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Development Sector: Education
The influences that have shaped Ghana’s national educational system stem from the early European influences brought about by merchant trade and missionary involvement. These educational influences became the foundation for decades, eventually leading to the adoption of the British education model. Reforms to the educational system over the past few decades have resulted in a system which is currently modeled closely to the American educational approach.
The Ministry of Education in Ghana is responsible for the formulating of national educational policies. Under the governance of the Ministry of Education are three subjected bodies responsible for the implementation of various levels of educational policy. The first agency, the Ghana Education Service (GES) is responsible for the implementation of policy at the pre-tertiary academic level. This agency is represented in all 10 regions and 138 districts of the country. The second agency, the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) is responsible for the implementation at the tertiary academic level. The third agency; Non-formal Education Division (NFED) oversees the implementation of non-formal educational policies.Current education policy initiatives are focused on the long-term development program; Vision 2020. Vision 2020’s objective is aimed at counteracting the deterioration of the educational system of the past two decades. Implementation will be brought about through the concerted efforts of the Ministry of Education, Development partners and community.
In Ghana there are four components to the national education system. The first component; Pre-school education, is designed for children under the age of 6 years. Typically this education is equivalent by design to the North American kindergarten years. The second component; Primary education, encompasses the years between 6 -12 years of age and is similar to grades 1-6. The curriculum for the Primary education currently has 9 subjects being covered, with recommendations to lower the curriculum to a more focused 5-6 subjects. The third component; Junior Secondary (changed to Junior High in 2007) for children 13-15 covers currently 12 subjects with recommendations also to lower the curriculum to 10 areas of study. Junior Secondary is designed to include both academic training along with technical and vocational training in an attempt to address the country’s employment needs. On completion of Junior Secondary studies, students are required to complete the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) before moving into the next phase - Senior High education. The educational reform which began in 2007 has increased the duration of the program to four years.
Government funded schooling...
will accommodate a child through to roughly Grade 9 (though many still drop out at the class four level when parents are required to buy $2.00 worth of notebooks), but from that point onward the financial onus falls onto the individual and their family. The cost of sending a child to Senior Secondary School, is financially unthinkable for many of these families who are trying to survive on less than $1.00 per day. Coupled with added expenses of having to support a child living away from home, because of the distance of some of the villages, many brilliant students are unable to develop to their full potential.
Janga area: 1987
In 1987 with a population ranging around 40,000 in the Janga project area, there sits maybe 60 children between the ages of 6 to 12 years of age trying to receive a proper education. Classes are held under the nearby trees in an attempt to stave off the 30-35C degree temperatures. The classroom is dilapidated and the roof is gone, the blackboard is part of a wall that looks like it could give way any moment. The two teachers that instruct at the school are frustrated, not with the children, but by the lack of resources they have to teach with, so they may arrive today or may not.
Janga area: 1993
Five years after their arrival into the Janga area, the NEA completed their first Junior Secondary School building project. The school designed with three classrooms would accommodate 90 to 120 students between the ages of 13 to 15 years of age.
Janga area: 1995-1997
1995 saw the construction of another NEA sponsored Primary school. Again, located in the Janga catchment area, this school was designed with six classrooms to accommodate 180 younger students between the ages of 6 to 12 years old. To meet the demographic needs in surrounding villages a second Primary School was constructed in 1997. This school with three classrooms, would accommodate 90 students between the ages of 6 to 12 years of age. Aside from the construction aspect of funding education, the NEA built into their annual budgets a scholarship fund. A scholarship designed to assist individuals who otherwise would not be able to receive an academic education at the Senior Secondary level. The scholarship funding was incorporated into budgets for a ten year period covering 1993 - 2003.
Deg area: 1996
Reintroduced again in 1996 to a similar scenario that played out years earlier in the Janga area, the NEA project team tackles poverty once again.
Basic human needs of food and shelter top the NEA’s program agenda,very high on that same agenda is the educational concerns surrounding the people they work alongside.
Deg area: 2001
Closely following the strategic timelines of those implemented in the Janga area. The NEA sponsored the construction of a six classroom Primary school in the village of Carpenter in 2001. The construction of the school would ccomodate roughly 180 students in the primary grade levels. The following year saw the construction of an additional school in Jugboi. In 2003, construction of another school was commenced in Bamboi that would accommodate 180 students at the primary level. Through NEA’s partnership with the Makbraneth foundation, a school was built in Ayorya in 2002; Asampu in 2004 and a 120 bed secondary school girls’ dormitory was built in Bole in 2005. 2007 saw work commence on Baniantwe Primary school. Plans are underway to build a Junior High in Carpenter in 2008 and two more school projects are on the drawing board for the near future.
Scholarships
A scholarship program was developed to encourage students who qualify for secondary or tertiary programs to be able to continue their education. In 2003, six students were sponsored and the numbers have steadily risen. In 2007, twenty-four students were able to take advantage of the acceptance they had gained to various programs as follows:
Of these individuals, there are an equal number of boys and girls. Another exciting aspect of the scholarship program is that many of the sponsored students apply for summer jobs with NEA. In 2007, three of the students that were previously assisted through secondary school and university, requested that the government allow them to complete their 1 year “National Service” program with NEA. They are the next generation of leaders who have captured the vision of sustainable development for northern Ghana and are making their contributions already.
Volunteers
Over the years, NEA has hosted several volunteers who have made valuable contributions to the lives of the primary school students in the Janga, Deg and South Mo areas. Many students have qualified for higher education as a result of their tireless efforts to assist the Ghana teachers to improve the quality of education received in these deprived villages.