Chapter Arrangement and introduction

135 Pages·2006·0.78 MB·English

by  Ewurama Pimpong

NORGES HANDELSHØYSKOLE
Bergen, June 19, 2006

Interactions between Education, Economy and Politics
A Case of Ghana’s Educational System from a Historical
Perspective

Ewurama Pimpong
Supervisor: Stig Tenold
Thesis for an MSc. International Business subitted to the department of
Economics
NORGES HANDELSHØYSKOLE

This thesis was written as a part of the Master of Science in Economics and Business
Administration program - Major in International Business. Neither the institution, nor the advisor
is responsible for the theories and methods used, or the results and conclusions drawn, through
the approval of this thesis.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents................................................................................................................2
1.Chapter Arrangement and Introduction............................................................................6
1.1 Chapter Arrangement..........................................................................................6
1.2 Introduction.........................................................................................................9
2.Theoretical Framework..................................................................................................11
2.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................11
2.2 Literature...........................................................................................................13
2.2.1 Discussion of Literature............................................................................14
2.2.1.1 When is Education complete?...............................................................14
2.2.1.2 Products of Education...........................................................................15
2.2.1.3 Education is dynamic............................................................................16
2.2.1.4 The Value of Education.........................................................................18
2.2.1.5 Cost and returns of Education...............................................................20
2.3 Application of Framework................................................................................21
2.3.1 What is the quality of education?..............................................................22
2.3.2 What are the expectations of education?...................................................22
3.Colonial Era (1600-1900)...............................................................................................23
3.1 History...............................................................................................................23
3.2 Philosophy of Education...................................................................................25
3.3 Outcome............................................................................................................28
4.Guggisberg Era (1924-1927)..........................................................................................30
4.1 Economic Situation...........................................................................................30
4.2 Brief History......................................................................................................31
4.3 Development of Education................................................................................32
4.4 Philosophy / Focus............................................................................................33
4.4.1 The Educationist Committee’s recommendations.....................................34
4.4.2 The Phelps-Stokes Reports........................................................................34
4.4.3 The Advisory Committee on Education....................................................35
4.4.4 Gordon Guggisberg’s Sixteen Principles of Education.............................36
4.5 Outcomes:..........................................................................................................43
5.Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Era (1951-1966)..........................................................................49
5.1 The Role of Education in the Independence of Ghana......................................49
5.2 Economic situation............................................................................................51
5.3 Brief History......................................................................................................54
5.4 Development of Education................................................................................54
5.5 Philosophy / Focus............................................................................................55
5.6 Outcomes...........................................................................................................56
5.6.1 Primary Level............................................................................................58
5.6.2 Middle School level...................................................................................59
5.6.3 Expectations..............................................................................................60
5.6.4 Secondary School Level............................................................................61
5.6.4.1 Expectations..........................................................................................62
6.The ‘Cocktail’ Regime (1966 – 1981)...........................................................................63
6.2 Regimes.............................................................................................................67
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6.2.1 Lt. Gen. Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa (1966-1969).......................................67
6.2.1.1 Brief History..........................................................................................67
6.2.1.2 Activities in Educational Sector............................................................68
6.2.2 Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia (1969- 1972).........................................................68
6.2.2.1 Brief History..........................................................................................68
6.2.2.2 Activities in Educational Sector............................................................69
6.2.3 Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong (1972- 1978)...................................70
6.2.3.1 Brief History..........................................................................................70
6.2.3.2 Activities in Educational Sector............................................................71
6.2.4 Major-General Fredrick William Kwasi Akuffo (1978 – 1979)...............71
6.2.4.1 Brief History..........................................................................................71
6.2.4.2 Activities in Educational Sector............................................................72
6.2.5 Dr. Hilla Limann (1979-1981)..................................................................72
6.2.5.1 Brief History..........................................................................................72
6.2.5.2 Activities in Educational Sector............................................................73
6.3 Overall trend of Activities in Educational sector..............................................73
7.The Rawlings Regime (1981 – 2000).............................................................................75
7.1 Economic Situation...........................................................................................75
7.2 History...............................................................................................................77
7.3 Development of Education................................................................................78
7.4 Philosophy / Focus............................................................................................81
7.5 Outcomes...........................................................................................................83
7.5.1 Dr. Sawyerr’s issues..................................................................................84
7.6 Analysis of Educational System........................................................................91
7.6.1 At the primary and JSS levels...................................................................91
7.6.1.1 What is the quality of Education at the primary and JSS levels?.........91
7.6.1.2 What are the expectations of Education at the Primary level?..............92
7.6.1.3 Has the educational system at the JSS level positively contributed to economic
growth of Ghana?..................................................................................................95
7.6.2 At the Senior Secondary School Level......................................................96
7.6.2.3 What is the quality of Education?.........................................................96
8.University Education......................................................................................................98
8.1 History and Development of Universities in Ghana.........................................98
8.1.1 The role of Private Universities...............................................................100
8.1.3 Problems of the 1950s.............................................................................101
8.1.4 Problems of the 1970s.............................................................................102
8.1.5 Problems of the 1950s and 1970s seen today..........................................103
8.1.6 Problems of Today..................................................................................105
8.2 What is the quality of Education?...................................................................109
8.3 What are the expectations from Education?....................................................110
8.4 How has the educational system at the University level contributed to economic growth
of Ghana?....................................................................................................................110
9.The way forward..........................................................................................................115
9.2 Previous Recommendations............................................................................117
9.2.1 Dzobo Report and Current Recommendations........................................119
9.3 Current review and recommendations.............................................................119
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List of Tables

Table 5.1: Ghana’s GDP per capita from 1951-1956.......................................................51
Table 6.2: Ghana’s GDP per capita from 1967 to 1980....................................................65
Table 7.1: Ghana’s GDP per capita from 1981 to 2000....................................................75
Table 7.2: Ratio of Science/Technology students against ration of Arts/Humanities students in
Universities and Polytechnics...........................................................................................85

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List of Appendices
Appendix 2.1: Time line of Educational contributions of Traders and Missionaries in the Gold
Coast................................................................................................................................129
Appendix 4.1: The ‘Sixteen Principles’ of Governor Guggisberg..................................130
Appendix 7.1: Enrolment and Enrolment Growth Rates for JSS & SSS (1987-1997)...131
Appendix 7.2: Share of different sectors in the total GDP ( in percent).........................132
Appendix 9.1: Curriculum Principles of Education........................................................133
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1
Chapter Arrangement and Introduction

Ghana is currently a democratic republic, but Ghana has had a rather turbulent political past. The
political atmosphere has constantly been changing. Having started as a land with many
independent tribes, Ghana became a country with the scramble for Africa in the 19th century, later
she gained her independence from the British colonialists and started her own political journey.
After freedom from external oppressors, Ghana went through many political upheavals mixed
with democratic dispensations, one-party governments and dictatorships. Each of these
governments had an effect on Ghana’s economy.
As we sketch the political history of Ghana we will zero-in on the changes in the educational
system during the time and draw out the relationship between the educational system and the
economic development of Ghana. The two questions that shape this paper and will be answered at
the end are:

1. How has the educational system of Ghana developed over the time?
2. What has characterized the relationship between the educational system and Ghana’s
economic and political development?

There will be a close look at the roles that individuals have played in shaping the educational,
political, and economic systems. The reason for this focus on individuals is the lack of a
consistent political system over the years in Ghana. The leader of each government was usually
very influential especially, in the era of military governments. Every government that took over
seemed to put aside the existing systems and start over with new systems and new ideologies.

1.1 Chapter Arrangement
As stated earlier, the chapters have been tailored around the prominent political leaders of the
time. Guggisberg, a British governor, is the first leader to be examined in this paper because his
perspective of Ghana seemed very different from his predecessors. Ghana, for him, was more
than just a colony; she was a nation with people that had potential and needed development. For
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this reason, he mapped out a development plan which he carried out until the day he handed over.
The main educational landmark of Guggisberg, that stands today is, Achimota School.

Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first Ghanaian president of Ghana, sought to take his nation to the
highest heights possible. After bringing Ghana through the independence struggle, he wanted to
show that, in his own words, the black man was capable of managing his own affairs. This
propelled him to do as mush as he could in every sector. He also drew development plans for
Ghana and finished some of them in record time. Dr. Nkrumah left behind the legacy of Kwame
Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, a number of secondary schools and many other
national treasures such as the Akosombo dam.

Dr. Jeremiah1 John Rawlings has been the longest reigning leader in Ghana. His era was
characterised by a military government that metamorphosed into a democratic government. He
instituted the most radical change in education by changing the educational system from the
colonial British system of education to the Junior Secondary School (JSS)/ Senior Secondary
School (SSS) system currently in Ghana today.

Quantitative data for each regime would have been the ideal basis for comparison; however, this
is extremely difficult considering the limitation with regards to data availability. In sections
where relevant data is available, it is used. However, qualitative analysis is more frequently used
in analysing each regime. Nonetheless at the beginning of the Nkrumah, Cocktail and the
Rawlings chapters there will be a graph depicting the GDP per capital over the period and a brief
the description of the economic situations of the time. In the chapter The Way Forward, there will
also be an overall graphical depiction of GDP per capita as a percentage of the world.

The next segment of this introduction will give the reader a simple introduction to some thoughts
on education.

In chapter two, the theory chapter, the link between education, politics and economic growth is
established. This will be examined from different perspectives such as the role of education

1 Often called J. J. Rawlings or Jerry John Rawlings
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according to the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD). Other ideas on education and its relevance will be analysed. Other issues
that will be touched on include what holistic education should be. Through the analysis, a
framework is created that will be used to asses the various educational changes made by each
government.

In chapters three to seven political time periods are analysed more closely in terms of education,
politics and economic growth. Chapter Three will be for the early colonial time until 1919.
During this time there are educational developments linked with the slave trade, colonial rule and
missionaries. Chapter four looks at Governor Guggisberg’s years in office and his remarkable
contribution to education. Notes will be taken on what happened after he left, up until Ghana has
her independence. Chapter five examines Dr. Nkrumah’s contribution to education. Chapter six
will browse through a turbulent history of democratic governments and military regimes. This
segment will not be detailed. The purpose of Chapter six is to acquaint the reader with some
changes that explain Ghana’s situation as at 1979 which begins the seventh Chapter. This last
segment of the political eras focuses on the nineteen year reign of Flt. Jerry John Rawlings (now
Dr. Dr. Jerry John Rawlings2). These five chapters will describe the situation, and analyse the
effects on economic growth.

Chapter eight takes an exclusive look at the development of university education in Ghana.
Political changes have not affected university education much, that is why it is examined
separately.

Finally, in 2000 the newly democratic government appointed a committee to review the
educational system in Ghana and make recommendations. The recommendations that have been
made are currently what prevail as the governments guide to improving the educational system.
Chapter nine will look at the present recommendations that have been made, what has been
overlooked and what the way forward in Ghana’s educational system is. The question here is:
What should Ghana do for education to improve the educational system? At the end of this
chapter will be a conclusion of the entire paper.

2 He has resign his position in the army and has had two honorary degrees bestowed upon him.
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1.2 Introduction
“The view was once generally held that there was no education in Africa before the Europeans
arrived late in the 15th century.”3

Defining ‘to educate’ as, “To bring up and instruct: to teach: to train”4 and defining ‘education’
as, “Bringing up or training, as of a child: instruction: strengthening of the powers of body or
mind: culture”5, then educating a person goes beyond the formal European system of learning to
read, to write, and to do arithmetic. In every society, education begins in the home. A child is
directly and indirectly taught to adhere to conventions of the home and society. Every individual
with or without formal education will be educated to some degree whether or not his education is
‘acceptable’ to others is another issue.

Traditional education in Ghana varies per tribe. Each tribe has its own culture. For this reason,
each tribe will educate its members differently in matters of language, governance, etiquette,
acceptable behaviour, religious practice and everything to do with it unique way of life. Tribes
had their own informal way of teaching through apprenticeship, rhetoric, experience and other
methods. In some cases young people are gathered and taught special skills by elderly members
of the society, in other cases some groups are taken away to secluded places for periods of time to
be taught. Apart from the differences in training due to tribal differences, a child may be trained
differently depending on the future role the child is expected to play in the society. For example,
from the onset, a child being groomed to become a chief may be instructed very differently from
one being trained to become a fisherman. Traditional education, in a sense, trained children to
take up predefined roles in society, thus maintaining the society and its culture.

“The effectiveness and the practical aspects of this type of education are intimately related to the
socio- economic milieu and to the importance of the heritage to be passed on to the next

3Antwi, Moses K., Education, Society and Development in Ghana, p. 23.
4 Chambers English Dictionary, p. 451.
5 Antwi, Moses K., Education, Society and Development in Ghana, p. 23.
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generation…. It tends to repeat itself and remains static unless some kind of political or social
upheaval brings about some fundamental changes.”6

The static nature of traditional education was changed by western political influence during the
colonial period. Formal education was introduced gradually. Formal education also moulds a
nation. From age 7 (at least), a child is expected to spend most of his time in school being
educated. The hope is that, as the child is taught, the knowledge will preserve and improve life
for the child and community. There is a hope that the basics given to the child will be the
foundation for greater contributions to the society and eventually the whole of mankind.

Most lives are shaped most through the educational experience of the first few years. In Ghana
there have been countless educational reforms. Currently, Ghana’s educational system comprises
of 6 years of primary school, 3 years of Junior Secondary School (JSS), 3 years Senior Secondary
School (SSS) and 4 years of Tertiary education (depending on the degree being pursued).

6 Antwi, Moses K., Education, Society, and Development in Ghana, p. 25.
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