An assessment of Ghana’s policy on quality education in the public Senior High Schools: a case study of Ahafo Ano North and South Districts

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Date
2011
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Abstract
The decline in the performance of students in examinations at the Senior High School Level has necessitated formulation of several policies and for that matter Education Strategic Plan (ESP) by Government Ghana to halt or improve the situation. The goal of the research is to assess the parameters of achieving quality education as enshrined in ESP document namely; enhancement of quality teaching and learning, promotion of good health and environmental sanitation as well as programmes of action that prevent HIV/AIDS in SHS with Ahafo Ano North and South as case study districts. The findings and recommendations that emerged from the study can contribute to educational discourse in finding solutions to poor quality of education in Ghana. The setting for the study looked at the significance of quality education to development, factors that influence quality education and Ghana’s policy on quality education in SHS. Case study approach was used to study three SHS in the selected districts. These schools were Mabang SHS, Tepa SHS and Mankranso SHS. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to interview 477 respondents (two District Directors of Education, three Headmasters, 15 programmes Heads of Departments, 89 teachers, three chairmen of Parents-Teachers Associations, three Old Students and 362 students) for primary data to supplement the secondary information gathered from literature. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were applied for analysis of data collected. The research revealed that 79.2 percent of the teachers in the schools are professionals and their major source of motivation beside their salaries is “motivation fee” provided for them by the PTA. The study further revealed that teaching and learning materials are available but not sufficient to meet the increasing populations of the schools. The average class size of the schools which is 65 is higher than the national standard of 40 students per class whiles the student-textbook ratio is 4:1. Teacher-student ratio of 1:26 for the school is higher than the national average of 1:20. All the schools surveyed have laboratories with limited computers for the teaching of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) There is only one Science Resource Centre serving the SHS in the districts,. The study of HIV/AIDS has been fused into the curricula of the schools. Observation has been made that is reliable and regular supply of potable water to the schools. Recommendation is made on the basis of the findings that the interventions of Government, District Assemblies and Parents among others are necessary to ameliorate the quality concern of SHS of the study districts.
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A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Development Policy and Planning
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