DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

PLANNING, EDUCATIONAL AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

 Planning can be defined as a basic management function involving

formulation of one or more detailed plans to achieve optimum balance of needs

or demands with the available resources. Planning is also a conscious,

deliberate, systematic and rational decision-making process designed to

influence future course of action in an organization with the ultimate aim of

making use of the limited resources economically or optimally.

The common elements of planning include the following:

i) They are futuristic, that is looking into the future

ii) They are action oriented

iii) They are deliberative endeavour meaning it is not something that is left

to chance.

 Educational Planning – Educational planning is the exercising of

foresight in determining the policy, priorities and costs of an educational

system, having due regard for economic and political realities, for the system’s

potentials for growth, and for the needs of the country and of the pupils served

by the system.

 Development Planning – Basically development planning refers to the

strategic measurable goals that a person, organization or community plans to

meet within a certain amount of time. It is also a process of taking decision

that will affect the development of a nation in its social cultural, political and

economic spheres in the future.

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National authorities have to make decisions about national development as

well as educational development. This seems to be as a result of the fact that

such decisions must involve central or regional authorities if the national

objectives have to be achieved.

Usually the development plan includes time-based benchmarks. It generally

also includes the criteria that will be used to evaluate whether or not the goals

were actually met.

APPROACHES TO EDUCATIONAL PLANNING

According to Adesina (1982), there are three approaches to educational

planning namely:

1) The social demand approach

2) The manpower requirement approach

3) The cost benefit analysis

The Social Demand Approach – Under this approach, the education

authorities are required to provide schools and find facilities for all students

who demand admission and who are qualified to enter. According to Aghenta

(1987) this approach looks on education, as service demanded by people just

like any other social services. Politicians in developing countries often find the

approach expedient to use because of its appealing nature.

The Advantages of Social Demand Approach are:

1) It is easy to determine the number of places where educational facilities

have to be provided for.

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2) It is a suitable tool for politicians in developing countries to use and

satisfy the demands of the general public.

3) In time of scarce and limited resources and there is need to allocate it

well, this approach offers the best solution.

The Limitations of Social Demand Approach are:

1) The approach has no control over factors like price of education.

2) The approach has no control over absorptive capacity of the economy for

the trained personnel.

3) The approach does not provide guidance we need as to how best to meet

the identified needs.

The Manpower Requirement Approach – This approach looks at the

manpower needs of the economy and plans how output from the educational

system will meet those needs. It also looks at the man power availability in

present time and makes a projection of manpower needs at future dates.

The Advantages of Manpower Requirement Approach are:

1) It identifies the gap and imbalances in the education output that need to

be addressed.

2) It gives educationists and government useful guidance and estimates on

how education qualifications of the labour force ought to be developed in

the future.

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The Disadvantages of Manpower Requirement Approach are:

1) It is silent on primary education which is not considered to be work

related.

2) It is difficult to make reliable forecast of manpower requirements beyond

the present because of many economic, technological and other

uncertainties which are involved.

3) For least developed countries of Africa, it is not easy to determine

employment classifications and manpower ratios. For instance, it is not

easy to determine how many nurses needed to compliment the doctors

in the health sector.

Cost Benefit Approach – According to Adesina (1981), the cost-benefits

approach looks at each level of education as investment in human beings with

the purpose that the returns will help to improve the whole economy. It is a

mode of analysis of current relationship between education and income.

Education is perceived by the approach from two angles namely: the social rate

of return and private rates of return.

The social rate of return points out the benefit to be derived by the state by

investing in a particular form of educations. While the private rates of return

considers the investment by private individual and the expected for acquiring a

particular type of education.

The advantages of Cost Benefit Approach are:

1) It is shows the relationship between the cost of gaining more educations

and the increase in payment which results from additional education.

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2) The age earning structure of the educated person can provide a basis to

measure the increase in productivity.

3) The analysis can show or suggest the directions in which education

systems in a society should expand so as to maximize the earning

capacity of their products.

The disadvantages of Cost Benefit Approach are:

1) The salaries of civil servants are more influences by economic variables

than by productivity considerations.

2) In developing countries, it is wrong to assume that salaries reflect

productivity.

3) A financial return from education has been inflated in African by past

scarcity of people with particular type and level of education.

EDUCATIONAL PLANNING FOR PLURAL SOCIETY

As defined by John S Furnivall, a plural society is comprised of two or more

distinct social orders, living in parallel within one political entity but without

much intermingling. Fredrik Barth defined a plural society as

a society combining ethnic contrasts: the economic interdependence of those

groups, and their ecological specialization (i.e. use of different environmental

resources by each ethnic group).

The mixing of racial and cultural groups was not a voluntary process but

imposed by the colonial power and by force of economic circumstances.

Furnivall believed that nationalism within a plural society was itself a

disruptive force, tending to shatter and not to consolidate its social order
5
because it lacked a common social wall. This was elaborated by M. G. Smith.

Cultural pluralism usually develops from the presence in a given society of

several ethnic or racial groups with different cultural traditions. Social

pluralism is found where the society is structurally divided into analogous and

duplicating but culturally similar groups of institutions and the corporate

groups are differentiated on the basis other than culture.

Characteristics of Plural Society are:

i) relative absence of value consensus

ii) relative presence of conflict between major corporate groups

iii) relative autonomy between parts of the social system

iv) relative importance of coercion and economic interdependence as basis

for social integration

v) relative political domination by one of the corporate groups

vi) total, non-utilitarian, affective and diffuse ties with such groups.

The different segment of the society has their different characteristics,

opportunities and priorities. It therefore poses a challenge for education

planners do come up with a plan that will favour each of party in the society.

Where it might not be possible to satisfy these divergent needs, a more careful

approach will ensure that the educational plan will aim at improving the

overall good of the society.

According to Chai (1971), the educational planner who fails to consider

carefully the underlying social and political tensions, when preparing

programmes for educational expansion or for qualitative improvements in the

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system, may inadvertently exacerbate race relations. Since one of the skills of a

planner is the ability to forecast probable outcomes based on current

assumptions, he should be able to anticipate the linked sequences of policy

decisions and action programmes and, therefore, prepare to meet them with

appropriate solutions. Chai (1971) proffers suggestions on some of the

consideration/approaches education planners should bear in mind when

planning for a plural society. Some of the approaches are discussed below:

1. Historical Background

The purpose of educational planning is to change present conditions in

anticipation of future needs. It is also good to bear in mind that past events

have bearing on the present conditions so an understanding of the country’s

social and political history should provide certain insights into current

problems. A balanced perspective of the social and political structure, the

organization of the economy and its relation to the population, the nature and

functions of institutions, patterns of public administration, and the role of

education in the modernization process, would alert the planner to problems

which arise from time to time in the course of the planning exercise and the

implementation of programmes.

2. The Demographic Structure

The planner would analyse this as a matter of course when dealing with

population projections, but special note should be taken of the geographical

distribution of ethnic groups. The distribution of ethnic groups in urban, semi-

urban and rural areas and their relative density in each area would indicate

the catchment for the organization of schools, whether they are racially

integrated or not. At any rate, possession of these demographic facts would

7
place the planner in a better position to rationalize political decisions and to

offer viable alternatives which might help to resolve both the political and the

educational problem. Additionally, information on current and prospective

trends in the geographical mobility of the rural population would be important

to decisions on where to locate new schools

3. The Labour Force

The usual categories of occupational groups by educational qualification

should be cross-tabulated with ethnic groups. The ethnic factor should run

through the analysis of growth rates of the labour force, employment,

unemployment and under-employment. The distribution of ethnic groups in

the urban-rural continuum is likely to show a parallel in the clustering of

ethnic groups around specific occupations.

4. Economic Development Programmes

A development programme must be capable of achievement through a

reasonable effort and must be internally consistent to avoid a conflict in the

attainment of objectives. So the educational planner should review current and

past development programmes against the background of the economy as a

whole and the existing system of education.

5. The Educational System

It is presumed that the planner will, as a matter of course, obtain a general

overview of the prevailing educational policy, the educational system as a

whole, the articulation of various levels of education, and the system of

administration and its relation to the various bodies which exercise control

over the schools.

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EDUCATIONAL PLANNING IN GHANA

A Brief History of Ghana as a Country

Ghana, officially called the Republic of Ghana is the territory of present-day

a sovereign unitary presidential constitutional democracy, located along

the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean, in the subregion of West Africa.

Spanning a land mass of 238,535 km2, Ghana is bordered by the Ivory

Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east and the Gulf of

Guinea and Atlantic Ocean in the south. The word Ghana means "Warrior

King" in Mande (Soninke Language).

Ghana has been inhabited for millennia, with the first permanent state dating

back to the 11th century. Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the

centuries, of which the most powerful was the Kingdom of Ashanti. Beginning

in the 15th century, numerous European powers contested the area for trading

rights, with the British ultimately establishing control of the coast by the late

19th century. Following over a century of native resistance, Ghana's current

borders were established by the 1900s as the British Gold Coast. On 6 March,

1957, it became the first sub-Saharan African nation to declare independence

from European colonisation.

A multicultural nation, Ghana has a population of approximately 27 million,

spanning a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. Its diverse

geography and ecology ranges from coastal savannahs to tropical jungles.

Ghana is one of the world's largest gold and diamond producers and is

projected to be the largest producer of cocoa in the world as of 2015. Ghana's

growing economic prosperity and democratic political system has made it

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a regional power in West Africa. It is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement,

the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

and the Group of 24 (G24).Ghana has a literacy rate of 71.5%.

Ghana has ten administrative regions, which are further divided into

Metropolitan, Municipal, and Districts Assemblies These districts are created

taking into consideration the economic potential and viability, ethnicity, and

population among other factors. In 2007, The President by an Executive

Instrument created 27 new Districts, 4 Municipalities, upgraded 27 existing

districts into municipalities and 2 existing Municipalities into Metropolis. The

assemblies were inaugurated at their various locations simultaneously on 29

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February 2008. All the inaugurated and confirmed Metropolitan, Municipal,

and Districts Assemblies established are operational with immediate effect

hence bringing the total number of such Assemblies to 169. The creation of

new districts arose as a result of the large size of some of the previous 138

Assemblies. The large size did not facilitate the full implementation of local

government policies.

Ghana as a Plural/Heterogeneous Country

In general, a heterogeneous society is where there will be diversity of people in

terms of race, culture, religions, languages etc. Ghana has about 100 linguistic

and cultural groups. The major ethnic groups in Ghana include the Akan,

Ewe, Mole-Dagbane, Guan and Ga-Adange. The sub divisions of each group

share a common cultural heritage, history, language and origin. These shared

attributes were among the variables that contributed to state formation in the

pre-colonial period.

Ethnic rivalries of the pre-colonial era, variance in the impact of colonialism

upon different regions of the county and the uneven distribution of social and

economic amenities in the post-independence Ghana have all contributed to

the present day ethnic tensions. For example, in February 1994, more than

1,000 persons were killed and 150,000 others displaced in the north eastern

part of Ghana in fighting between Konkomba on one side and Nanumba,

Dagomba and Gonja on the other.

Although this violence was certainly evidence of ethnic tension in the country,

most observers agreed that the case in point was exceptional. Some believed
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that the undifferentiated recourse to ethnic categories has obscured the

essential fluidity that lies at the core of shared ties in the count. Evidence of

this fluidity lies in the heterogeneous nature of all administrative regions, in

rural-urban migration that results in interethnic mixing, in the shared

concerns of professional and trade unionists that cut across ethnic lines, and

in the multiethnic composition of secondary school and university classes.

Ethnicity, nonetheless, continues to be one of the most potent factors affecting

political behaviour in Ghana. For this reason, ethnically based political parties

are unconstitutional under the present Fourth Republic.

No part of Ghana is ethnically homogeneous. Urban centres are the most

ethnically mixed because of migration to towns and cities by those in search of

employment. Rural areas, with the exception of cocoa producing that have

attracted migrant labour tend to reflect more traditional population

distributions.

According to Ahorsu and Gebe (2011), Ghana like most post-colonial states, is

a heterogeneous society characterised by the internal dualism of formal–

informal, urban–countryside, and modern–traditional communities and

institutions.

The modern structures supersede but have not displaced the diverse socio-

cultural, economic and political institutions and practices of pre-colonial.

Ghana remains vulnerable to intermittent communal violence and inter-ethnic

conflicts that harm its governance and security structures. While the whole of

Ghana is susceptible to civil strife, the northern half of the country has been

the main hotbed of conflicts that often pivot around land ownership,
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chieftaincy, religious intolerance, and ethnocentrism. Finding a lasting

solution to the conflicts in Northern Ghana has proven largely futile. 

PRE AND POST INDEPENDENCE EDUCATIONAL PLANNING IN GHANA

Pre Independence -The Mercantile Era

The main goal of education was to make civilization march hand in hand with

evangelism. Initially, it was the Danish, Dutch and English merchants who set

up schools in the forts to educate the mulatto children by native women.

John Von Richelieu, one of the Danish Governors to Ghana, approached the

Basel Mission Society of Switzerland in 1828 to establish an education

network in Ghana. Representatives of the organisation were able to convince

the chiefs of Ghana in 1832 to send their children to the Government School at

Osu. Many of these institutions, established by Presbyterian and Methodist

missionaries, were located in the south of the country in what became the

British Gold Coast Colony. The main aim of these early schools was to

facilitate the training of the local inhabitants as interpreters for purposes of

trade and as a conversion of Ghanaians to the Christian religion. Thus the

curriculum had a narrow focus on basic literacy with the Bible and scripture

as the main texts of schooling.

Colonial Era

By 1881, there were 139 schools, however, the education systems used varied

widely. This prompted the government to draw up its first plans in 1882 to

guide the development of education.

In 1918, the first real targets for the development of educations were set by Sir

Hugh Clifford as thus

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 Primary education for every African boy and girl

 A training college for teachers in every province

 Better salaries for teachers

 A Royal College

This led to the opening of the Prince Wales College in 1927. Later it became the

Achimota College.

By 1933 an important emphasis was placed on the training of teachers by the

government.

By the 1950’s there were approximately 3,000 primary and secondary schools

in Ghana and 6.6% of the 4.2 population was in schools. The British laid a

solid foundation for the formal education system in Ghana, however only a

small group has access to it. The Nkrumah Government in 1952 saw education

as a major instrument for national development and introduced the policy of

education for all.

Post-Independence Era

The 1961 Act, (Act 87) initiated by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was aimed at

achieving Free Universal Primary Education. The Act made Education

compulsory and free. The Act stipulated the entry age as six years and that no

other fee other than provision of essential books or materials should be

charged at public primary, middle or special school.

The Ghanaian Education System at this point consisted of 6-4-5-2. The

reforms of the 1980’s shortened the pre-university education structure from 17

years to 12 years. The present structure of education which starts at the age of

6 years is a 2-6-3-3-4 structure representing 2 years of pre-school education, 6

14
years of primary education, 3 years of junior, 3 years of senior secondary

school and 4 years university course or can also follow courses at a

polytechnic, Teachers Training College or other tertiary institution.

Ghana aims to reach the middle income country status by the year 2020.

The vision 2020 document contains an education policy with the objective to

ensure all citizens regardless of gender or social status are functionally literate

and productive at the minimum. The education policy mainly extends to four

major groups of the education systems namely:

a) Basic Education (FCUBE- Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education)

b) Secondary Education

c) Teacher Education

d) Tertiary Education

STRUCTURE AND TYPES OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN GHANA

The structure and content of education in 1987 resulted in a significant

reduction in the number of years of pre-tertiary education offered – from 17 to

12 years. After the 2007 Education Reform Act, however, two years of early

childhood schooling (from age 4) was formally included in the free compulsory

basic education, bringing the total number of years for pre-tertiary education

to 14. The current structure of education in Ghana is as follows:

 Basic education level: eleven years – comprising early childhood

education (two years), primary (six years) and junior high school (three

years).

 Second cycle education: three years – consisting of senior high school

grammar and technical education, as well as other post basic skills-

15
 development programmes, including the National Apprenticeship

Programme.

 Tertiary level education: comprising diploma programmes at teacher

training institutions and polytechnics, as well as undergraduate

programmes spanning a minimum duration of three years (for diploma

programmes) and four years (for undergraduate degree courses).

Different Types of Education in Ghana

The different types of education in Ghana are: Kindergarten/Pre-school,

Primary, Junior Secondary, Senior Secondary, Technical and Vocational

Education (TVET), Teacher Training (TTC), Tertiary, Universities and

Polytechnics.

Kindergarten/Pre-school

This lasts for 2 years from ages 4-6. The program is divided in 6 core areas.

Primary Education

This lasts 6 years from ages 6-11. There is no certificate of completion at the

end of primary school.

Junior Secondary

This lasts 3 years from ages 12–15. The Junior School ends on the Basic

Education Certificate (BECE).

Senior Secondary

Students who pass the BECE can proceed into secondary education, general or

vocational. The secondary education is assumed by the Senior High School

(SHS). The SHS curriculum is composed of core subjects, completed by elective

subjects. The SHS curriculum lasts for 3 years and ends on a final exam called
16
the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), formerly

called Senior Secondary School Certificate (SSSC) before 2007.

Technical and Vocational Education

This is also called TVET and takes different forms. After obtaining the BECE,

students who wish to pursue in vocational education have two main

possibilities: Following the vocational and technical programs as elective

courses in a SHS, or joining a technical and vocational institute (TVI). SHS

students follow the usual SHS 3 year curriculum and after WASSC, join a

university or polytechnic program. TVI students usually follow a 4-year

curriculum, divided in two cycles of two years, leading to awards from City and

Guilds, the Riyal Society of Art or West African Examinations Council. They

can then pursue into a polytechnic program. International schools also exist in

Ghana which offer the International Bavvalaureat, Advanced Level General

Certificate of Education and the International General Certificate of Secondary

Education (IGCSE).

Teacher Training (TTC)

Colleges of Education are the main teacher training institutions. They offer a

three years curriculum that leads to the Diploma in Basic Education (DBE).

The holders of the DBE are allowed to teach at every level of the Basic

education. Apart from the Colleges of education, two universities train

teachers. A specific four-year bachelor’s degree allows to teach in any pre-

tertiary education (most graduates choosing secondary education). A specific

master’s degree is needed for teaching in College of education. University also

offer to DBE graduate a two year curriculum granting the right to teach in
17
secondary education. Distance education is also possible: the programme lasts

four years and leads to the Untrained Teacher’s Diploma in Basic Education

(UTDBE)

Tertiary Education

Tertiary education in Ghana has been notably growing during the last twenty

years, both in terms of enrolment and infrastructures. A substantial part of

this development comes from the private sector.

Universities (6 public and 49 private institutions) offer an academic education,

from bachelor to Ph.D. students are admitted based on their performance at

the WASSCE: A maximum of 24 points is generally required in order to apply

to a Bachelor degree program. A bachelor degree is usually completed after

four years of majoring in a specific field of interest. Master degree are of two

sorts: A one year program, concluded with a final paper based on a literature

study, or a two year program, concluded with a final paper based on one year

of independent research. Both can lead to a Ph.D. usually achieved in 3 years

within a doctoral programme.

Polytechnics (10 institutions) offer a vocational education. They propose 3 year

curricula, leading to a Higher National Diploma (HND). The students have then

the possibility to follow a special 18 month program to achieve a Bachelor of

technology degree.

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EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN AND POLICIES IN GHANA

Education Strategic Plan (ESP)

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (MOESS) has developed the

Education Strategic Plan 2003 – 2015 which is a long term plan designed to

provide the strategic framework that will guide the development of the

education sector over the period up to 2015.

The preparation of the ESP was informed by the Ghana Poverty Reduction

Strategy (GPRS), Education for All (EFA), the Millennium Development Goals

(MOGs) and other sectoral and national reports.

The ESP lays the foundation for a Sector Wide Approach (SWAP) to education

sector development in Ghana ensuring joint responsibility and partnership

between government and all stakeholders with the MOESS taking the lead role

in guiding the implementation of the ESP.

The ESP is organised along four main areas of focus as follows:

1) Equitable Access to Education

2) Quality of Education

3) Educational Planning and Management

4) Science and Technology, Technical and Vocational Education and

Training.

Educational Policies

A policy is a plan of action for guiding, directing or administering affairs to

achieve a set target or goal. Policies are therefore goal-motivated and goal-

targeted. For example, the various plans, strategies and other operational

means evolved or adopted for developing, maintaining and processing the

education delivery system constitute the education policies of Ghana.

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The education landscape in Ghana today is the result of major policy

initiatives in education adopted by past government as well as the present one.

Some of the laws, policy documents and reports which have helped in meeting

the educational needs and aspirations of the people are:

1. The Education Act of 1961 – The Act established the policy of free and

compulsory primary and basic education for all children of school-going age in

Ghana. It also made provision for the establishment of Private Schools to

augment government’s efforts at providing enough schools to cater for the

ever-growing demand for education, especially at the basic level. This led to the

creation of the Private Schools Unit at the Ministry of Education in August

1973.

2. The Dzobo Report of 1973 - In the early 1970s, the National

Redemption Council (NRC) government of Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong

established an Educational Review Committee to recommend reforms in the

educational system of the country. The committee was chaired by Professor N.

K. Dzobo of the Faculty of Education, University of Cape Coast. This report

recommended the JSS concept.

3. The new Structure and Content of Education 1974 - In 1974 the

government put into operation the first major, post-Independence, reform in

pre-university education. This reform is generally referred to as ‘The New

Structure and Content of Education’ (NSCE) and reduced the length of pre-

tertiary education from 17 years to 13 years. The 6 years of primary education

remained the same. The four years of junior school was reduced to three years.

The five years of senior secondary school, lower stage was reduced to two
20
years, and the period of senior secondary, upper level, remained the same (that

is it went from a pattern of 6-4-5-2 to one of 6- 3-2-2). The aim was to make it

possible for school leavers to leave at any point of exit from the system with

skills that would enable them to be employable. The reform was expected to

raise standards at the various levels so that educational standards would not

be compromised as a result of the decrease in the number of years spent in

pre-tertiary education. The thrust of the content of the reform programme was

to vocationalise pre-university education in Ghana and to make it more

functional and oriented towards contextual demands and challenges. It also

constituted a bold attempt to reduce educational expenditure.

4. The Education Commission Report on Basic and Secondary

Education 1987/88 and the Education Reform Programme 1987/88

5. The University Rationalization Committee Report 1988 - The Ghana

Universities Rationalization Committee in its report of 1988 recommended

that, public universities should allocate ten per cent (10%) of their budget to

the university library for its operations.

6. The Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education Programme 1996

(1992 Constitution). The FCUBE programme has a focus on primary

education and seeks to improve upon the 1987 reform by addressing the

shortcomings identified in the implementation process to ensure quality. The

programme also aims at increasing the participation of primary school-going-

age children so as to make it as close to one hundred per cent of the

population as possible. Additionally, FCUBE seeks to address a particular

21
policy focus of raising the enrolment of girls in basic education. Out of this

came also the FCUBE Policy Document and Programmes of Operation.

7. The Ghana Education Trust Fund GET Fund Act 2000 (Act 581) –

This is one of the significant interventions that has impacted positively on the

education system in Ghana. The fund was established by an act of Parliament

the Ghana Education Trust Fund Act, 2001 (Act 581) on August 25, 2001, to

provide a reliable source of financing education, particularly in public

institutions. The fund is under the management of a 17-member Board of

Trustees who oversee its disbursement through the Ministry of Education

(MOE), the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), the Scholarship

Secretariat and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT). The

fund is derived from a two and half per cent deduction from the Value Added

Tax (VAT).

EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES IN GHANA

Other initiatives that have in structurally transforming the education system

as well as improving considerably access, quality teaching and learning,

infrastructure delivery as well as management efficiency are discussed below:

1961–1966: The Vision of a Country- Education for Accelerated

Development

Nkrumah’s plans for education were informed by a realistic assessment of

resource constraints and in accordance with the various policies laid down in

the decade before independence. Education’ agenda was clear: to reduce

poverty through increases economic productivity riding on the back of

advances in science and technology. Some of the achievements of the early

22
post-independent era include a well-trained and motivated teaching force that

was recognised as fundamental for ensuring quality of educational provision.

Teachers enjoyed salaries comparable to people with similar qualifications in

other professions. Another achievement was the establishment of a Ghana

Education Trust to support the rapid expansion of secondary and Technical

education.

1967-1987: Linking Growth to High Quality and Decline in Education

In 1967, based on the recommendation of the Kwapong committee, 10 years

elementary education with a break in year eight for selecting suitable

candidates for secondary education was introduced. Those who were not

selected went on to complete two years continuation schools. Continuation

school were criticised for promoting inferior education for the masses whilst

secondary education had become the preserve of the elite Ghanaian children.

The majority of Ghanaian children were going through a 6 year primary,

followed by 4 years middle and 7 years secondary education, making 17 years

of pre- university education, a minority from well-off backgrounds were doing

13 years of pre-tertiary education. By the mid 1980s, Ghana’s educational

system was in sharp decline following a period of protracted poor economic

performance in the 1980s.

1987-2007: Socialist Ideology, Basic Education For All and Practical Skill

Training

The blueprint for the reforms emanated from the work of the Dzobo Committee

in 1973 which had suggested a new structure of education comprising 6 years

primary, 3 years junior secondary and 3 years senior secondary, as well as e

23
new content of education with emphasis on vocational and technical subjects

for all children up to junior secondary. The reform also included

comprehensive curriculum reform. The new system was also to ensure that all

products of primary school had access to a higher level of general academic

training as pertained in the lower forms of the traditional secondary school to

address the inequity between secondary school and the middle/continuation

school.

2007-2015: The New Vision of Education: Reforming Education in a

Competitive Market-Driven Global Economy

In September 2007 Ghana launched new education reform. Secondary

education and TVET have both been prioritized in the reform plan. The reform

have set 2015 as the target date for achieving universal basic school

completion, and 2020 as the date for all junior secondary students either to

benefit from senior secondary education. Consequently the reforms are aiming

to link schooling to the world of work by developing programmes that focus on

job market readiness, through alliance with private and public sector agencies.

The new policy initiatives are being introduced to increase participation to

support both small-scale and large-scale industries. Educational

decentralization and management to improve the operational efficiency and

promote a more responsive approach to education service delivery at district,

community and school level are all part of the new plans. The Basic school

system has also been expanded to include 2 years of kindergarten education.

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EDUCATIONAL PLANNING PROCESS AND STAGES ADOPTED IN GHANA

Education policy making in the Ghanaian context adopts the traditional

rationalist mode whereby policy formulation progresses through phases,

namely conception, consultation and evaluation stages.

The practice at the conception stage of the policy making process is to respond

to demands for change by first setting up a national committee or commission,

with membership from a wide range of stakeholder organisation, to review the

situation warranting change. A good example to illustrate policy formulation at

the conception stage is the setting up of the Education Reform Review

Committee of 1993/94 with the mandate to review Ghana’s policies on the

Basic Education. The activities of the Committee culminated in the initiation

and implementation of FCUBE Policy and program in 1996.

The consultation stage of education policy making process in Ghana solicits

views for the purpose of review by government. An essential part of the task

here involves considering which options are available or are still open to the

sector while taking into account the past experience and the extent to which

the sector has drifted off course. The outcomes of this exercise are submitted

to the Ministry of Education in the form of policy recommendation for

consideration.

At the development stage, the policy making process is moved beyond the

broad enunciation of principles to the clarification of aims, detailed planning,

pre-testing of materials or alternative plan among others. Most often, new

policies are pilot-tested before wholesale national implementations. The

development stage of the policy formulation process also has as its integral
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part the submission of policy recommendations in the forms of bills to

parliament for approval after which the policy is then ready for

implementation.

At the implementation stage, the GES on behalf of the MOE implements the

pre-tertiary education policy. However, a recent complimentary practice is to

set a unit to monitor the implementation process and carry out periodic impact

monitoring assessments.

The final stage of evaluation is where the success or failure of the new policy is

assessed and this is normally separated in time from the other four stages.

Normally, sector analysis is conducted virtually at all the stages of policy

formulation but is emphasized particularly at the policy analysis, pilot testing

and impact monitoring phases. The practice nowadays is to call on

independent and objective minded individual and agencies to serve as

evaluators of the processes of policy formulation.

EDUCATIONAL PLAN IMPLEMENTATION IN GHANA

The act of implementing education policy constitutes a discrete process

conceptualised as a hierarchical structure involving four main levels namely:

governmental, regional, district and school levels.

Policy implementation at the government level in the Ghanaian context is

controlled by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education has overall

responsibility for education sector policy formulation, planning, monitoring,

evaluation, budgeting and co-ordination. The tertiary sector management of

education is co-ordinated by the National Council for Tertiary Education

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(NCTE). The pre-tertiary level management of education is managed by Ghana

Education Service (GES) who carries out his or her functions of

implementation and advice through the regional directors of education, the

general managers of mission/faith based schools, the regional manager of

mission/faith based schools, the district directors of education, head teachers

and teacher of both public and private schools in the country.

Two other bodies namely: Curriculum Research and Development Division

(CRDD) and National Inspectorate Board (NIB) play an invaluable role in the

implementation process. The CRDD is responsible for curriculum development,

evaluation, innovation and implementation whereas the NIB is responsible

generally for supervision and inspection of schools to ensure educational

standards at the pre-tertiary level. Other agencies include: the National

Teaching Council (NTC), the accreditation of teacher training institution and

accreditation of individuals who pass out of Teacher Training Colleges. Ghana

National Association of Teachers (GNAT) is the official and exclusive bargaining

agent representing teachers in pre-tertiary educational institutions in matters

relating to employment working conditions.

West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) is a regional examination of

Anglophone West African States which conducts all types of academic

examinations for students in the sub-region.

The National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) and National Coordinating

Committee for Technical and Vocational Education Training (NACVET) are

involved in the development, assessment, training and certification of pre-

tertiary technical and vocational subjects.

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The implementation of educational policy in each of the 10 regions in Ghana is

carried out at the regional directorates of education. The regional director of

education is also responsible among other things for providing the necessary

support and making available funds, educational resources and materials from

central government to all the districts under his or her jurisdiction.

At the district level, the implementation of education is done by the district

directorate of education which is commonly known as the District Education

Officer (DEO). The District Assemblies are statutory bodies created by law for

the primary purpose of decentralizing government business at the local or

district level.

The actual implementation of educational policy formulated at the national

level and recommended for action is carried out at the school level. Two very

important groups of actors, head teachers and teachers undertake this task.

The teachers or class teachers as they are commonly called in Ghana however

have responsibilities for the management of teaching and learning of their

classes.

KEY CHALLENGES FACING EDUCATIONAL PLANING AND HOW GHANA

HAS ADDRESSED THEM

Despite the substantial progress that has been made over the years in

providing access to education, Ghana continues to grapple with serious

challenges on quality of education. To address the quality issue, the education

sector will require substantial investments. While, on the average, Government

provides 91% of education financing, most of this is absorbed by teachers'

salaries, leaving very little funds for non-salary expenditure. This has
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adversely affected the provision of teaching and learning materials and

infrastructure development.

There is also the issue of teacher training and development. The most deprived

areas lack teachers while at the same time there is some over-concentration of

teachers in the urban areas. The teacher deployment issue has become critical

to successful education delivery in the country. To ensure effective and

optimum utilisation of teachers, it is also important to have accurate data and

statistics on teacher availability and deployment.

The policy to encourage and mobilise non-state resources from the private

sector to support education sector development has to be given greater

attention. The challenge is how to balance the need for such support and

participation from the private sector against the needs of the poor in society

who may not be able to afford the fees charged by the private institutions.

Further consideration will also have to be given to the empowerment of

communities in school management and control. Strategies will have to be

developed to guide this process of empowerment.

Still under challenges the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) identified some

weaknesses in the system. These are discussed below:

Access and Participation to Education and Training

 Low enrolment and retention rates in Northern regions and many rural

areas.

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 SSS schools under enrolled – particularly new community secondary

schools

 Over 60% of university admissions come from less than 20% of

secondary schools.

 Gender concerns: Unequal enrolment rates; Unequal retention and

completion rates; Child abuse; Low female literacy; poor transition rates

(P6-JSS, JSS-SSS, SSS-TE) for girls

 Uneven locational distribution of special needs services, high attrition

rate of teachers completing special needs training and lack of necessary

equipment and financing within the special education subsector.

Quality of Teaching and Learning

 Improving, but nevertheless, unacceptable performance in CRT, PMT

tests at basic education and in SSSCE. Plus noticeable disparities

between public/private and rural/urban school performances

 Poor public image of teaching profession makes it hard to attract good

graduates into TTCs

 Low level of teacher commitment due to a lack of incentives and poor

working conditions, which translate into the above poor performances of

pupils

 Research in tertiary institutions is not effectively coordinated or

prioritised and is under funded

 Lack of effective use of ICT as a tool for teaching and learning.

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Technical and Vocational Education and Training

 Lack of workshops and professionally qualified teachers preventing

meaningful TVET taking place within JSS

 Lack of examination of practical skills by WAEC contributes to dearth of

'hands on' technical experience

 TVET has low status and doesn’t provide graduates with the

requirements to enter tertiary education

Educational Planning and Management

 Structural and capacity problems within the Ministry of Education and

its agencies– managerial weaknesses, manpower shortages and lack of

effective supervision

 Ineffective channels of communication

 Indiscipline and misbehaviour in local offices

 Inequitable resource allocation at Regions

HOW GHANA HAS ADDRESSED THE CHALLENGES

Gender Concerns – Girl’s Education

On access and participation, girl’s participation, which used to be a major

constraint in the country’s move to attending equity, has seen some

improvements. Since introducing a major intervention on girl’s education with

the intention of removing the barriers that prevent girls’ enrolment, school

timetables have been made more flexible in areas where girls are expected to

carry out domestic chores at home.

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The government has reviewed all textbooks to remove aspects of gender

stereotyping that discriminate against girls. A Girls’ Education Unit has been

set up to facilitate support to girls in the learning of science and technology.

Furthermore, selective scholarship packages have been introduced to target

girls from poor households, with vacation camps organised to encourage girls

to continue schooling.

Teacher Deployment

Teacher deployment is another critical challenge facing the MOESS. Equitable

deployment of teacher in terms of numbers, experience and qualifications is

vital to the achievement of quality education for all at the basic level. Following

the introduction of capitation grants the Pupil Teacher Ratio will continue to

increase. The district Sponsorship scheme is another strategy for improving

teacher deployment. It is a scheme where teacher trainees are sponsored by

Districts and the students are contracted to teach in these districts for at least

three years upon completion of their training.

Also the distribution of teachers continues to disadvantage rural areas. The

situation is worse when it comes to the placement of trained professional

teachers. The percentage of trained teachers remains very low at the basic

level. In early childhood education, only 31 per cent of teachers in

kindergartens are trained. Primary level has about 51 per cent of teachers

trained, with the junior high school level having about 66 per cent of teachers

trained.

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To tackle the low number of trained teachers in kindergarten schools, teacher-

training programmes for early childhood education have been expanded. The

government is also exploring means of developing pre-primary education by

setting up partnerships with local communities, non-governmental

organisations (NGOs) and religious groups. For rural, deprived and hard-to-

reach parts of the country, the government’s response is to introduce special

incentive packages for teachers who accept postings in these schools.

Currently, the government is on course to introduce an additional 20 per cent

to the basic salary allowance for teachers serving in disadvantaged areas. As

part of the government’s effort to improve the teaching and learning

environment in schools, it has set about tackling the problem of classes held

under trees. In a bid to gradually replace all schools under trees, which

currently total around 5,000 across the country, the government has already

turned 1,500 of these schools into bricks and mortar classroom blocks.

Increasing Access at Basic Education

The focus of government has been the reduction of barriers to entry to primary

education and the creation of awareness among parents and pupils of the

benefits of receiving primary education. In furtherance of this, direct action in

the form of capitation grants to basic schools and the abolition of all forms of

levies which would prevent any pupil from going to school have been

introduced nationwide. In addition, a World Food Programme (WFP) initiative

to promote girls enrolment and the NEPAD School Feeding programme have

been introduced in some underserved Districts to promote access. The result

of these initiatives has been a sharp increase in basic school enrolment.

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Computerized School Selection Placement System (CSSPS)

A number of problems characterized the manual system of selection and

placement of Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) graduate to

Senior Secondary Schools/Technical Institutions (SSS/TI) on annual basis.

These included parents and guardians travelling from school to school in

search of placement for their wards, harassment of heads of schools for limited

vacancies, under enrolment and over enrolment in the community and urban

schools respectively. Lack of transparency and perceived unfairness in the

selection of JSS graduates into SSS all warranted the need to centralize the

selection process to ensure fairness. To address these problems, the

government introduced the CSSPS which places students in the schools

according to merit and based on their raw scores.

Technical and Vocational Educational and Training (TVET) Policy

Framework

The present TVET system is mostly institution-based and fragmented under

different ministries, Agencies and the private sector, each developing and

offering its programme under their parochial policies without any coordination.

Linkages with industry in terms of input for curricula development are weak

resulting in mismatches of supply and demand of skills. There is also the poor

public perception of TVET affecting recruitment, funding and unsatisfactory

quality of delivery due to inadequate instructor preparation and provision of

instructional resources. To address these, government in collaboration with

industry has developed a TVET Policy Framework to guide policy makers and

to sensitize the public on the government’s focus on a new vision for Technical,

Agricultural and Vocational Education and Training. This policy provides for

the establishment of a National Council for TVET to regulate and give direction

for the effective management and the development of competency-based

curricula for Polytechnics and Technical Institutions.

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