List of Educational Policies in Ghana

Nelson Mandela once said the most powerful tool to change the world is education. Taking this statement into consideration, it is no longer shocking that one of the most important sectors in Ghana is education. The government of Ghana takes education very seriously and as such have put in place several educational policies.

As a student in Ghana, it is important you go through the list of educational policies in Ghana. This way you know what provisions the government has set in place to give you a better education. Over the years, the educational sector in Ghana has evolved with several inputs made in terms of policies.

Before we look at the list of educational policies in Ghana, let’s take a look at an overview of education in Ghana.

educational policies in ghana

An overview of education in Ghana

Prior to the arrival of the European colonialists to the Gold Coast region, education was completely informal in Ghana. Apprenticeship and verbal transmission were the major ways of passing knowledge. The sixteenth-century saw the arrival of the first Europeans on the shores of Ghana. They brought with them all forms of formal education introducing the use of books.

There was a rise in the number of mission schools in Ghana by the nineteenth century due to the takeover of the region by the British. These schools, which were the major sources of formal education in Ghana, grew in strength and number. However, only a few enjoyed the rare privilege of formal education during this period.

In1957, Ghana became the first Sub-Saharan country to gain independence and in 1961, the Education Act was signed. Part of the provisions of this law was free primary education which was compulsory. This brought about a geometric increase in the number of pupils enrolled in school and an inadequacy of trained teachers.

Since then several reforms were made to the educational sector and it was imperative that certain educational policies were set in place to ensure the reforms held water. Seeing that this post is about the list of educational policies in Ghana, let’s go straight to the point.

List of educational policies in Ghana

Development of vocational and technical education

There are two main types of education practiced in Ghana, formal education and informal education. This policy is focused on the informal educational sector which involves training, technical, and vocational institutions. All of these do not involve formal classroom settings instead they are more of direct training, mentorship, apprenticeship, and practice.

The central authorities placed a priority on this sector to see to it that unemployment and poverty are tackled and consequently eradicated. To this end, several modalities were set in place to see that students of these institutions under this sector were not marginalized and had equal opportunities.

Some of these include:

The STEP program in 2005 which was established to favor low-skilled unemployed youth.
COTVET (Council for Technical and Vocational Education Training) was created in 2006. This body was to oversee the activities of the Technical and Vocation Education Training Institutions in Ghana.
The National Apprenticeship Program (NAP) was set up in 2010. It was meant to improve guidance and counseling at the basic education level.

Despite all of these, it has still been a bit difficult for the informal education sector to grow in leaps and bounds. Hopefully, the sector will get better in the nearest future.

Equity at the tertiary education level

It has become more difficult these days to become a student of a higher institution in Ghana. This is because there is a rise in the number of students churned out of the different secondary schools within the country.

Despite the increase in the number of students applying to the higher institutions in Ghana, a lot of inequality is still being experienced. It is a bit more difficult for a person living in a rural area or a woman to attain tertiary education.

Another excluding factor is socioeconomic status. Attaining admission to a tertiary institution is expensive. Though public institutions are free, there are a lot of side charges that many cannot afford and they would rather go for cheaper institutions or institutions where they will be paid.

Due to these inequalities, certain policies have been set in place to ensure that they are cut down to the barest minimum. Some of them include:

The minimum entry requirements of certain universities have been dropped considerably to make entry easier. Scholarships have also been provided for students from less-endowed secondary schools.
The government created a “Girls Education Unit” under the supervision of the Ghana Education Service. This body has the responsibility of cutting down the disparities in gender bias.

Till now, more rich people and males have access to higher education than poor people and women.

ICT in education

The world is going digital and computers have become the main tool of education, especially with the advent of the internet. The government of Ghana has noticed the importance of ICT in teaching and learning. This led to the creation of the ICT in Education Policy which prescribes the use of ICT at all levels of education in the country.

The Ministry of Education has even made efforts to improve ICT literacy in all institutions in Ghana and as such most institutions have computer labs within their premises. The number of computers available is still quite a few compared to the number of users.

Studies reveal that the Ministry of Education in Ghana is currently at the stage of deploying IT resources to different schools around the country. This way it makes it easier for ICT to be incorporated into learning and teaching.

List of Educational Policies in Ghana Roundup

Now that you have gone through the list of educational policies in Ghana, you have an idea of what is obtainable in the Ghanaian educational sector. You can also take advantage of the different provisions of these policies to ensure that you get the best of the educational sector in Ghana.