by Obi Afriyie and Tsvetelina Bogdanova
The Education system in Ghana is somewhat of a mess. Ghana was a colony of Great Britain up until 1961. Up until that time, the education of native Ghanaians was never really a wide spread concern of the government. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president is credited with introducing free education into Ghana. Before this time period education was more or less seemed as a luxury of those who could afford it and not really a necessity. In fact the education system in Ghana was rather informal. The first school was the home. The first teachers were parents or the elders whom children lived with. Instead of being taught about mathematics or sciences, students were taught everyday life lessons. How to cook, how to take care of the home, how to hunt and fish. These were considered the skills that students would need to survive and be successful. The colonial education system has had a mixed affect on the Ghanian culture and way of life. On one hand, the adoption of a more formal education system has helped modernize Ghana. Education is the most important factor in modernizing a nation. Having an educated workforce is essential to create jobs in fields such as technology and the sciences. However, the colonial education system has wreaked havoc on Ghanaian culture. A lot of the education taught in the post colonial era during the 60's was from the European point of view. The adoption of a formal European or American model of schooling has not fulfilled the horizontal functions, rather, suggest Sefa Dei and Opini (2007), distancing children and young people from their families, reproducing inter-generational inequalities, particularly those of social class, economic background and gender. There was also a lot of contradiction in the laws created during the 1960's and 1970's. In a video on BigThink.com, Richard Dowden says colonialism was “short enough to destroy leadership in Africa but not long enough to replace it with anything else.” He further highlights in the video how the most disastrous effect on colonialism on Africa was it's effect on African self confidence. Colonialism instilled in many African children the false belief that they were inferior to the white European settlers in the land. Ghana operates on a 6-3-4-4 system which is divided into Primary School (6 years), Junior High School (3 years), Senior High School (4 years), and University Bachelor's Degree (4 years). The official language of instruction in Ghanaian schools is English. Students may choose to study in any of the eleven local languages throughout the first 3 years of their education, afterwards the subjects are taught in English. Still Ghanaian language is taught as a subject, as well as French trough at least the ninth grade. All textbooks and materials used in class are otherwise in English. The basic education in Ghana includes Kindergarten (2 years), Primary School (6 years), and Junior Secondary School (3 years). It is defined as “the minimum period of schooling needed to ensure that children acquire basic literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills as well as skills for creativity and healthy living”("Basic Education curriculum"). Kindergarten includes 6 core areas of development: Language and Literacy (Language Development), Creative Activities (Drawing and Writing), Mathematics (Number Work), Environmental Studies, Movement and Drama (Music and Dance), and Physical Development (Physical Education). The courses taught in Primary School are English, Gha
naian languages and Ghanaian
culture, mathematics, environmental studies, social studies, French, general
science, pre-vocational skills and pre-technical skills, religious and moral education,
and physical activities such as Ghanaian music and dance, and physical
education. At
the end of Junior High School (ninth grade) all students are required to take the
Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the following subjects:
English Language, Ghanaian Language and Culture, Social Studies, Integrated
Science, Mathematics, Design and Technology, Information and Communication
Technology, French (optional), Religious and Moral Education. After
acquiring BECE students can proceed into secondary education. The admission process
to Senior High Schools is highly competitive: only 150,000 students can be
admitted into the 500 public and 200 private national secondary
schools. The Senior High School curriculum is
composed of core subjects (English language, mathematics, integrated science
and social studies) and elective subjects, chosen by the students.
The
students are able to choose 3 or 4 elective subjects out of 5 available courses:
agriculture, general programme (divided in 2 options: arts or science), business, vocational programme
and technical programme.
The course lasts 3 years and ends with a final exam called the West African Senior
School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Ghana’s
tertiary institutions (6 public and 49 private) enroll over 300,000 students in
undergraduate, graduate, certificate and diploma programs. The admission is
highly competitive, especially in fields such as medicine, engineering, law,
business and pharmacy. Students are admitted based on their WASSCE
scores. Bachelor degrees are usually completed after four years of majoring in
a specific field of interest. Master
degrees 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. Tertiary
education graduates have to serve one year within the National Service in order
to complete their education. Participants can serve in one of the eight
following sectors: Agriculture, Health, Education, Local Government, Rural
Development, Military and Youth Programmes.
The Education system in Ghana is somewhat of a mess. Ghana was a colony of Great Britain up until 1961. Up until that time, the education of native Ghanaians was never really a wide spread concern of the government. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president is credited with introducing free education into Ghana. Before this time period education was more or less seemed as a luxury of those who could afford it and not really a necessity. In fact the education system in Ghana was rather informal. The first school was the home. The first teachers were parents or the elders whom children lived with. Instead of being taught about mathematics or sciences, students were taught everyday life lessons. How to cook, how to take care of the home, how to hunt and fish. These were considered the skills that students would need to survive and be successful. The colonial education system has had a mixed affect on the Ghanian culture and way of life. On one hand, the adoption of a more formal education system has helped modernize Ghana. Education is the most important factor in modernizing a nation. Having an educated workforce is essential to create jobs in fields such as technology and the sciences. However, the colonial education system has wreaked havoc on Ghanaian culture. A lot of the education taught in the post colonial era during the 60's was from the European point of view. The adoption of a formal European or American model of schooling has not fulfilled the horizontal functions, rather, suggest Sefa Dei and Opini (2007), distancing children and young people from their families, reproducing inter-generational inequalities, particularly those of social class, economic background and gender. There was also a lot of contradiction in the laws created during the 1960's and 1970's. In a video on BigThink.com, Richard Dowden says colonialism was “short enough to destroy leadership in Africa but not long enough to replace it with anything else.” He further highlights in the video how the most disastrous effect on colonialism on Africa was it's effect on African self confidence. Colonialism instilled in many African children the false belief that they were inferior to the white European settlers in the land. Ghana operates on a 6-3-4-4 system which is divided into Primary School (6 years), Junior High School (3 years), Senior High School (4 years), and University Bachelor's Degree (4 years). The official language of instruction in Ghanaian schools is English. Students may choose to study in any of the eleven local languages throughout the first 3 years of their education, afterwards the subjects are taught in English. Still Ghanaian language is taught as a subject, as well as French trough at least the ninth grade. All textbooks and materials used in class are otherwise in English. The basic education in Ghana includes Kindergarten (2 years), Primary School (6 years), and Junior Secondary School (3 years). It is defined as “the minimum period of schooling needed to ensure that children acquire basic literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills as well as skills for creativity and healthy living”("Basic Education curriculum"). Kindergarten includes 6 core areas of development: Language and Literacy (Language Development), Creative Activities (Drawing and Writing), Mathematics (Number Work), Environmental Studies, Movement and Drama (Music and Dance), and Physical Development (Physical Education). The courses taught in Primary School are English, Gha
Sources:
"Education
in Ghana." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Feb. 2017. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.
"Accra,
Ghana - Embassy of the United States." The
Educational System of Ghana | Accra, Ghana - Embassy of the United States.
U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.
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