The 'pro-poor' free senior high school (SHS) policy has become a major rights-based social-democratic initiative in Ghana. The policy attracts major criticisms and praises from academics and citizens. This paper broaches the policy's outcomes and implementation inputs to its purposes in real-time. The study uses secondary data from the official websites of Ghana's presidency, the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service-Education Management Information System (GES-EMIS), and the Ghana Living Standards (GLSS 7) Report. The study employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) with Ball's policy as 'text' and' discourse' approaches and document analysis. The policy achieved a higher enrolment in location and gender; improvements in students' academic outcomes; a pupil-to-teacher ratio: of 20:1, and reduced household burden. Other challenges are delays in funding and distribution of policy inputs. The study suggests that funding mechanisms should be widened, deepen policy education for school leaders and parents to enhance policy progress.
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Equity in education is when every student receives the resources needed to acquire the basic work skills of reading, writing, and basic arithmetic. While Ghana has achieved near universal access to primary and lower secondary education, the gross enrollment rate in higher secondary education was below 45 percent in 2014, with large disparities in access. In the year 2017, the government of Ghana implemented a free SHS policy on a free access to secondary education for all. This research sought to investigate the implications of the free senior high school policy to educational access and equity in secondary education in Ghana. The document analysis approach was adopted for this study. The findings revealed that the free SHS policy has really increased enrollment figures in secondary schools' attendance. The researcher recommended that parents, teachers, school administrators, policy analysts and relevant stakeholders have the responsibility to offer alternative proposals and do so in a manner that is constructive and helpful to the policy discourse.
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The paper utilized a document analysis technique and qualitative interviews to provide a comprehensive understanding of the "Free SHS" policy in Ghana, which remains illusory to many Ghanaian students. First, a preliminary study which involved analysis of prior literature (n = 12) on the policy was conducted. Interviews involving ten teachers from Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), and five private school teachers were conducted to validate the findings from the preliminary study. Existing literature on other African countries such as Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, and Ethiopia was used to draw up policy lessons for decision-makers in education. The policy process cycle served as a framework to analyze the different dimensions of the policy. Similar results were observed from the two phases of the study. Implementers of the policy focused more on the program and political dimensions of policy with less emphasis on the process dimension. At the agenda setting stage, no clear problem was identified while at the policy formulation stage, there were no other alternatives to canvass from. It was observed that lack of adequate funds, limited textbooks, inadequate infrastructure, and doubts about educational quality were some of the challenges in the aftermath of policy implementation. Policy implications are also discussed in the study. It is recommended that policymakers partner with the private sector, NGOs, and international bodies, reform the school curriculum to improve learning outcomes, reduce repetition rates in school, create room for more teachers to be trained, and prepare graduates equipped to enter the labor market.
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Cambridge Journal of Education
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ABSTRACT: Central governments across nations play a leading role in initiating and reforming educational policies to address the evolving needs of their workforce. Education is widely recognised as a cornerstone for societal and global development, making it a national priority. National curriculums are heavily influenced by social demands, technological advancements, national aspirations, and educational trends observed in neighbouring countries. Various assessment techniques have been established to evaluate the effectiveness of academic policies in fulfilling curriculum goals. This study employs Dunn's programme assessment framework to analyse the core elements of Ghana's Free Senior High School policy. The evaluation focuses on key dimensions including effectiveness, efficiency, adequacy (sufficiency), equity (fairness), responsiveness, and appropriateness. The analysis reveals that the policy falls short across all significant dimensions of Dunn's framework. Schools in Ghana face considerable challenges such as low educational standards, disparities between urban and rural schools, high student-teacher ratios, overcrowding, resource limitations, and an overall lack of responsiveness to the issues the policy aims to tackle.Policymakers should prioritize targeted support for underserved communities, explore alternative funding models, and incentivize collaboration between public and private educational institutions.To help families navigate the challenges arising from the policy's implementation, the study presents implications and recommendations. Notably, for families to fully benefit from the programme, parental involvement is crucial, and political considerations must not overshadow their children's education.
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Asian journal of Education and Social Studies
The main purpose of the study was to explore the inherent benefits and challenges regarding the implementation of the free Senior High School policy in Ghana and how it is affecting teaching and learning in Senior High Schools in the Effutu Municipality of the Central Region of Ghana. The target population for the study were leadership of school heads within the Effutu Municipality. A qualitative research approach and a case study design was employed. Purposive sampling technique was used to select five head teachers. Semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data for the study. Thematic analysis approach was used to analyse the data. It was discovered through the respondents' comments that the policy is a very good initiative, has led to increase school population, reduced financial burden on parents and payment of intervention allowance to teachers. Findings also indicate that inadequate infrastructure, inadequate funding from government, unstable school calendar and increase in teachers' workload were means by which implementation of the policy has affected teaching and learning. Therefore, the Ghana Education Service should consider this paper as means of reviewing and revising the free Senior High School policy five years after its implementation taking into consideration key findings and
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This paper examines education policy-making in Ghana. It focuses on the roles different policy actors should play to depoliticise the process of education policy-making. The depoliticisation agenda as contains in this presentation has the potential to promote Sustainable National Development. This paper examines how far key actors like political parties and academics matter in the depoliticisation of education policy issues in Ghana. Drawing on Foucault discourse theory, past and present education policy-making processes are examined through a review of documents and literature. The analyses show that the current education policy-making procedure in Ghana is largely dependent on the ruling party manifesto and through committees or commissions setup by the ruling governments to determine educational policy issues. The educational policies as contained in the ruling party manifesto and committees or commissions reports are reproduced in national legislation by the government. These legislative arrangements often receive the endorsement of the majority in parliament and in the fourth republic for now, the ruling party is always in majority. The partisan politics associated with these processes are largely responsible for the politicisation process. Overall, this paper argues that evidence-based policy and practice can potentially reduce partisan politics in education policy-making in Ghana.
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Universal Journal of Educational Research
The Ghana 2007 educational policy aims to improve performance in the education sector. The current study is interested in investigating the provisions made for free and compulsory education in the Ghana 2007 educational policy regarding the Wa Municipality. The researcher believes that there is a gap between the provisions made and the extent to which the policy provisions has impacted on free and compulsory education in the Wa Municipality. Four research questions guided the research. A sample size of 350 members consisting of stakeholders of education in the Municipality was selected using purposive and simple random sampling. A questionnaire and an interview guide were designed and used to collect data over a period of eight weeks. Qualitative analysis was employed to analyze the data with an emphasis on thematic analysis and a little descriptive statistic. The findings showed that the provisions are implemented resulting in increased enrolment figures but not without significant challenges that are threatening the sustenance of the success so far achieved in the Municipality. Thus, members demonstrated that education at the basic level is free but not compulsory in the Wa Municipality.
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Education is deemed as one key factor that empowers individuals, and has the ability of breaking the cycle of poverty and reduces inequality among people (SDG Report 2017). Attaining Quality Education in a country will greatly enhance the chances of achieving other Sustainable Development Goals like No Poverty and Reduced Inequalities. Therefore, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, Ghana government has taken the initiative to make Senior High School (SHS) education free to all Ghanaians. However, many people including high academic figures, educationalists, researchers and some institutions have contested free secondary education in Ghana. Therefore, using quantitative approach and a descriptive research design, this study explores the satisfaction of parents to Ghana‟s free SHS policy. The study indicated that poor and less educated parents are highly satisfied with the free SHS policy.
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Universal Journal of Educational Research
The study focused on the challenges associated with the administrative processes in the introduction of education policies in Ghana. It was a descriptive research employing sequential mixed-methods, involving the combination of survey design and phenomenological qualitative approach. Data was collected using a pre-tested questionnaire administered in a cross-sectional survey which was followed by in-depth face-to-face interviews. The outcomes of the two methods were triangulated during the discussion. The results showed that though the education reform policies were successfully launched, they did not complete the full policy cycle owing to political interferences. Administrative setups for the policy execution were also short-changed. The study also found that consultation of, and among, key players is paramount to the success of any educational policy. Based on the findings, new Policy Execution Cycle and Consultation Model were designed. The implications of the study for government policymakers and researchers were highlighted.
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education policy analysis archives
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The International Journal of Humanities & Social Studies
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