Analysis of themes or areas of the selected studies was done mainly in the context of the three original strategic objectives of the Ministry of Education. The additional four strategic objectives were subsumed under these as indicated in Chapter 1. Where the themes go beyond the purview of the strategic objectives, they are listed under Others. The majority of the studies conducted before 1994 fall into this category. The list of themes reads as follows:

1. Improving management efficiency and effectiveness

1. Management efficiency.
2. Decentralization and sustainability.
3. Funding of education.
4. Partnership between MOE and development partners.
5. Staff development.
6. Reform implementation.

2. Improved quality of education

1. Educational quality
2. Curriculum improvement.
3. Teacher education and efficiency.
4. Educational assessment.

3. Improved access and equity

1. Access, participation and equity.
1. Access to and efficiency of tertiary education.
2. Girls’ education.
3. Community participation.

4. Others

1. Relevance of education to national needs.
2. NGO participation.
3. Education and health.
4. Tertiary education.
5. Functional literacy programme.
6. Distance education.

Table 4 shows the distribution of the selected studies according to themes/areas and time period covered by the studies.

As shown in the table, the majority of the studies conducted between 1987 and 1993 fall under the category Others. This was the period when MOE attention was devoted to the first phase of the implementation of the education reform.

In contrast, there was a fair distribution of studies over the four categories of themes/areas from 1994 to 1998. There was also an increase in the number of studies conducted on these four themes. It is probable that the National Education Forum held in 1994 influenced the need to examine these areas of concern in the education sector.

The major findings of the studies have been grouped under the themes listed above. Details of these findings are highlighted in Appendix 4. In this chapter we present summaries of the findings as extracted from the studies reviewed. It needs to be noted that most of the studies had several findings which covered different aspects of what has been classified here as major findings.

As already stated, the studies on tertiary education pointed to the decreasing allocation of funding for the education sector. In addition, the concept of free basic education was regarded with scepticism and bitterness by parents who did not consider education to be free as propagated by the MOE, as they pay textbook user-fees, Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) dues, and sports and culture fees. (Study codes 4, 7, 17, 19, 25).

The inability to fulfil the mission of the three Rs (Right book in Right place at Right time) was due, among others, to the absence of efficient management. Management structures, stock levels of materials, warehouses and distribution chains were found to be defective. Lack of clear-cut roles between MOE and GES officials, lack of requisite staff for critical positions in the MOE as well as the monolithic nature and weaknesses in GES were all contributory factors to the problem of management efficiency in the education sector. Finally, the lack of a Management Information System had an adverse effect on the management of the sector. (Study codes 7, 21, 23, 25, 34).

The findings of one of the studies confirmed the frontline role played by development partners in the development of the education sector. It was discovered that 40 NGOs and development partners provided various forms of service in the education sector by 1996. The services they provided included school renovation and construction, supply of education materials, in-service training for teachers and capacity-building of PTAs. (Study code 4).

Quality of education was generally found to be low, lower in rural schools than in urban ones, and lower in public than in private schools. This was due, among others, to lack of textbooks, poor teaching, excessive loss of instructional time, overload in some syllabuses, inappropriate approach to non-traditional subjects, poor supervision, and lack of appropriate motivation for teachers in the public schools. It was also discovered that quality of education had begun to improve as the reform programme progressed and as communities began to participate in the provision and maintenance of the schools. (Study codes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 18, 28, 33).

The nature of the school curriculum was found to be one of the contributory factors to the lowering of the quality of education. It was discovered, for instance, that the school curriculum was too loaded with subjects for which examinations had to be passed at the basic and senior secondary levels. It was also discovered that the textbook distribution system failed to fulfil the three-pronged mission of getting the Right book at the Right place at the Right time. (Study codes 3, 11, 18, 22, 27, 30).

One of the factors found to be contributing to the lowering of quality education, as already stated, was the teaching and professional competence of teachers. The studies, however, found that the Junior Secondary School Teacher Education Project had enhanced the development of the teaching profession and increased job satisfaction. Furthermore, the establishment of the University College of Education of Winneba and the introduction of the Support for the Teacher Education Project by ODA (now DFID) have produced more qualified teaching personnel for the basic education system. (Study codes 23, 29, 32).

Access and retention at the basic education level were found to have been on the increase since the reform programme of 1987. Growth in enrolment is, however, slower than population growth. Gross enrolment at the primary level was 78 per cent in 1991/92. Enrolment rates were significantly lower in the three northern regions of the country. (Study codes 12, 23, 26).

In spite of the increase in enrolment of school-going-age children, there was still concern about the education of girls. Boys continue to outnumber girls in the education system especially at the second and third cycles. Factors affecting enrolment of girls in school include poverty, low parental and community attitude towards girls’ education, high opportunity costs of sending daughters to school, lack of easy physical accessibility and lack of community action for girls’ enrolment. Factors affecting retention of girls include early marriage, pregnancy, poverty, lack of support, inappropriate as well as gender-segregated curricula, and desire for quick money. (Study codes 9, 31).

It was discovered that access to tertiary education has decreased over the period under review due to dwindling funding in relative terms. During the period under review, it was discovered that the universities could not admit more than 40 per cent of qualified applicants due to lack of residential facilities and lecture theatres. (Study codes 8, 24).

Even though community participation was found to have a positive effect on the provision and maintenance of schools and thus on access and retention, one study pointed out that communities did not support that the form and type of participatory role was assigned to them from above. (Study code 5).

A study pointed out that functional literacy programmes flourished in those areas where the communities gave support. The functional literacy programme in turn served as a powerful instrument in the crusade for poverty reduction in the communities. Women, more than men, showed interest in the classes. (Study code 20).

As in the case of the findings, the recommendations from the studies have been classified under the four major headings/themes identified above. Details of the recommendations can be found in Appendix 4.

Good resource management within the education sector was generally recommended as an essential strategy for reducing education costs.

As stated earlier, an efficient supervisory and management system is a prerequisite for quality assurance in education. The studies therefore emphasized the need to renew the organizational structure of the Basic Education Division to ensure greater efficiency. The roles of key actors in the various divisions of the MOE and GES also needed to be clarified and their accountability emphasized. To ensure the availability of information and its accessibility, a Management Information System should be set up in the MOE and GES.

While recommending the continued partnership between development partners and the ministry, it was emphasized that caution should be exercised in order not to allow donors to impose their conditionalities on the ministry. In this connection, it was recommended that funding conditionalities should be formulated by both the funding agencies and the ministry in order to ensure clarity and remove any ambiguities in the conditionalities. Furthermore, conditionalities should be made sufficiently flexible for them to be reviewed when the need arises. Expectations underlying conditionalities should be spelled out so that all personnel involved in programme activities know their roles and the anticipated outcomes of the programmes. Finally, and most importantly, teams developing conditionalities should always include specialists in the area to prevent the setting up of unrealistic targets.

Building more library facilities and encouraging a reading culture throughout the country was emphasized as a means of improving quality education. It was also recommended that class size should not exceed 40 so as to promote closer pupil-teacher contact. To improve the teaching-learning process, effective management and supervision of schools must be ensured. Furthermore, to give adequate time for pupils to study, the number of subjects at the basic education level should be appropriately reduced. Similarly, the number of core subjects at the senior secondary school-level should be reduced from six to four.

To maintain high professional qualification and teacher efficiency, it was recommended that continuous professional education should be organized for practising teachers irrespective of their academic and professional background. It was also recommended that teacher supervision should be strengthened to ensure that teachers are present in class and teach effectively. To achieve this goal there is the need to improve incentive-packages for teachers in order to attract high achievers to the teaching profession.

Curriculum reform can make much difference in the lives of children. Similarly, good instructional materials can significantly improve the life and chances of school-children. For that matter the studies recommended the establishment of a Curriculum Policy Committee by GES to be responsible for curriculum reforms and oversee the writing of textbooks for schools. It was also recommended that parents should be encouraged to procure textbooks for their wards. In addition school libraries should be updated and furnished with relevant reading materials.

To increase access and minimize or even eliminate drop-out at the basic education level, the studies recommended the opening of more schools especially in the deprived areas and the enactment of by-laws to prosecute parents who use their children as child labour rather than allow them to attend school. In addition, scholarship schemes should be instituted to help finance the schooling of children from poor homes. It was further recommended that the pupil-teacher ratio should be lowered in order to strengthen contact between teachers and individual pupils.

Girls’ education should be promoted by enacting by-laws to make it mandatory for parents to send their girls to school and also to prosecute men who impregnate school girls. Furthermore outmoded customs and practices which inhibit the education of girls should be banned. To encourage girls to see education as a vehicle for personal development, women who have been successful in technical work, trades, and science and technology should be given the opportunity to serve as role models for girls.

The abolition of the residential system at the tertiary level and the establishment of a distance education delivery mode to complement the existing delivery mode was recommended as a means of increasing access to tertiary education and decreasing costs to both government and students.

Community participation in the provision, maintenance and management of schools should continue to be encouraged. Community participation should, in the true sense of the word, be bottom-up rather than top-down. This way, the communities would see the schools as their own and feel committed to them. Schools in deprived areas, however, should be given special attention by the ministry.

Since functional literacy was found to be a powerful tool for poverty alleviation in the rural communities, it was recommended that the programme should be intensified. Officials of the Non-formal Education Division of MOE should be given regular training in effective sensitization skills in order to make teaching in the literacy classes sufficiently participatory. Finally, males should be encouraged to participate more in the functional literacy classes.

On the whole the findings of the studies were found to have addressed the research problems and reflected the objectives set either by the initiators or the researchers. Similarly, the recommendations were found to have emanated from the findings of the studies. This is indicative of consistency in methodology and data analysis.

There were, however, instances when studies which were related in terms of focus reported the same findings and sometimes made the same recommendations without the latter ones showing that the same or similar findings or recommendations had been made in another study a year or two earlier. For example, two studies on the theme distance education in 1992 (code 24) and 1994 (code 8) had some identical findings and recommendations. Nothing in the latter study indicated that the authors were aware of the former report. Similarly, two studies in 1994 (code 15) and 1996 (code 1) made identical recommendations on supervision and management. Another two in 1994 (code 15) and 1996 (code 2) had identical recommendations on narrowing the gap between urban and rural schools. In 1994 (code 30), 1996 (code 1) and 1997 (code 21) three different studies made the same recommendations on procurement of appropriate courseware for use in schools. There are many other instances of repetition of findings and recommendations in the 34 studies.

These cases of unacknowledged repetitions are of interest for two reasons: First, it may mean that authors of the latter studies were unaware of the existence of the earlier studies. This could be the result of poor or limited dissemination of the earlier reports or the result of failure on the part of the authors of the latter studies to conduct a detailed literature review. Both reasons should be considered as being a poor reflection of research capacity. The latter, in particular, is more serious because research without adequate literature review is like a building without a foundation.

Second, the repetition of findings or recommendations in successive studies could mean that the weaknesses addressed in the earlier studies might have persisted and might not have been addressed.