Cost Sharing and Equity in Higher Education: Experiences of Selected Ghanaian
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Cost Sharing and Equity in Higher Education: Experiences of Selected Ghanaian Students A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Education of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Dominic S. Dadzie June 2009 © 2009 Dominic S.Dadzie. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled Cost Sharing and Equity in Higher Education: Experiences of Selected Ghanaian Students by DOMINIC S.DADZIE has been approved for the Department of Educational Studies and the College of Education by Francis E. Godwyll Assistant Professor of Educational Studies Renée A. Middleton Dean, College of Education 3 ABSTRACT DADZIE, DOMINIC S., Ph.D., June 2009, Curriculum and Instruction, Cultural Studies Cost Sharing and Equity in Higher Education: Experiences of Selected Ghanaian Students (291 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Francis E.Godwyll This phenomenological research study examined sources available to students for funding education and the experiences of students in public higher education in relation to cost sharing as an educational policy for funding tertiary education in six Ghanaian public universities. The research examines students’ use of social networks in social capital formation to meet challenges of cost sharing. The economic value of social networks within the family, the extended family, the community, and the government in social capital formation to pay for higher education were examined. The study adopted a qualitative methodology using structured, semi-structured, and open-ended in-depth interviews to collect data from 44 students from the six public universities and three administrators. Document sources from the universities, Ministry of Education, GET Fund, and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning were also analyzed. The results were transcribed, coded and categorized under emerging themes for analysis and discussion. The findings indicated that a number of qualified students could not have access to university education because of lack of funding. Students from lower- socioeconomic families were mostly affected in the cost sharing policy. Government was seen to be gradually shifting more responsibilities of funding higher education to parents 4 through students’ fees despite the economic situation in the country. Female students faced cultural factors that limited their access to higher education. There were gaps between government policies on enrollment that needed attention of university administrators. Policy on accommodation was not strictly monitored and residential halls were over crowded causing infrastructure deterioration. Procedures for securing student loans were frustrating to students and limited access to these loans. Not all students were using social networks to mobilize social capital in funding their education particularly students from families with patrilineal systems of inheritance used less in comparison to those from matrilineal families. Policy makers have to take into consideration the economic situations of students from lower income families in order to ensure they are not short-changed. Enrollment and accommodation policies as well as loans processing requirements need close monitoring and evaluation. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Francis E.Godwyll Assistant Professor of Educational Studies 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge with a deep sense of gratitude Dr. Steve William Howard through whose assistance I gained entrance into this wonderful Ohio University, my Alma Mater. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the contributions to my academic formation by Dr. Catherine Glasscock, Dr. Arlie Woodrum, Dr. Rosalie Romano and Dr. Godwyll for serving on my Program of Study Committee and seeing me through the Comprehensive Examinations to enter into Candidacy. I am grateful to all my professors especially Dr. Lynn Harter for accepting me across the Educational Studies Department into her research methods classes in the School of Communication. I am particularly thankful to Dr. Francis Godwyll, Dr Lynn Harter, Dr. Rosalie Romano, Dr. Peter Mather, and Dr. Yegan Pillay for serving on my dissertation committee. I could not have reached this level without their advice and guidance. I acknowledge the willingness with which Dr. Peter Mather and Dr. Yegan Pillay accepted to be on the committee when Dr. Catherine Glasscock and Dr. Arlie Woodrum left the university. Thank you, Dr. Romano for keeping faith and remaining on the committee even when you were distance away. Thank you, Dr. Lynn Harter for equipping me with the tools for research. Above all, I owe a deep sense of gratitude to Dr. Francis Godwyll my academic advisor and chair of the committee for always being there to advice and to guide. To all of you I say thank you for accepting me into the club of scholars. 6 DEDICATION To God be the glory. To my wife Clementina with the best of love 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... 5 Dedication ........................................................................................................................... 6 List of Tables .................................................................................................................... 13 List of Figures ................................................................................................................... 15 List of Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………….16 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 20 Background to the Study ................................................................................................... 20 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................. 25 Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 26 Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................................... 26 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................. 27 Delimitations of the Study ................................................................................................ 27 Limitation to the Study ..................................................................................................... 28 Definition of Terms........................................................................................................... 28 Organization of the Study ................................................................................................. 30 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................. 31 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 31 Ghanaian Familial Culture ................................................................................................ 31 Geography ......................................................................................................................... 31 8 Systems of Inheritance ...................................................................................................... 31 Informal Education ........................................................................................................... 34 The Political Nature of Formal Education ........................................................................ 35 Castle Schools ................................................................................................................... 35 Mission Schools ................................................................................................................ 37 Colonial Administration and Educational Expansion ....................................................... 37 Independence and Rapid Educational Expansion ............................................................. 39 Values of Communities as They Intersect with the Values of School .............................. 41 Socialization and Cultural Hegemony .............................................................................. 41 Women’s Struggles for Equal Access to Education ......................................................... 47 Access to Schools ............................................................................................................. 48 The Implications of Gender on Access to Higher Education: Changes in Perceptions .... 49 Higher Education in Ghana ............................................................................................... 51 Increases in Enrollment ..................................................................................................... 52 PNDC and University Relations ....................................................................................... 53 Funds Mobilization ........................................................................................................... 55 Education Sector Reforms ................................................................................................ 56 Structural Adjustment Programs and Funding Higher Education in Ghana