic.
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These observations reveal that while the MDG principles may be useful for achieving the
self-reliance needs of Ghana, as suggested by some respondents (189), there are challenges
involved in using the principles to achieve the needed skills. It is probably because of this
reason that more than 40% of the respondents believe that the MDG principles and
programmes based on it are less likely to give education for self-reliance.
When respondents who are aware and knowledgeable about the MDG principles (181)
were asked to assess the extent to which the principles are useful for appropriate skill
development on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1=not at all good to 5=very good), only 163
respondents responded. It was observed that the respondents generally believe that the MDG
principles are good for skills development (M=4.25; SD=0.754; n=163). Table 11 summarizes
information on the usefulness of the MDGs principles for ensuring skill development by regions.
Table 11
Usefulness of MDG Educational Objectives for Skills Development by Region
Usefulness of MDGs for
Skills Development
Very Good
Good
Somewhat Good
Not Good
Total
Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
Region of Work
Central (%)
Northern (%)
55 (85.9)
58 (70.7)
8 (20.0)
6 (85.0)
127
9 (14.1)
24 (29.3)
2 (20.0)
1 (15.0)
36
Total (%)
64 (100)
82 (100)
10 (100)
7 (100)
163
An independent-sample t-test was conducted to compare the mean scores for
respondents from the two regions with regard to their perception of the extent to which the MDG
principles lead to appropriate skills development. There was no statistical difference in the
scores for respondents from the Central region (M=1.72; SD=.78) and respondents from the
Northern region (M=1.8611, SD=.63932; t(161)=-1.074, p=.286). The magnitude of the
difference in means was very small (eta=-0.007). This means that respondents from the two
regions generally agree that the MDG educational objectives are useful for the development of
self-employable skills.
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SECTION SIX
EDUCATION AND SELF RELIANCE IN GHANA
Introduction
This section discusses the challenges involved in using the skills learned to deal with
unemployment and the extent to which the MDG objectives can contribute to national
development.
Education and Unemployment in Ghana
The discussion so far has examined the potential of using the MDG educational
objectives to achieve self-reliance among pretertiary graduates in the light of the inadequacy of
logistics and support for achieving same. Although studies have found that there is an ever
rising army of ill-educated unemployed graduates especially those at the pre-tertiary graduates
in the country (Addae-Mensah, 2000), the country’s educational system continues to churn out
graduates annually at all levels who compete for unavailable jobs in the country’s formal sector.
It is in this direction that a question was posed in this survey to find out whether or not
Ghana’s economy is strong enough to absorb pretertiary graduates. Consistent with the general
view, 82.6% of the respondents agreed that the country’s economy is not strong enough to
absorb the growing number of graduates, especially those at the pretertiary level. Only 17.4% of
the respondents thought that the economy is resilient enough to employ the rising number of
graduates. Over 96.4% (54) of the 56 respondents who believed that the economy is strong
enough to employ all graduates gave the following reasons for their position above: 53.6%
believed that the economy has readily available jobs that pretertiary graduates could grab; and
46.4% believed that there is an extensive formal sector where these graduates could explore for
employment. Two did not offer any reason
The above position is seen differently by the 266 respondents who held the view that the
country’s economy is not strong enough to absorb the pretertiary graduates. For this reason,
they suggested that pretertiary graduates should make use of other opportunities in order to
deal with their frustrations. Out of the 266 respondents who said that the economy is not strong
enough to accommodate pretertiary graduates, 31.9% suggested that pretertiary graduates
should enter into self-employment, 44.4% believed that these graduates should engage in
apprenticeship as means of dealing with their skill deficiencies while 32.7% suggested that the
pretertiary graduates should continue to higher educational institutions to help them get
employment in the formal sector.
Although the respondents generally have the belief that education is still key to achieving
the self-reliant need of Ghana, they also have a strong conviction that there is a problem with
the educational curriculum at the pretertiary level such that it is not reflective of the context in
which the pretertiary graduates find themselves. Indeed when 264 respondents (i.e. teachers
and educational researchers but excluding policy makers) were asked whether it is possible to
use education for Ghana’s self-reliant needs, almost all the respondents that is 236 (89.4%)
agreed whilst only 10.6% disagreed with the possibility of using education for realizing the
country’s self-reliant needs. This high optimism among the teachers and researchers about the
use of education for self-reliance notwithstanding, their assessment of whether the subjects
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taught in pretertiary institutions are reflective of local needs reveals serious flaws in the
educational curriculum. Majority of these teachers and researchers (65.5%) believed that the
courses are not relevant for local needs; while 34.5% suggested that the courses do not have
connections with local community occupations.
It was not surprising when the question “whether the school curriculum provides
adequate skills for the youth for self-employment” was posed, and the majority, 74.8% (241)
believed that the curriculum is not adequate for meeting the self-employable skills needed by
the youth. Only 25.2% (81) agreed that the school curriculum is adequate for achieving the selfemployment skills required by pretertiary graduates. Interestingly, when the 81 respondents
were asked to give reasons for their position in the light of the large number of unemployed
graduates in the country, 55.6% of them suggested that it is the unavailability of resources for
self-employment that has caused unemployment in the country; 44.4% of them said that it is the
unwillingness on the part of the pretertiary graduates to go into self-employment that accounts
for the rising levels of unemployment among them.
When asked to suggest ways that pretertiary graduates could explore to address this
unfortunate situation of unemployable skills development, 14.9% of the 241 respondents
proposed that pretertiary graduates should engage in apprenticeship with industry, 76.8%
suggested that they should be provided with support in vocational and technical skills training in
school before they graduate, and 8.3% suggested that more experts and personnel should be
trained to undertake the teaching of vocational and technical skills. Thus one can observe that
although the lack of skills account for the rising levels of unemployment among these graduates,
lack of structural factors and logistics equally account for the rising levels of unemployment
among the graduates of the pre-tertiary institutions. Indeed, among all the respondents, 28.9%
suggested the inadequacy of qualified personnel leads to inadequate skill development; 14.6%
believed that the personnel are not motivated enough to put up their best performance; 36.0%
argued that the inadequacy of teaching and learning materials limit practical skill training and
learning, 20.5% argued that the inadequacy of physical infrastructure in schools account for the
inability of the education system to realize the objective of equipping school leavers with the
requisite skills for self-reliance. This observation, therefore, points to the need for technical and
logistic support from the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders if Ghana is to be able to
use education to meet the self-reliance needs of pretertiary graduates.
The School Curriculum and Informal Sector Activities
As stated above, to address the increasing number of unemployment among graduates
at the pretertiary level, structural factors need considerable attention in terms of policy
formulation. More importantly, curriculum that reflects informal sector activities needs to be put
in place. In examining the opinions of teachers, educational researchers and policy-makers
about the inclusion of informal sector activities in the school curriculum, only 31.1% agreed that
the informal sector activities are considered; the majority of them 68.9% said that no particular
consideration is given to informal sector activities when educational policies are being
formulated.
For the 100 respondents who said that the informal sector is or should be considered
when policies are being formulated, 22.0% listed sewing; 17.0% said catering; 22.0% listed
carpentry, and 39.0% gave agricultural skills as the informal sector activities that have been
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given priority in the educational policies. They also believed that some logistics and support
have been provided for using these informal sector activities to meet the self-reliant needs of
Ghana. Indeed, 25.0% suggested infrastructural support, 23.0% believed that teaching and
support for personnel have been provided while 52.0% argued that teaching and learning
materials have been provided to meet the skill needs of pretertiary graduates. However, these
respondents did not agree that educational policy formulators see to the implementation of
these informal sector activities set out in the school curricula. Using a 5-point Likert-type scale
(1=not at all often; 2=not often; 3=somewhat often; 4=often; and 5=very often), it was observed
that respondents believed that policy formulators rarely see to the implementation of the
informal sector activities set out in the educational policies (M=2.9, SD=1.05). This observation
points to the fact that even if informal sector activities are considered, the programmes are often
not successful because of implementation constraints which require crucial attention.
Information on the status of respondents and their perception of informal sector activities
considered in the school curriculum is presented in Table 12.
Table 12
Consideration of Informal Sector Activities by Status of Respondents
Consideration of Informal Sector Activities
Status
Yes (%)
No (%)
Total
Directors
30 (52%)
28 (48%)
58
Lecturers/Researchers
31 (38%)
50 (62%)
81
Teachers
39 (21%)
144 (79%)
183
Total
100
222
322
Source: Survey data, September, 2009.
2
=21.657; df=2; P<0.05
A breakdown of the information on the informal sector activities considered by the
directors, teachers and researchers as presented in Table 12 above shows that it is the majority
of the directors (policy-makers) (52%) who argue that informal sector activities are often
considered. A large majority of the teachers do not believe that informal sector activities are
considered in the school curriculum. Researchers with 38% lie in between the two extremes.
The chi-square test of independence was computed and a significant difference was observed
between status of respondents and their perception with regard to the consideration of informal
sector activities considered in the formulation of policies.
One of the arguments of the 222 respondents who said that informal sector activities are
not considered in the formulation of educational policies is that there is poor attitude on the part
of both parents and students towards informal sector activities (25.7%). This partly corroborates
the observation made by Kadindgi (2005) about the fact that most parents do not want their
wards to pursue technical and vocational courses. Therefore a policy that seeks to equip
pretertiary graduates with skills should also seek to educate or explain to the students and their
parents the relevance of such programmes. This is especially crucial because when the
educational researchers and teachers (264) (who are always assessing the performance and
behaviour of students), were asked about students perception of jobs while they are still in
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school, the responses showed that generally students do not have positive attitude towards
informal sector jobs. Indeed, the majority, (66.7%) of this group of respondents suggested that
students always consider working in the formal sector. In contrast, only 1.9% said that students
want to work at the informal sector. Interestingly, 24.2% said students would not mind working in
the two sectors of the economy. 7.2% of the respondents did not give any opinion about which
sector students want to work. This finding is consistent with Foster’s (1965) observation that
most students are influenced by the industrial demands before making choices about
programmes of study and that the informal sector is less attractive to students. This situation
requires serious attention of policy makers if prevocational and technical education is to make
any meaningful impact in Ghana.
Education and National Development
Current debates on education and employment portray the mismatch between education
and national development which militates against the use of education as a vehicle for
economic prosperity. Responses from respondents reflect this reality of mismatch between
education and national development.
When the respondents were asked whether there are some factors that prevent
education from contributing to national development, 66.1% (213) responded in the affirmative,
while 33.9% (109) said they do not see any factors that limit education from contributing to
national development. Thirty-eight percent of the 213 respondents, who believed there are
problems that prevent education from contributing to national development identified poor
motivation of personnel as one factor that prevents teachers from putting up their best
performance; 30.5% identified inappropriate school curriculum which makes it difficult for
students to comprehend an overloaded and or irrelevant curriculum as another factor that
contributes to the mismatch between education and national development; 16.0% suggested
the lack of teaching and learning materials as a factor that makes it difficult for the development
of adequate practical skills for self-employment; whilst another 15.5% argued that poor and
inadequate infrastructure that inhibits learning in a conducive atmosphere accounts for the
mismatch between education and national development.
This observation points to the fact that logistic and support factors in the educational
policy are crucial for the attainment of the quality of education for self-reliance. Therefore a
careful attention should be paid to these while improving the curriculum requirements for
desirable skill outcomes. Curriculum innovation should take into consideration the duration and
courses to be taken at the pretertiary level.
When we probed further to ascertain the reason why the 109 respondents said that they
did not immediately see any factor that limit education from contributing to national
development, interesting results were obtained. Using a 5-point Likert-type scale (1=not at all
satisfied; 2= not satisfied; 3= somewhat satisfied; 4= satisfied; and 5=very satisfied) it was
observed that, on the whole, they showed dissatisfaction with the amount of motivation given to
teachers to do their work (M=1.95; SD=0.86; n=109); they were also generally not satisfied with
teacher’s performance in the schools (M=3.27; SD=0.89; n=109). The impression one gets from
these responses is that much as the 109 respondents do not see any problems with the
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educational system per se as contributing to national development, they are dissatisfied with
teachers’ motivation in the educational system.
Again, the 109 respondents expressed misgivings about the performance of pre-tertiary
graduates. Using a 5-point Likert-type scale (1=not at all satisfied; 2= not satisfied; 3=
somewhat satisfied; 4= satisfied; and 5=very satisfied), it was found that the respondents were
generally not satisfied (M=2.82; SD=0.81; n=109). Similar dissatisfaction was expressed by the
respondents about the skills acquired by pre-tertiary graduates. Again, using a 5-point Likerttype scale, it was observed that respondents were, on the whole, dissatisfied (M=2.43;
SD=0.92; n=109) with skills acquired by pre-tertiary graduates for self-employment. From this
observation, it could be seen that although respondents perceived higher levels of satisfaction
with teacher performance, their efficiency could be enhanced once motivational factors are
incorporated in the educational policy.
SECTION SEVEN
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
This section looks at the summary and major findings made from this survey. Based on
the findings, conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made to guide policy formulation
on how to improve the quality of pretertiary education and areas of future educational research
for improving the quality of learning outcomes for self-reliance are suggested.
Summary
This study has examined the extent to which the current educational policy under the
MDG principles on education promotes the acquisition of requisite skills for self-reliance among
graduates at the pretertiary level in Ghana. The study commenced with a review of theoretical
and empirical literature on the strengths and weaknesses of educational policies in Ghana to
examine how they promote or inhibit the acquisition of requisite skills for self-employment. From
the literature review, it was observed that the MDG principles on education though offer better
prospects for children of school going age, they have some limitations in imparting requisite
skills for self-employment among graduates at the pretertiary level.
Proportional, purposive and convenient sampling procedures were used to pick samples
from educational researchers, policy makers and teachers who are the implementers of
educational policy at the pretertiary level in the two regions. A questionnaire was used to survey
the opinions of these respondents. It was observed that the degree of awareness of teachers,
educational researchers and policy makers is low especially in the North of Ghana and gives the
impression that the policy is unpopular among researchers, teachers and policy-makers and
thus raises concerns about its potential for encouraging students to develop requisite skills for
self-reliant development at the pre-tertiary level. The study also found that skills acquired by
pretertiary graduates are poor and thus exacerbate the rising unemployment among graduates
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of all levels. Finally, the study revealed that efforts at making the MDG principles successful
have lapses at the implementation level due to inadequacy of logistics and support.
Major Findings
The broad objective of the study was to elicit the opinions of teachers, policy-makers,
and researchers as to whether the MDG principles were actually contributing to the acquisition
of self-employable skills by pretertiary graduates. It was observed that the MDG principles on
education are limited in promoting the acquisition of requisite skills to empower pretertiary
graduates to be self-employable. Rather, the principles seek to promote access more than they
do for skills acquisition by graduates at the pretertiary level. Again, the skill acquisition
component of the MDG objectives on education suffers for lack of logistic support at its
implementation. The central research question sought to find out the differences in respondents’
knowledge about the MDG educational objectives. Significant difference was observed in
respondents’ degree of knowledge of the MDG educational objectives with those from the
Northern Region being less informed about MDG educational objectives. No significant
difference was observed in the perception of respondents from the two regions regarding the
usefulness of the MDG educational objectives for achieving self-reliance in the two regions.
The specific objectives of the survey were also achieved. The first specific objective
sought to find out whether teachers, educational researchers and policy makers were aware of
the MDG principles on education. It was observed that while the majority of the respondents are
aware and knowledgeable about the MDG educational objectives, a substantial number of them
do not know about these objectives and the courses designed at the various stages of
pretertiary education.
The second specific objective was to find out whether the pretertiary schools teach selfemployable skills under the MDG educational objectives. The study showed that due to
problems of logistic support, pretertiary schools do not teach adequate skills for the graduates to
be self-employable.
The third specific objective was to assess whether pretertiary graduates learn adequate
self-employable skills under the MDG educational objectives. It was observed that pretertiary
graduates do not learn adequate skills to make them self-employable.
The fourth specific objective was to examine the extent to which skills acquired by
pretertiary graduates influence their job chances. It was observed that because pretertiary
graduates do not acquire the relevant skills to be able to go into self-employment, they are
generally unemployed, especially those who are unable to continue their education at the
tertiary level.
The fifth specific objective was to examine the challenges faced by the MDG
educational policy for the acquisition of self-employable skills for pretertiary graduates. It was
observed that problems with logistic support, overconcentration on formal sector activities and
poor attitude of parents and students towards vocational and technical subjects constrain the
MDG educational policy to impart the relevant skills for self-employment among pretertiary
graduates.
Recommendations
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This survey of opinions of teachers, educational researchers and policy makers on the
MDG educational policy and self-reliance has uncovered a number of critical issues regarding
the quality of education received by pretertiary graduates. Based on these findings, the following
recommendations are crucial to guide policy and also making capacity building for self-reliance.
Firstly, since teachers show very low level of awareness of the MDG educational
policy especially those in the northern part of Ghana, it is crucial that intensive
campaign regarding awareness creation on the policy be embarked upon by the
Ministry of Education. This will help them to make the right input while
implementing such policies and programmes in their schools.
Secondly, the fact that informal sector activities are given little attention in
educational policy formulation implies that for education to be meaningful to
learners it should prioritize informal sector while at the same time providing
support and logistics for desired outcomes.
Thirdly, realizing the negative attitude of some parents and students towards
technical and vocational courses, there is the urgent need for the Ministry of
Education and other stake holders to embark on programmes that highlight the
benefits of technical and vocational education training so as to encourage the
interests of both parents and students towards technical and vocational
programmes.
Fourthly, the successful implementation of the MDG policy on education requires
support and logistics in terms of materials and personnel. Therefore teacher
motivation, infrastructural support and materials such as workshops, tools and
classrooms should be provided by the government and its development partners
to ensure its success.
Fifthly, the concerns raised about overloaded curriculum implies that the pretertiary school curriculum should be fashioned in such a way that subjects taught
at the pretertiary level could be completed in given duration and also be relevant
to the context instead of the current trend that provides training that is useful for
formal sector employment.
Future Research
This study surveyed the opinions of teachers, policy-makers and researchers on
the potential of the MDG principles on education to impart requisite skills on pretertiary graduates. In future, an extensive study that will survey the opinions of
teachers, policy-makers and researchers in all the regions of Ghana will be
helpful in dealing with the self-employable skill deficiency among pre-tertiary
graduates.
Also, a study that investigates the factors that account for the negative attitude of
parents and students towards vocational and technical subjects will go a long
way towards improving the skill needs of pre-tertiary graduates for self-reliance.
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APPENDIX
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH NETWORK FOR WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA (ERNWACA)
EDUCATION FOR SELF-RELIANCE IN GHANA
(COMPOSITE QUESTIONNAIRE)
The objective of this study is to collect information on the quality of education for achieving selfreliance (i.e. skills and entrepreneurial development). Your responses would help the study
immensely. You are assured of complete anonymity and the researchers take responsibility for
breach of any ethical issues. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Please tick or write where appropriate
A. Background Data of Respondents
1. Age: 25-34 [ ] 35-44 [ ] 45-54 [ ] 55+[ ]
2. Sex: Male [ ] Female [ ]
3. Educational qualification:
Secondary [ ] Post-secondary [ ] Tertiary [ ] Other (specify) …………………
No. of Years in Occupation
4. Occupation
(i) Administrator
……………………………………………..
(ii) Teacher (Pre-tertiary)
………………………………………………
(iii) Teacher (Tertiary)
………………………………………………
(iv) Educational Researcher
………………………………………………
5. Status in occupation …………………………………………………………………………
6. Region of work: Central [ ]
Northern [ ]
B. MDGs and Education in Ghana
7. Do you know about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)?
Yes [ ]
No [ ] (if no go to Q 15)
8. If yes, what are they with regard to education?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
9. How do the MDGs relate to education in Ghana?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. How do the MDG educational objectives differ from previous educational objectives in
Ghana?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
11. Do the MDG educational principles have any influence on educational enrolment in
Ghana?
Yes [ ]
No [ ] (if no go to Q 12)
12. If yes, how do they influence enrolment?
Increase [ ] Decrease [ ] No change [ ] Don’t know [ ]
13. Which of the genders do they favour? Male [ ] Female [ ]
14. Do the MDG principles on education give equal emphasis to the quality and quantity of
education? Yes [ ]
No [ ] (if no go to Q 14)
15. If yes, are they good for ensuring development?
Very Good [ ] Good [ ] Somewhat Good [ ] Not Good [ ] Not at all Good [ ]
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16. If no, why not?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
17. What is your understanding of education for self-reliance?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
18. Did the previous education policy before the introduction of MDGs ensure self-reliance?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
19. Please give reasons for your response
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
C. Using Education for Achieving Self-Reliance under MDGs
20. What are the courses designed under MDGs for:
School Level
Courses Designed
(a) Primary Level
……………………………………………...
………………………………………….......
(b) Junior High School
………………………………………………
……………………………………………...
(c) Senior High School
………………………………………………
………………………………………………
21. For each course mentioned in Q18, please indicate those that are adequate and those
not adequate to ensure self-reliance
School Level
Adequate
Non-adequate
(a) Primary School
………………………….
………………………………
………………………….
………………………………
(b) Junior High School
…………………………
………………………………
…………………………
………………………………
(c) Senior High School
…………………………
………………………………
…………………………
………………………………
22. Does the current educational system support education for self-reliance?
Yes [ ]
No [ ] (if no go to Q 22)
23. If yes, what are the areas of focus for achieving self-reliance?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
24. If no, what is the reason for this situation?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
25. Is Ghana’s economy strong enough to accommodate pre-tertiary graduates?
Yes [ ]
No [ ] (if no go to Q 25)
26. If yes, why do you think so?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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27. If no, what should the pre-tertiary graduates do?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
28. Are the courses taught in schools reflective of local needs?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
29. Is it possible for education to help in achieving self-reliance in Ghana? Yes [ ] No [ ]
D. Problems and Insights in Ghana’s Educational System
30. What are some of the problems of the educational system in Ghana? Please list them
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
31. Please explain why these are problematic
The Problematic
The reason
(i) …………………………………
………………………………………………….
(ii) …………………………………
…………………………………………….........
(iii) …………………………………
…………………………………………….........
32. Does the educational system provide adequate skills for the youth for self-employment?
Yes [ ]
No [ ] (if no go to Q 32)
33. If yes, what do you consider to be responsible for the large number of unemployed youth
in the country?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
34. If no, what do you think should be done to address the problem of unemployed youth?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
35. Do you consider the informal sector when formulating educational policy?
Yes [ ]
No [ ] (if no go to Q 37)
36. If yes, which informal sector activities are considered?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
37. What are the necessary logistics and support provided for achieving them?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
38. How often do you see to the implementation of these activities?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
39. If no, what are the reasons?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
40. What do you consider to be the perception of students about jobs while in school?
Education for industrial Work [ ]
Education for any work [ ]
Education for indigenous work [ ]
None of the above [ ]
E. Education and National development
41. Are there any factors that prevent education from contributing to national development?
Yes [ ]
No [ ] (if no go to Q 42)
42. If yes, mention these problems and explain how they inhibit national development
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Problems
How they inhibit national development
(i) …………………………………..
………………………………………………….
(ii) …………………………………..
………………………………………………….
(iii) …………………………………..
………………………………………………….
43. What are the possible ways of addressing these problems?
Problems
Solutions
(i) …………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
(ii) …………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
(iii) …………………………………..
…………………………………………………..
44. If no, how satisfied are you with the impact of education on the following:
NB [1= Very satisfied, 2= Satisfied, 3=Somewhat satisfied, 4= Not satisfied 5= Not at all
satisfied]
Item
Degree of satisfaction
1
2
3
4
5
Reason
National development
Teacher motivation
Teacher performance
Performance of pretertiary graduates
Skills acquired by
pre-tertiary graduates
ROCARE / ERNWACA • Tel: (223) 20 21 16 12, Fax: (223) 20 21 21 15 • BP E 1854, Bamako, MALI
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