EDUCATIONAL REFORMS

Educational Reforms and Pedagogy in Ghana: Implications for Learning Senior High Schools



Educational Reforms and Pedagogy in Ghana: Implications for Learning Senior High Schools

Introduction

In the past 25 years, Ghana has experienced a series of reforms to restructure, improve and provide public educational services. In 2007, the Ghanaian Parliament adopted a bill on education increasing the number of grades in high school from three to four years. The reform was both welcomed and criticised (Weva 2003). In 2010, another revision reversed this, by reducing the senior high school years from 4 to 3. This revision had brought its share of problems, including complexities relating to infrastructure and logistics for the implementation of the program in four years (Ame, Agbe´nyiga & Apt 2011).

The population in Ghana has a low literacy rate of 57.9%. Primary and middle-school education is free and is mandatory. Students begin their six year primary education at age six. This is followed by junior secondary school system for 3 years of academic training combined with technical and vocational training (Antwi 1992). The senior secondary (or technical/vocational) school goes with a three-year course as the last stage at the school level followed by university education. As of 2007, school enrolment totalled almost two million; 1.3 million for primary level; 107,600 for the secondary; 489,000 for middle; 21,280 enrolled into technical; 11,300 for teacher training; and 5,600 for the university level (Owusu 2009). Although there have been significant improvements in the country's educational system, there is a need to investigate the efficacies of the transition and reforms in educational sector (World Bank 2006). This study examines the impacts, implications and implementation of the recent educational reforms in the Ghana's educational system.

Purpose

This study primarily aims to investigate the pedagogical implications of education reforms in Ghana for the senior high school level. The study follows these aspects in the form of a case study. The study will conceptualize and elaborate the impacts the new reforms will have on the teaching, learning and administration outcomes in the context of Ghana. Although there was a massive curriculum reform revision in 2007 and 2010, this research will focus on the implications of changes from reducing the number of years at the senior high school level.

Literature Review

Ghana, like many other countries around the world, has, over the years, sought to improve its education system by introducing reforms and making projections based on the education needs of the country (Boakye & Banini 2008). Despite the clarity of the constitutional provisions on education, adoption within a framework of national education policy remains ambiguous. On the one hand, most of these forecasts can be seen, arguably, as part of the education perspectives on the current government (Ame, Agbe´nyiga & Apt 2011). On the other hand, the current education programs of the government seem to be informed less by the constitution for its vision of education as part of its own strategy for economic regeneration and development (Gershburg and Winkler 2003). From the mid-80's, the national education policy has focused ...