Perspectives on community-school relations: a study of two schools in Ghana

In 1987, the Government of Ghana embarked on a process to decentralise education management to districts throughout the country as part of a programme of wider social and democratic governance reforms. A vital element of this reform was the prescription of active community participation in the affairs of schools within their localities. The establishment of school management committees (SMCs) was to create a new school governance landscape based on community participation, as well as devolution of power to the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies. In this regard, considerable attention has been focused on central government‟s understanding of how this devolution of authority to communities and schools should work and how communities should assume responsibility for increased participation in schools. From the inception of this policy over two decades ago, there seems to have been no feedback through research findings or diagnostic policy reviews on how this new role of the community has been received, interpreted and executed in its engagement with schools, particularly in the rural poor and underserved areas. Mindful of this, this study sought to explore the multiple understandings of how community and school relations work, as well as the challenges and pressures which influence community – school relationships. The study employed the qualitative methods of interview and documentary analysis to collect data on the understanding and experiences of community – school relations from SMCs and PTAs; other members of the community; the school; and education management. The findings suggest that many of the theoretical and policy expectations about representation and participation in school improvement through the SMC and PTA concept are only evident in form and not in practice. Furthermore, in poor rural contexts, it is often the comparatively better educated and influential members of the community, including informal groups who become the new brokers of decision-making, and who through their actions close spaces for the genuine representation and participation of others. In some cases, SMCs seldom work as the de facto representatives of the community, as decisions are made and critical interactions occur outside this formal structure for community representation and engagement in school governance. This affects the visibility of SMCs and undermines their credibility and capacity to play their intended role. Moreover, the degree of community participation in schools appears to be shaped by the school fulfilling community expectations of schooling and on a „social contract‟ based on the principle of reciprocity. These findings support the view that the fate of schools is increasingly tied to and powerfully shaped by key players at the local level, and that this happens through more informal and traditional roles which are more trusted but not necessarily representative of the image presented by policy on community participation in school governance. The findings also highlight the threat to voluntarism, a key assumption of the policy on community participation and the importance of seeking ways in which schools can play a more active role as change agents in the community, thereby legitimising in the community‟s eyes their importance in the life of the community

Entrepreneurship and Job Creation for Sustainable Development in Ghana: The Role of Government as an Arbiter in Shaping the Institutional Environment

Studies indicate that 80% of jobs in Ghana are in the informal sector, while entrepreneurs create the majority of these informal jobs. Studies further affirm that Small Medium Enterprise entrepreneurs make up about 94% of Ghana’s industrial sector. Past and current governments view the entrepreneur as the solution to weak economic performance and job creation. What remains a challenge though is a better understanding of the factors that determine entrepreneurship and the environment that motivates and supports the growth of entrepreneurs. This paper argues that knowledge of the primary catalyst for entrepreneurship is essential for understanding the microeconomic foundations that will lead to growth in the Ghanaian economy. The paper concludes that fostering the private sector and entrepreneurship depends on a supportive business environment, which makes it not only important, but also urgent for regular revision of incentives and policies that are likely to attract genuine entrepreneurs and businessmen and women. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurs, Job creation, Institutional environment, Private sector

The Challenge of Fee-Free Secondary Education and Educational Access in Ghana: A Reflection on the Past, Realities and Feasible Choices

In 2001, the Government of Ghana introduced subsidies at the Senior High School meant to reduce the burden on parents and guardians of wards in such schools. Since 2012, there has been an intensive debate on fee-free senior high school education in Ghana. While some see this as preposterous and unimaginable, others consider it as a poverty alleviation option and a panacea to providing the required cadre of youths with skills needed for the economic development of Ghana. This paper considers the feasibility of how such a policy may improve access to senior high school education in Ghana and be sustained. The paper examines some policies and practices on funding secondary education in Ghana Findings suggest that a uniform fee-free policy approach will include a sizeable number of students who do not need to be supported by government in the secondary schooling. The study further finds out that demand for secondary education, particularly, regarding low income families may not always be dependent solely on fee free secondary education but on other cost variables, including opportunity costs and perceived economic returns from such education. The study concludes with some feasible choices on the need to adopt painstaking approaches to identify those who are needy and a fundamental objective for such policies to benefit the poor. Keywords: Universalization of secondary education, policies and practices, pro-poor targeting, secondary education financing

Perceptions of National Service Personnel and Youth Unemployment: Could Entrepreneurship Education and Curricula Rationalization be the Solution?

Youth unemployment has been a global challenge for several decades bedeviling several nations whether developed, developing or undeveloped. In Ghana graduate unemployment has been a major socio-economic challenge facing the country. About 300,000 young graduates enter the labour market every year with less than 6,000 (3%) getting formal employment. It is also believed that only two out of ten graduates who complete national service[1] every year get employed in the formal sector. Whilst these statistics may be very alarming, many young graduates still hold the notion that it is the responsibility of the state to provide for their economic needs and expect the government to employ them. Using mixed methods of survey and interviews, data were collected from national service personnel who participated in a training workshop on entrepreneurship. Findings reveal that there is lack of knowledge of the needed skills the job market requires and a wide disparity between what graduates are exposed to during their undergraduate training and the demands of the labour market. This paper argues that there is the need to introduce courses/programmes that would reduce the incongruence between the expectations of industry and what tertiary institutions offer, and that entrepreneurship education should be mainstreamed into the entire educational structure to heighten the creativity spirit in students. The paper concludes that without governmental and private sector support to training institutions as well as collaboration between key stakeholders in ensuring relevance and the required linkages between training providers and users, solving the unemployment challenge in the medium to long term may be far-fetched. Keywords: entrepreneurship, education, youth, graduate unemployment DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-30-07 Publication date:October 31st 2019 [1] National Service – Ghanaian students who graduate from accredited tertiary institutions are required under law to do a one-year national service to the country

Decentralisation policy and practice in Ghana: the promise and reality of community participation in education in rural communities

In 1987, the government of Ghana embarked on a process to decentralise education management to districts as part of wider social and democratic governance reforms. A central part of this reform was the prescription of active community participation in the affairs of schools within their locality. This paper explores the different meanings community participation had for school community stakeholders. It examines the multiple understandings of how community and school relations work and the factors which influence this relationship. Drawing on case study data, it argues that much of the theoretical and policy expectations on representation and participation in education by community members are only evident in form, but not as intended in practice. In poor rural contexts, it is often the local elite and relatively more educated members of the community, who become the new brokers of decision-making and, through their actions, close up the spaces for representation and participation by community members in the affairs of schools. Furthermore, the extent of community participation appears to be shaped by a 'social contract' based on the principle of reciprocity of roles between the community and schools, and that increasingly teachers feel accountable to the traditional hierarchical educational structure, and not to the community. The paper argues that the realisation of decentralisation policy in education has to contend with the realities of local politics of influence in the community, and tap into the positive side of this influence to improve education service deliver

Analysis of Item Writing Flaws in a Communications Skills Test in a Ghanaian University

Adhering to the rules governing the writing of multiple-choice test items will ensure quality and validity. However, realizing this ideal could be challenging for non-native English language teachers and students. This is especially so for non-native English language teachers because developing test items in a language that neither they nor their students use as their mother tongue raises a multitude of issues related to quality and validity. A descriptive study on this problem was conducted at a Technical University in Ghana which focused on item writing flaws in a communication skills test. The use of multiple-choice test in Ghanaian universities has increased over the last decade due to increasing student intake. A 20-item multiple-choice test in communication skills was administered to 110 students. The test items were analyzed using a framework informed by standard item writing principles based on the revised taxonomy of multiple-choice item-writing guides by Haladyna, Downing and Rodriguez (2002). The facility and discrimination index (DI) was calculated for all the items. In total, 60% of the items were flawed based on standard items writing principles. The most violated guideline was wording stems negatively. Pearson correlation analysis indicated a weak relationship between the difficulty and discrimination indices. Using the discrimination indices of the flawed items showed that 84.6 % of them had discrimination indices below the optimal level of 0.40 and above. The lowest DI was recorded by an item with which was worded negatively. The mean facility of the test was 45%. It was observed that the flawed items were more difficult than the non-flawed items. The study suggested that test items must be properly reviewed before they are used to assess students’ knowledge

Analysis of Item Writing Flaws in a Communications Skills Test in a Ghanaian University

Adhering to the rules governing the writing of multiple-choice test items will ensure quality and validity. However, realizing this ideal could be challenging for non-native English language teachers and students. This is especially so for non-native English language teachers because developing test items in a language that neither they nor their students use as their mother tongue raises a multitude of issues related to quality and validity. A descriptive study on this problem was conducted at a Technical University in Ghana which focused on item writing flaws in a communication skills test. The use of multiple-choice test in Ghanaian universities has increased over the last decade due to increasing student intake. A 20-item multiple-choice test in communication skills was administered to 110 students. The test items were analyzed using a framework informed by standard item writing principles based on the revised taxonomy of multiple-choice item-writing guides by Haladyna, Downing and Rodriguez (2002). The facility and discrimination index (DI) was calculated for all the items. In total, 60% of the items were flawed based on standard items writing principles. The most violated guideline was wording stems negatively. Pearson correlation analysis indicated a weak relationship between the difficulty and discrimination indices. Using the discrimination indices of the flawed items showed that 84.6 % of them had discrimination indices below the optimal level of 0.40 and above. The lowest DI was recorded by an item with which was worded negatively. The mean facility of the test was 45%. It was observed that the flawed items were more difficult than the non-flawed items. The study suggested that test items must be properly reviewed before they are used to assess students’ knowledge