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Ghana Problems in Education
At least two major educational issues faced Ghana in the early
1990s--the effort to shift part of the expense of education onto
students, especially in the universities, and the future of the JSS
innovation. Since the introduction of the Accelerated Development
Plan for Education in 1952, the central government has shouldered
much of the financial burden of education. In 1972, for example,
about 20.1 percent of the total central government expenditure was
spent on education. This figure rose to 25.7 percent in 1989.
Compared with Nigeria, where only 4.5 percent and 2.8 percent of
the total government expenditure was spent on education in 1972 and
1989, respectively, the Ghana figure was high even among its peers.
Efforts by the central government to shift the cost of
education onto students, particularly at the university level, have
been challenged. But despite the many demonstrations that were
organized by the various student representative councils and the
National Union of Ghanaian Students, the government resolved in the
latter part of the 1980s to make university students pay for their
boarding and lodging through loans. This policy, among others, was
the cause of the unsettled relationship between university students
and the government that characterized the early 1990s. In March
1993, an especially serious confrontation occurred in Accra between
university students and police over the proposed charges. Such
protests notwithstanding, the Ministry of Education proceeded with
the changes for university funding on grounds that they were in
line with the nation's Economic Recovery Program introduced in 1983
(see The Economic Recovery Program
, ch. 3).
The introduction of the JSS system was also problematic. It had
been agreed upon after the Dzobo Committee, chaired by N.K. Dzobo
of the University of Cape Coast, reported in 1974 that the nation's
educational establishment needed overhauling. In fact, this
committee afforded education specialists and the public the
opportunity to respond to a 1972 Ministry of Education proposal for
the introduction of junior secondary schools. Despite the favorable
evaluation of the Ministry of Education proposal by the Dzobo
Committee, the proposed changes in the structure and content of
primary and secondary education were never implemented, perhaps
because of the difficult economic situation of the country in the
mid-1970s.
When the JSS system was implemented in 1987, it was hailed by
its supporters as the answer to the country's educational, social,
and economic problems. Detractors, however, condemned it because of
the limited time allowed for the development of necessary
infrastructure, such as the provision of workshops, before the
system went into effect. As a community-sponsored program, the JSS
became a source of endless irritation to parents and guardians who
had to contribute to building and equipping JSS workshops. There
was also the concern that the JSS system would ultimately lead to
an unfair distribution of educational resources because wealthier
communities were likely to provide better facilities than those in
poorer areas. Finally, it was argued that the JSS program did not
challenge students enough because, unlike the former Middle School
Leaving Certificate Examinations, all students writing the Basic
Certificate of Education Examination conducted for the JSS received
certificates of participation. The validity of these arguments, as
well as the long-term impact of the new structure and content of
education on the nation's development, remained to be demonstrated
in the early 1990s.
Data as of November 1994
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