The role of Non-Governmental Organizations in girl-child education in the Tolon-Kumbungu District of the Northern Region of Ghana

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
2012-07-24
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Although, the number of educated children has in the past 20 years in some countries, boys have proportionally fared much better than girls. In 1990, 130 million children had no access to primary school; of these 81 million were girls. Two-thirds (65 per cent) of the world’s 176 million illiterates are women(UN, 2000). This can be attributed to such customary practices as child labour, early marriages, lack of funds and adequate school facilities, teenage pregnancies as well as cultural and traditional practices (Berry, 1989). Tolon-Kumbungu district has its own share of this problem and as a result, many Non-Governmental Organizations (N G O) are concerned and are in the district (Tolon-Kumbungu) working hard to bridge the gender educational gap between the boy and the girl-child. It is in this regard that this study was designed to examine the impact of the NGOs in bridging the gender educational gap between the boy and the girl-child in the Tolon-Kumbungu district. The study examined the service delivery approach of the NGOs, nature of service of the NGOs, the level of coverage of the services of the NGOs, whether the services of the NGOs meet the appropriate needs of the girl-child, and finally, the areas the NGOs need to improve upon in the delivery of their services to the girl-child. The study employed the secondary source of data in which the efforts of several studies on the history, causes and effects of discrimination, perceptions, traditions and negative cultural practices that deepened the gender educational gap. It employed the primary source of data in which questionnaires were used to make the finding scientific. Also included in this social survey which has a sample size of 270 respondents was participant observation to gather data directly from the local people in the district. The study revealed that the activities of the NGOs within the district have an impact in minimizing the gender educational gap between the boy and the girl-child. The study also revealed some of the challenges such as personnel, financial and logistical constrains that the NGOs face in the delivery of their services in the district.
Description
A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES. 2012
Keywords
Citation