Education Policy on Extra Classes: Implications for Secondary Education in Northern Ghana
In 1995, Ghana’s education policymakers imposed a ban on all extra classes initiated and organized on school premises and public buildings, by individual teachers or groups of teachers, for which students were charged extra fees. The ban is referred to as the “policy on extra classes.” This study ex...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Others |
Published: |
Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School
2011
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd/248 https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1210&context=etd |
Summary: | In 1995, Ghana’s education policymakers imposed a ban on all extra classes initiated and organized on school premises and public buildings, by individual teachers or groups of teachers, for which students were charged extra fees. The ban is referred to as the “policy on extra classes.” This study examined the genesis and justification of the said policy, including the current phenomenon of extra classes in Ghana. The study analyzed the policy’s impact on secondary education in the country, particularly Northern Ghana, using the lens of education stratification in a qualitative interpretive policy analysis approach. Interviews of leading Ghana education officials conducted in 2010 were the predominant source of data in this research, with corroboration from analysis of policy texts and review of the media.
The conclusions and recommendations that emerged from this study included: accountability, the responsible use of school time and instructional time, and education equity and adequacy. Other issues concerned social justice, teacher remuneration and motivation, and the need for equitable national education policies that reckon with the disparities in the country. In particular, this study took issue with the culture of nonimplementation of education policies in Ghana, with particular reference to the policy on extra classes. The study contended that the partial or non-implementation of education policies deepens education stratification in the country. |
---|