Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Basic Education in Ghana

In Ghana, it is common that one have more than one wife and many children. Not all of these children, especially girls, can go to school, because their parents are not able to afford the tuition fee or they have to take care of their younger siblings. They may leave schools to work or get married at very early age, although there is a policy in Ghana that every children should go to school. The good news is now they have free first level education and free lunch at school. The female to male ratio is 51:49 in Ghana, but there are not as many girls as boys.

There are also some policies to motivate people to become a teacher. Student teacher can get allowance and teachers can get free training. However, the number of teachers still cannot meet the need, especially in rural places. Some teachers left classroom for higher-paid jobs. Lots of companies hire "teachers" because they are high-educated, patient, and good at communicating. Some teachers, who were picked up  to big cities from rural places and trained, refuse to go back. The parents in these places also do not want the high-educated teachers back. Because they send their children to school for a better life. They thought if one were educated, he/she would have a better life, otherwise, education makes no change. They why should children go to school? I do not know how to answer this question. If some one could, it would not be a problem any more.

Education in Ghana focus more on work and life skills. They want their young adults to be useful (I am not sure if this is the right way to explain). Students have home economic classes in primary school. They can learn cooking, needling, and other skills. I think it is really a good idea. If I were able to cook, I would not miss Chinese food that much, I would cook myself every day!

Educators in Ghana did many things to develop their education and the condition here has been getting better. But (I hate "but") it still need to be improved.

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