The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Educational System in Ghana - Report Example

The strengths and weaknesses of the educational system in Ghana Education, as envisaged by the developers of an educational system in a country, sometimes may not succeed due to many reasons. For example, a host of extrinsic factors such as poverty, unemployment and the lack of natural resources are some of the factors that can compel people to discontinue their studies and take up a profession with which they can live. This is the case with almost all poor nations where the human capital is not allowed to, or does not have the adequate chance and inclination to develop, as foreseen by the founding fathers of the nation. The education system in Ghana is also similar and needed a total revamp in the 90s in order to put it back on track. There are many factors in the case of Ghana that affect the nation’s education system and also affect the educational outcome of many students in the country. These factors may be broadly classified as strengths and weaknesses of the educational system. The strengths of the system are those factors that contribute to or encourage education. On the other hand, weaknesses usually are those elements cause the decrease in the efficacy of education in the country. Strengths of the education system in Ghana One of the main strengths of the educational system in Ghana is the government initiative. The government is supportive of the education in the country and has provided many schemes and programs that are supportive of education, both at the basic and advanced levels. Further, these programs have also been instrumental in encouraging students to study. For example, the government provides free education to children of school age. The government has also opened a lot of schools in the country so that education is accessible to students who may be located at far away places in the country. The government had enacted the Education Act in 1960, which sought to provide free education to students [The Education System, 2007]. Reforms and progressive mentality of educational planners: The educational system in the country is benefited by the reform-oriented mentality of the educational planners in the country. This means that reforms to the educational systems have been implemented, which in turn has improved the quality of students in the country. For example, until recently, the educational system was mostly based on traditional systems of education, which had its own drawbacks. The reforms that were implemented in the nineties ensured that vocational and job-oriented courses were incorporated into the curriculum. This meant that more students were able to make a living from the training that they received at school and college. Reforming the content also helped in decreasing the number of drop-outs from schools. This is because students were interested in vocational curriculum that offered them a chance to make a better living. On the other hand, traditional educational content was boring to many students, which encouraged them to discontinue their studies. Reforms in the educational structure The government had initiated junior secondary schools (JSS), which offers a three year combined training program in vocational, technical, and academic studies. The JSS system replaced the four-year middle school and the first three years of the traditional five year secondary school system. After JSS, students can opt for a further three years training at senior secondary schools (SSS). After completion of the SSS, students can enter polytechnic institutions or universities. This system was a marked departure from the previous model in which students spent a considerable amount of their time in schools pursuing courses that were not suited to their liking. The shift from a curriculum that enforced on them by the system to a module that were to their liking has altered the outlook of students and has encouraged them to commit themselves to education before trying to embark on a career of their choice. Weaknesses of the Education system in Ghana One of the prime weaknesses of the education system in the country is that the government has not been able to maintain many of the programs that it had started, in order to help poor students. For example, even though the government enacted the Education Act in 1960 that was envisaged to provide free education to most of the students, statistics show that students are paying for their textbooks. This obviously prevented a majority of children, who couldn’t afford to buy the books, from taking advantage of the free education facility provided by the government. In a poor country like Ghana, the will of the government is often offset by external factors that force the government to modify or even withdraw beneficial schemes that were meant for a particular group [The Education System, 2007]. Cultural factors Cultural factors are very important in the success or failure of government sponsored programs. This is particularly so in third world countries, where cultural effects have a great say in the economic as well as social development. For example, in Ghana, government figures show that students who continue education are mostly males and that female students who make it to higher studies are lesser compared to male students. Reports show that in the first six grades of the educational system, only 45 percent of the enrolled students were females. The number of female students in the universities is a dismal low at 19 percent, while those in high schools were only 33 percent of the total student population. In Ghana, rearing children is considered as the main role of women, while men are considered to be the breadwinners of the family. Hence, men are encouraged to learn and study while women are often discouraged from attending school and pursuing higher education. The different ethnic cultures in the country are also sometimes a serious impediment in the implementation of proper educational system in the country. People from different ethnic groups often find it hard to live together while following some specialized courses. Even though education has removed some of the prejudices that were rampant in the ethnic communities, it is often a cause that makes people to think twice before opting for an educational course. [Ghana appears united for jubilee. 2006]. Such ethnic and cultural barriers limited the involvement of parents in developing the educational prospects of their children. This places a lot of responsibility on teachers and if they are not competent enough, the students also turn out to be bad performers in education. [Brief history of educational development in Ghana, 2007] Educational content Until recently, the educational system in the country mainly focused on providing traditional education to students. Hence, the education content was mostly on the lines of what was propagated by the British system. This created a lot of problems especially because students were mostly tailor made for white collar jobs and finding adequate jobs in this field was a difficulty in a poor country like Ghana. Introducing more vocational study programs and transforming the mindset of students in to accepting their validity may perhaps make the situation better. Poverty and social issues Statistics also show that most students are not able to continue education after about ten years of study. This is because of poverty because either the students are not able to support their studies or misinformed parents are not able to instill the sense to learn in the students. A circular of the government shows that “Of the 145,400 students completing middle school in 1960, only 14,000 sought secondary education. In 1970, only 9,300 of over 424,500 middle school learning children were admitted into secondary schools. In 1984-85, of the 1.8 million students completing ten years of primary and middle schooling, only 125,600 continued into secondary schools, while fewer than 20,000 entered vocational and technical institutions. That same year, approximately 7,900 students were enrolled in the universities.” [The Education System, 2007, Akyeampong, 2005]. Thus, it becomes evident that there is a conspicuous lack of motivation which obviously resulted in the dropping rate of higher education in students. A concerted effort is required both on the part of parents as well as government in taking appropriate measures to encourage youngsters to pursue higher education. Works Cited The Education System. U.S Library of Congress. Retrieved June 7, 2007, from http://countrystudies.us/ghana/59.htm Ghana appears united for jubilee. 2006. BBC. Retrieved June 7, 2007, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6173543.stm Brief history of educational development in Ghana. Retrieved June 7, 2007, from http://www.adeanet.org/wgesa/en/doc/ghana/chapter_2.htm Akyeampong, Kwame. 2005. Whole School Development. http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/file_download.php/e738dc616b5e555d4d11db4e8a5bf599Akyeampong,+Whole+School+Development+in+Ghana,+25+May.doc Read More