Ghana Education Needs Revamp to Spark Parent, Child Interest FacebookTwitterWhatsAppFlipboardLinkedInRedditEmailShare
Ghana is a good example of a country experiencing significant increases in enrolment rates in primary school but where the quality of schooling is lagging behind. Low education quality reduces the probability that children will stay in school long enough to attain any educational qualification. The outcome is inefficient education systems and less incentives for parents to invest in their child's education. A survey tested the model in Ghana and found that parents tend to spend more on education in response to changes in their child's cognitive achievements. This encourages parents to invest more in supplementary school material and reduce the amount of time children are required to spend working on non-school tasks, writes Ghadir Asadi for The Conversation.
Some parents have expressed concern about the financial burden re-opening of schools has brought on them.
According to them, although the re-opening of schools is welcoming news, it has also brought on them some financial difficulties as most of them have had their businesses affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
These remarks were made by some parents who yesterday spoke to the Ghanaian Times concerning their thoughts on the re-opening of schools by the government.
Mrs Florence Otoo, a mother of two, said her business had negatively been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had made her take a loan from the bank to help sustain it.
The re-opening of schools, she said, would rather compound her already financial challenges as she had to provide her children with new reading material and other items.
"Ever since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, business has been bad and with the re-opening of schools, we have to get our children new sets of uniforms, shoes, books and other vital materials. It is very challenging but we need to embrace it and work things out," Mrs Otoo said.
Mr James Boateng, a mechanic and father of four, noted that he may let his children stay at home despite the re-opening of schools since he was financially handicapped due to the ripple effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on his business.
Meanwhile, some parents have kicked against government's decision to re-open schools as the country had seen a surge in the cases of COVID-19 in the last couple of weeks.
Speaking to Ghanaian Times reporters on the issue, Mr George Oppong, an accountant, explained that although the government had put measures in place to ensure the safety of students, the lives of students was being put at risk.
"Our children are still young and the tendency of them getting infected with this virus and spreading it back at home is very high,"Mr Oppong said.
Some of the parents were concerned about the teachers who would be teaching these children, saying "in as much as these teachers will be around to ensure the observance of all the protocols, the tendencies of them being carriers cannot be overlooked."
It would be recalled that the government on March 15, 2020 last year, ordered the closure of all public and private educational institutions in order to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Pix: Portrait of Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, D-G, GES
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