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University Microfilms International 300 N. ZEES ROAD, ANN ARBOR, Ml 48106 18 BEDFORD ROW, LONDON WC1R 4EJ, ENGLAND 7916011

NYARKOH, EMMANUEL CHRISTIAN TOWARDS INNOVATING EDUCATION FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS IN GHANA — IMPLICATIONS FOR ART EDUCATION AND CULTURAL ADVANCEMENT.

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, PH.D., 1978

University M icrcxilm s International 300 n . z e e b r o a d , a n n a r b o r , mi u s io e

© 1979

EMMANUEL CHRISTIAN NYARKOH

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Universe Mfcrdnlms International 300 N. ZEEB RD.. ANN ARBOR. Ml 48106 1313) 761-4700 TOWARDS INNOVATING EDUCATION FOR NATIONAL

DEVELOPMENTS IN GHANA — IMPLICATIONS

FOR ART EDUCATION AND CULTURAL ADVANCEMENT

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate

School of The Ohio State University

B y Emmanuel Christian Nyarkoh, B.A.(Hons.), M.F.A.

*****

The Ohio State University

1978 Reading Committee: Approved By Professor Robert Arnold

Professor Arthur Efland

Professor Kenneth Marantz

Department of Art Education To

Esther

Ehen

Mike

Emmanuel3 Jr.

Nana Poknaa

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Professor

Arthur Efland, my academic adviser for his efforts in guiding my Ph.D. program and research to successful completion.

I also want to thank the other members of my reading committee, Professor Kenneth Marantz, Professor

Bob Arnold and Professor Don P. Sanders for their guidance, instructive criticism and suggestions for improving the manuscript of this dissertation.

I am indebted to the officials of the Fulbright-

Hays Scholarship Program, the University of Science and Technology - Kumasi, Ghana, and especially The

Ohio State University for sponsoring my education here in the United States of America. I also thank the

Board of Directors, and the management of the Scio

Pottery Company for offering me the chance to under­ take practical training in ceramics.

My thanks also go to all my friends in the

United States as well as in Ghana for their prayer and financial support.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to my wife

Esther, whose patience, and moral support were

iii essential to the completion of this study.

What is more I want to thank my father, mother, grandmother, Uncle Dapaah and all the members of my family, Mr. Osei Kojo and my late mother-in-law for taking care of our three children we left behind in

Ghana for the past five years.

Finally, I want to give all thanks and praise to Jesus Christ, my Lord who has made me what I am today.

EBENEZER

Praise the Lordl

(Psalms 146)

iv VITA

September 21, 1936...... Born Dentin - Ofinso, Ghana

1966 - 6 7 , ...... Art Master, Aduman Training College, Ghana.

1972...... B.A. (Hons.) The University of Science and Technology, Kumas i, Ghana

1972 - 73...... Teaching Assistant, the Uni­ versity of Science and Tech­ nology, Kumasi, Ghana.

197 5 ...... M.F.A. The Ohio State Univer­ sity (Fulbright Scholar),

1976 - 1978...... Teaching Associate, Department of Art Education, The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio

PUBLICATIONS

1, Pottery Shapes and Decorations in Ashanti. College of Arts Best Thesis of the Year 1972. Published by Mobil Oil, Ghana Ltd. Accra, Ghana.

2. ARTS EDUCATION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICA, published by the United States Society For Education through the Arts (USSEA) The Ohio State University, December 1977.

FIELDS OF STUDY

Fields Of Study: Interdisciplary

1. Industrial Ceramics.

2. Education (Curriculum instruction and Supervision)

3. Education in the Arts

4. Educational Development

5. Philosophy of Education.

v TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iii

VITA ...... v

LIST OF TABLES ...... ix

Chapter

I INTRODUCTION ...... 1

The Background: A Kaleidoscopic View of the Impact of Modern Education in Africa's Development...... 4 Educational Achievements in Ghana and its Defects; Background for Improvement...... 9 The Statement of the Problem ...... 23 The Purpose of the Study ...... 24 Assumptions...... 25 The Scope and Limitations of the Study . . . 26 Methodology...... 27 Definition of Terms...... 27 O v e r v i e w ...... 29

II HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA— THE P A S T ...... 31

Education in Traditional Ghana ...... 31 Western Education for Trade...... 39 The Missionary Efforts ...... 41 Colonial Educational Policy...... 45 Educational Growth in the 20th Century . . . 48 Summary ...... 68

III CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1951 ...... 71

Introduction ...... 71 The Immediate Effects of the Accelerated Development Plan for Education...... 75

vi Chapter Page

III (continued)

Education and Manpower Development in Ghana During the 1960's ...... 87 Secondary School Curriculum and Courses. . . 97 Higher Education ...... 101 The Structure and Content...... 106 Nursery Education...... 107 Elementary Education ...... 10 8 Cu rricul um ...... 110 Secondary Education...... Ill Summary...... 115

IV SOME MAJOR PROBLEMS IN GHANA'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: THE DILEMMA OF EDUCATIONAL DE­ VELOPMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ...... 119

Differentiation in the School System .... 132 Low Quality Standards in Education ...... 146 The Problem of Examination Mania ...... 14 8 Lack of Link Between Education and Manpower Planning...... 157 Excessive Length of Stages of Pre- University Education ...... 160 Obstacles to Change...... 161 Problems in Art Education...... 164 The Problem of Content Development for Art Education — "The Need to Conceive of the Teaching of Art Within the Context of Twentieth Century Dynamics"...... 174 Elitism and Educational Change ...... 175 The Problem of Lack of Adequate Research in Art Education...... 177 Summary...... 178

V STRATEGIES FOR INNOVATING GHANA'S EDUCATION; . 181

Toward a Theory of Education for Cultural Change and Development: Closing the Techno-Cultural Gap...... 181 The Need for Change...... 194 Towards a New Conceptualization of the Relationship Between Education and Development...... 201 Criteria for National Development...... 213

vii Chapter Page

V (continued)

The Role of Education Through Art in National Development: An Art Approach to a Symbiosis Between Traditional and Modern Culture ...... 244 A Conceptualized Model for Curriculum Development...... 253 Summary...... 272

VI SUMMARY REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS...... 273

Implications of the Study...... 279 Recommendations...... 279

APPENDICES

A M A P S ...... 285

B STRUCTURES OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM ...... 289

C TIME TABLE FOR A TYPICAL MONITORIAL SCHOOL . . 293

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 297

viii LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1 The growth of government and assisted schools 1881-1901...... 47

2 The growth of the primary-school system, 1952,53-1959 ...... 78

3 The growth of the middle-school system, 1952,53-1959 ...... 79

4 The growth of the secondary-school system 1951-1960 ...... 80

5 Education population ...... 81

6 Dropout of those entering primary schools in 1955...... 85

7 Growth in school enrollment from 1963 to 1970 ...... 86

8 Regional distribution of secondary schools into public system in Ghana: 1966-196 9 and 1970-1971...... 96

9 Second level enrollment in ten African states, 1960-1961...... 98

10 Percentage of children aged 6-14 years attending primary and middle schools in Ghana...... 99

11 Enrollment in primary schools by region. . . . 128

12 Number and percent of students taking the school certificate examination who were awarded/not awarded division I, division II, and division III certificates...... 150

13 Number and percent of students taking the general certificate of education ordinary- level examination passing in four or-more and five or more subjects...... 151

ix Table Page

14 Number of educational institutions and students in the public educational system, by level or type of institution: school years 1951-1971,1972...... 153

15 1972 Report on the 1968 survey...... 158

16 A conceptualized syncretic model of curriculum for education in the arts. . . . 261

17 Ghana: Structure of educational system...... 290

18 New structure of education...... 291

19 Educational structure of Ghana...... 292

x CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Education is such a huge undertaking, it has so radical an influence on man's destiny that it will be damaging if it is only considered in terms of structures, logistical means and processes. The very substance of education, its essential relationship to man and his devel­ opment, its interaction with the environment as both product and factor of society must all be deeply scrutinized and extensively reconsidered. (Faure, 1975, p.69)

The study inquires into the extent which modern edu­

cation could be directed to lend support to the overall

strategy of national development in Ghana.

The thesis is based on the relation between "education"

and development. The demands of a developing nation such

as Ghana require that education contribute to basic human

needs which are considered necessary both for individual

and national development.

Unfortunately, the present educational system in

Ghana has been criticized as too ineffective to contribute

significantly to the human and natural resource develop­ ment of the nation. Therefore, a number of people have been calling for radical reforms in the system to make it

serve the needs of individuals and society. 2

Education, in a human-resource context, repre­ sents the investments of time, money and effort whereby the human potential is transformed into a competence. The approximate quantities of special competencies required to achieve the aims of the society may be deduced from the series of targets which have been set in the development plans. From this point of view, education is a means to a specific end, i.e., development. (Meier, 1965, p.280)

The quest for modernization and cultural advancement has ended the Ghanian society in the throes of disinte­ grating cultural forces. Cultural change rather than stability has become the norm. Many traditional cultural practices are gradually dying out, while modern science and technology are gradually becoming part of our culture.

The world as a whole is now changing at an exponen­ tial rate, even the developments in Africa, a continent which was called "the sleeping giant," within the last two decades clearly testify to that; very significant political, social, and economic transformations have taken place. The quick changes occurring in the developed countries of the world are also affecting Ghana in many ways.

If our society is to meet the challenges of the dizzying changes in science, technology, com­ munications, and social relations, we cannot rely on the answers provided by the past alone, but must also put our trust in the processes by which new problems are met. For so quickly does change overtake us, that answers, knowledge, methods, and skills become obsolete almost at the moment of their achievement. (Rogers, 1968, p.12) Our present educational system has continually

lagged behind the other developments in Ghananian society and unless revolutionary reform takes place within its educational system the country will not be able to cope with the economic and social forces that change carries with it. This study, therefore, calls for educational revolution. Carl R. Rogers has said "Educational Revolu­ tion" is a phrase connoting different ideas. "That revolution or change in education is necessary is agreed by all." (Rogers, 1968, p.120) In fact, it is very urgent that changingness and innovation become the cen­ tral element in education in Ghana.

Soedjamoto, has said*

Increasingly, the need is being felt for a con­ tinuous effort to strengthen what might be called 'the learning capacity of the nation.' To bring knowledge and skills not only to an elite but also to the mass of the people in developing countries, will call for the reform of many formal systems of education. There is a widespread feeling that resources for education need to be redeployed, that curricula need to be redesigned, that teacher training must be restructured, and methods for engaging students interest and concern must be explored to meet this need. (Thompson, 1976, p.22)

Why is there a need for educational reform in Ghana?

In order to fully understand the underlying factors which have given rise to the call for change in most former colonial territories in Africa including Ghana, it is necessary to have a historical perspective of the educa­ tional system. Halsey said, 4

History exerts a powerful influence on edu­ cation, in the sense that educational development is a function of societies historical development, that education bears many traces of the past, and finally that it is time for education to help make history by preparing for it. (UNESCO, 1972, p.3)

He continues to say:

changes in the economic and power structures of society are the prime movers of all other social changes including educational change. Developing countries in Africa such as Ghana exhibit contrasts of 'traditional' and 'modern' cultures, accompanied by effort on the part of the states to transform their educational systems with the learnings necessary to exploit the new culture that is being imported from Europe and America. (UNESCO, 1975, p.17)

THE BACKGROUND: A KALEODOSCOPIC VIEW .OF THE IMPACT OF MODERN EDUCATION IN AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT

It is necessary to consider educational developments in Ghana in the context of Africa's continental develop­ ments. A striking feature of the countries of Africa is that an alien education from Europe has been spread in varying degrees over what has existed before, whether it was indigenous African or Islamic, producing a range of situations which can only be understood in intercultural terms. Western education has been hard to resist because it enables an African country to take advantage of modern technology, which seems to be essential for economic and social development; yet it threatens also to bring disruptive social changes. Hence the dilemma — is it possible to modernize without destroying the very fabric

of society? So fundamental is the question that it has

been described as the key to a country's cultural self­

appraisal. It is bound to express whether overtly or not,

views about the desired form of society, and views about

the individual's opportunities and responsibilities within

it. Therefore, a social and cultural understanding of

education is a prerequisite for planning it. (Brown &

Hiskett, 1975, p.13)

Modern education through schooling was the vehicle

used by the Europeans — largely Christian missionaries,

to spread European civilization and to convert Africans-

to Christianity. Schooling in the sense of institutional

education in the social life of Africa is a comparatively

recent development? education in the sense of lifelong

learning for the entire society with some qualifications

is a very ancient concept.

Ghanaians as well as other Africans organized their

own forms of traditional education and prepared their youth for life long before the coming of the Europeans.

The cultural heritage, was learned through "informal''

instruction and participation.

Formal education through "schooling" introduced by

Europeans has come to be accepted as an indespensable

lever for progress in all aspects of life — social and economic. According to Busia,

Schooling is, in fact, increasingly becoming a part of African culture, a borrowed institution fitting into the pattern of living. (Busia, 1962, p.80)

The "colonial" schools were both Christian and

European in orientation. They helped to indoctrinate

African youth into accepting European culture as superior to its own and, led to a rejection of the African cultural heritage.

African schools have already produced too many people who today shun their own art and music because they think it is 'pagan,* 'fetish' and 'illiterate. . . .'" (Fafunwa, 1967, p.75)

The ultimate effect of their impact was to disrupt traditional African cultural setting. (Cowan, et al.,

1965, p.37)

Educators in Ghana, as in the rest of Africa, and indeed throughout the world, have in the past been duly influenced by the stress which anthropologists place upon the function of education as a transmitter of culture .... An analysis of the past statements or policymakers reveals that this is the only function of education that they have understood. . . . But it is an element which has hardly entered into the educational scene of modern Ghana. (Birmingham, et al., 1967, p.229)

In view of the contributions modern education is expected to make a nation building and development, past policies and achievements in Ghana's educational system have been subjected to criticism and reappraisal. A general criticism is that the colonial government failed to accord education the high priority it deserved. Too few people were educated and the type of education they received was "academic" and bookish without any relevance to the needs for Ghana's national development. Missionary effort in education during the colonial era saw the func­ tion of education in terms of human and religious terms and did not consider national development as part of its function. (Gamlin, 1970, p.183)

Specifically, the criticisms leveled at the colonial curricula have been that the language, textbooks, examinations, diplomas, and degrees offered in schools established by colonial powers were flagrantly foreign to the African setting.

To replace this verbal literary education, bold new practical curricula, adjusted to the African cultural and economic setting have been suggested. (Adams, 1969, p.

72) The wholesale transfer of the educational conven­ tions of Europe and American to the peoples of Africa has certainly not been an act of wisdom, however, justly it may be defended as a proof of genuine interest in the native people. (Scanlon, 1964, p.53) Hanson and Cole Brembeck have pointed out, that "Education that

does not take into account the cultural realities will either stand helpless or do positive harm." (Hanson &

Brembeck, 1966, p.225)

Thus, within the past twenty or thirty years all newly independent nations of Africa have been making

serious attempts to change or modify the political, economic and cultural legacies inherited from their

colonial masters. The revolution in African education

since 1950 has been as important for Africa's future

as the political revolution that brought independence

to much of the continent. (Cowan, et al., 1965, p.3)

During the "African decade" declared by the United

Nations (1960-1970), the function of education as con­

tributing to social, economic, and cultural development

evoked considerable interest among African leaders.

The call for the Africanization of the content of education of Africans by African leaders is an index of this interest. . . . African leaders have sought by political direction to create a new society which would reflect the best in traditional African culture and Western values. This is the task of the schools. (Ekuban, 1974, p.41)

How best to organize the schools and direct them to

contribute to national development is engaging the

attention of many serious thinkers.

This need for educational change in Africa was the

central theme at the Addis Ababa and Tananarive Conferences conducted in 1961 and 1962 respectively under the

auspices of UNESCO. The Tananarive Conference expressed

the yearnings of many educators when it stated in its

Report,

The attainment of independence in Africa now makes it necessary to reexamine a type of education which in many African countries was formerly designed to 'assimulate' young Africans (to the cultures of the metropolitan countries). Curriculum reform is thus a corollary of political emancipation — cultural emancipation being the means by which the "African personality" can be asserted. This calls for the rediscovery of the African cultural heritage and the transmission of that culture of Africa to adolescents in Secondary Schools. (UNESCO, 1962, p.4)

The view that education is the key that unlocks

the door to modernization has been espoused perhaps more fervently and dogmatically in the new nations of

Africa (Scanlon, 1964, p.3) and especially in Ghana

than anywhere else.

EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS IN GHANA AND ITS DEFECTS; BACKGROUND FOR IMPROVEMENT

The relationship between education and political nationalism has fascinated many observers of the Ghanian scene. Ghana certainly holds a special place in recent

African history. Known as the Gold Coast before inde­ pendence, it was the first British territory in Africa

to achieve a real measure of internal self-government

(1951) and then complete independence (1957). it thus 10 has become a symbol for Africans still under colonial rule and let the way to independence for the many countries of colonial Africa that achieve independence in 1960 and the years immediately following. (U.S.A.,

Dept, of H.E.W., 1976, p.11)

Ghana has long been regarded as a leader in

African educational development. (U.S.A., Dept, of

H.E.W., 1976, p.iii) Philip Foster remarks,

Ghana has in many respects been a bellwether for many of the other emerging African states, and not the least, so in the area of educational development. It now possesses the most elabo­ rate school system in Sub-Saharan Africa. (Foster, 1965, p.vii)

Ghana takes a fair pride in her advanced educa­ tional provision in terms of the number or percentage of school age children enrolled in primary and middle school, the number of students in secondary schools and teacher training colleges, and the number of university students and graduates. Education in the public system is either free or heavily subsidized by the State. The generous number of schools and colleges meets a virtually insatiable demand for a large professional teaching force.

Also, a wide Civil Service and a respectable number of

State Corporations provide employment opportunities for products of higher institutions. (Ayisi, 1973, p.89)

The country's development — social and economic — after independence became very rapid. Before the end 11 of I960, it had reached the "take off" stage. Ghana may be said to have reached the second stage of development, according to Harbison and Meyer's classification. (Boyd,

& French, 1973, p.40)

According to Vaizey's classification of countries in relation to their education and economic development in the world scene, Ghana falls into his "partially developed" (Vaizey, 1967, p.54) category while other

African countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Liberia,

Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda appear under the "under­ developed" category. However, the criteria for this classification may lead one to question. Busia, writing about the criteria used by writers to classify some countries as "underdeveloped" remarks,

But so widely do the different countries classified as 'underdeveloped' vary in ful­ filling, and not fulfilling, these criteria that some writers question whether any precise definition can be given to the concept.

A socioeconomic survey of Ghana over the years reveals many potential natural and human resources that can be utilized to bring about greater achievements in the country's development. The natural resource endowment of the country is generous by any international standard.

Cocoa provides the main economic foundation. Added to the agricultural potential, the country produces in large quantities mineral deposits including gold, industrial 12 diamonds, manganese, and Bauxite. There is also a good possibility of off-shore oil which is at the moment being initially exploited. Already, the country possesses a fair amount of industry, and a vast industrial poten­ tial is provided by the Volta River Hydro-electric

Project which is capable of producing ample power for any possible industrial development in the forseeable future.

At the moment Togo and Benin (2 countries bordering Ghana on the east) are using part of this electric power. An associated aluminum smelter, capitalizing on local bauxite, gives promise to a tremendous industrial enterprise. Al­ though Ghana's great financial problems have imposed heavy restraints on economic growth, her economy is basically one of the strongest in middle Africa. Compared with many other African countries, she has rich physical resources and a well-developed economic intra-structure, and has long had one of the highest per capita incomes in

Africa. (George, 1976, p.15)

The population of Ghana is now approximately twelve million. According to the 1970 census results released in 1972, Ghana had a total population of 8,559,313.

(Ghana, Central Bureau of Statistics, 1972) Ghana has one of the youngest populations in the world. About

47% of all the people in 1970 were under 15 years of age, and those of 25 and over represented 36%. Ghana has a 13 centralized form of government, with the government departments fairly decentralized with some form of regional responsibilities. Politically, the country is divided into nine regions. The capital city is Accra with a population of about one million.

We can say that Ghana, like other developing countries, is passing from "traditional" to "modern" society. It is now in a transitional stage in its national development, and engaged in modernization pro­ jects such as the provision of pipe-borne water in the rural areas and a good network of roads across the country among other social amenities intended for the

"good life."

Ghana's quest for modernity poses a variety of challenges. Since 1951, National Development Plans to achieve various goals have been carried out. Many difficulties have been encountered in the implementation of some of the plans. Quite often the results have fallen short of expectations, either due to poor manage­ ment or lack of sufficient financial resources or lack of adequate manpower.

In seeking rapid development, Ghanaian leaders, like other African leaders, are faced with the problem of making choices in the process of establishing a new political and socioeconomic order or system, different from those established by the colonial masters. The ideological philosophies of the developed "West" and

"East" offer alternative examples to the African countries as guides to economic examples to economic development. "Communism” and "Capitalism" .are magnets each exercising its attraction. The various governments of Ghana have tried to experiment various systems they have considered best for Ghana's future or destiny.

At the moment, Ghanaians are seeking new direction for the country's development.

It is in line with this quest for new goals and aspirations that this study makes a contribution. The challenges posed by technology and scientific develop­ ments for modern living must be faced with great deter­ mination if we are to develop our country. But Busai poses the question, "Whither development?" that choices must be made.

The basic concept to be discussed in this study involves development. The conventional notions of societal development as dynamic economic performance, modernization of institutions or proliferation of goods and services do not satisfy our definition in this study. We shall depend upon Denis Goulet's more valid definition of the term development. For him, 15

Development is above all a question of values. It involves human attitudes and preferences, self-defined goals and criteria for determining what are tolerable costs to be borne in the course of change .... At its most profound level, development is an ambiguous historical adventure born of tensions between "What is sought and How it is obtained." When technolo­ gical innovations or novel behavior patterns impinge on societies living relative equilibrium, their values are deeply troubled. This is so because such innovations create new strains between de­ mands and effective ability to meet them. (Goulet, 1917)

The Nuffield Foundation study of African education describes the function of education in modernization very well thus:

The germ from which all national development grows is a deep desire among the people to be other than they are. In no way is this desire more dearly put than by the efforts a people is prepared to make to train its children to fulfill the life it desires for itself as a nation. Thus, education is inseparably linked with the deepest problems of national destiny. (Abernethy, 1969, p.10)

The people of Ghana, for over two decades now have consciously through various national policies and development programs tried to contribute to their cultural heritage. The impact of foreign influence on the traditional culture has been tremendous. The extent to which this foreign influence have affected

Ghana differs from place to place, and the capacity to deal with this intrusion of foreign cultural elements have depended upon different variables. Modern 16 education, in the form of "schooling" which was intro­ duced by Europeans has been a dynamic vehicle for trans­ mission of foreign cultural elements which have become part of Ghana's present culture.

The role of education in the development of Ghana then becomes central to the focus of this study. The manpower approach to educational planning or development has been a popular method used by many emerging countries in Africa including Ghana (1963). It is now felt that this preoccupation of educational planners with economic growth, has its limitations and pitfalls. More than economic returns should be the criteria for investment in education. Everyone could agree that "education was something more than the 'production of manpower' with useful and marketable skills, that is fundamental to the overall development of both individuals and society.

Gideonese considers education as an activity that develops human capital and human capability in relation to economic productivity. He also asserts that educa­ tion

is virtually concerned with the consumption as well as with production and its commitment to the goal of the enrichment of personal and cultural satisfaction is inextricably inter­ woven with the need for a social context that will have the strength and the cohesion to permit the mobility that is an unavoidable con­ dition of economic development. The ultimate test of schools to guide development

should be the quality of life and the sort of society

that the development plans are intended to achieve.

Concerning the criteria for development, Busia declares

that "neither productivity nor consumption is an end

in itself." The selection of economic and social goals,

their effective planning strategies and implementation have always posed a lot of problems, part of which have been political. Education is believed to play a very

influential role in the economic and social developments

of a country but the extent to which education in Ghana has succeeded in this direction is open to debate.’

An obvious question is, whether there is any rea­

son to doubt that the educational expansion currently

taking place in Ghana foretells its successful transi­

tion to the modernity of the country.

"Education of a certain type in certain proportions may be a pre-condition for modernization, but this is not to say that the kind of education that is actually offered in a country meets the standards specified."

(Abernathy, 1964, p.11) Poster reports, "In Ghana,

the schools have rarely functioned in the manner antici­ pated by educationists or officials, and the story of their development is largely one of the unplanned con­ sequences of educational growth." (Foster, 1967, p.222) 18

In spite of the frequent references to technical education

in government policy statements, and in spite of space

devoted to it by historians technical education has in

fact been unimportant in the development of Ghanian

education. (Birmingham, et al., 1967, p.222)

Economic growth is supposed to flourish if overall

national development is to proceed and education is also believed to contribute to the economic growth of a nation.

But according to John F. Gamlin, no serious attempt was made by Ghana before 1963 to relate educational develop­ ment to the economy. Up to then educational development both during the colonial era and after 1951 had been

"unplanned, piecemeal and based upon other criteria."

(Gamlin, 1970, p.183)

The first national government, when elected in 1951, chose to develop education on social and political groups; under the Accelerated Development Plan it embarked upon a massive ex­ pansion of education in all sectors. Although the (Nkrumah) government no doubt felt that education was necessary for development and thus made it part of the plan, no effort was made to develop the educational system to satisfy manpower requirements nor was the curriculum changed to produce the kind of education needed in a country seeking rapid economic and social development. (Gamlin, 1970, p.183)

Concerning the intensity of the furor over colonial education in Ghana, there has not been any major changes

in the essential characteristics of the system; the structure and content of the education being offered now 19 shows little change. "The effect on curriculum change, for instance, has been slight. In the whole of Africa, with the exception of certain experimentation in the di­ rection suggested by Nyerere, no "revolutionary" changes have resulted." (Adams, 1969, p.73) Also "the schools have been consistently criticized from the earliest period as being obstructive of economic growth." (Foster, 1965, p.293)

The educational priorities of the Nkrumah government according to Robert E. Dowse "was probably wrong in terms of rapid economic development since too much was spent on primary and too little on technical and secondary education." (Dowse, 1969, p.45)

But another line of criticism was offered by Foster questioning those who want the schools to be converted into "manufacturing industries." In his famous treatise on "The Vocational School Fallacy in Development Plan­ ning," he argues against the charge that schools have not encouraged agricultural and technical education, but rather that there has been too much emphasis on academic education, and hence the rise of unemployment among school leavers. Foster argues that "the principla role of formal education in the early stages of economic development does not lie in the creation of human skils as narrowly de­ fined." He contends that it is naive to believe that 20

returns to educational investment are not direct and im­ mediate (as perhaps present Ghanaian leadership sup­ poses) but that in the long run# formal schooling creates a cultural environment in which innovation can take place (Anderson & Bowman, 1963, p.150)

In considering the relationship between education and the overall natural development, we can all agree that economic growth "is an absolute 'must'" yet even economic growth can flourish only in a favorable social environment. Most educators have warned that "education need not neglect the development of the individual and the higher aims of society; in strengthening science and technology, it need not weaken the humanities; in adopting modern methods, it need not abandon the best of the old." The goal of economic and social develop­ ment according to Busia

is the freedom and uplift of the individual and the improvement of human relations and the quality of social life. This is the challenge that African nations must face in their choice of methods to tackle the problem of development. (Busia, 1962, p.137)

On the question of what direction to follow in the quest for modernization and "the good life" there seems to be no consensus in Ghana. We are still trying to evolve a new system of social, economic, and political development for our cultural aspirations and destiny.

Glover, in his dissertation, (1974) discussed some 21 aspects of traditional and modern cultural postures for

Ghana's development. In this study, this writer postu­ lates that there is need for creating cultural symbiosis between traditional and modern elements necessary for national development in our educational system.

Looking back at the history of culture contact between the peoples of Ghana and Europe, one sees that a number of strategies have been employed, notably —

"separate development'; "assimulation"; "adaptation";

"independence". The strategy of "integration" which seems a different concept, though related to "adaptation" and

"independence" in different ways is based on the assump­ tion that the present Ghanaian culture is in a state of flux, and selection. It is, therefore, imperative that the educational system respond to the changes and cultural developments taking place. The strategy for

"integration" which is called for in national develop­ ment should be reflected on the educational system. This study considers a new Arts education in Ghana as a means of reconciling the traditional and modern elements con­ sidered necessary and consistent with the needs and resources of the country for national development. How can we deal with the problem of reconciliation and synthesis? One answer is provided by Busia who says, 22

Culture change is a selective process. Earlier ways can be dropped, or adapted, or adapted and retained in changed forms; new ways can be accepted and fitted into old ones. (Busia, 1962, p. 137)

In this study, I shall deal with the problem of se­

lection; the establishment of a set of criteria for

creating the synthesis between "the old" and "the new".

In trying to find a basis for establishing a working

synthesis of the two sets of values represented by the

Old and the New, educational planners ought to make at

least three broad considerations.

1. They must consider which Old and New Values

are useless and must be rejected entirely.

2. They must consider which Old and New Values

have some good features but which require some modifi­

cation.

3. They must consider which Old and New Values

are good and must be accepted wholesale.

These questions are now uppermost in the minds of many Ghanaians. "They lead one to the heart of both social and the educational problem." (Everest, 1935, p.16) To what extent can we modernize and remain

African? is a question to be discussed in this study.

How to invest in education with its role as the galvanizer of African values while incorporating scientific and technological elements in the courses of study becomes a crucial problem to investigate. 23

The rationale of the teaching of art is based on the relationship between art and the individual, art and the community, and art and the culture. (Paterakis, et al.,

1977, p.3) The culture concept is important for analysis in this study as it relates to learning behavior and art or artifacts, and values and all other capabili­ ties and habits acquired by man as a member of society.

The extent that educators can develop an understanding of the culture concept to influence the development of an intellectual climate in the school is a vital question for discussion in this study; this is considered relevant to understanding the relationship between the school and other social institutions of the society.

In a nutshell, it is the intent of this study, there­ fore, to provide a framework for making suggestions as to "how best Ghana's educational system could be innovated to provide a liberal atmosphere and culturally richer environment in which student potentialities could be ef­ fectively energized and utilized for individual and national development.

THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The study is an attempt to search for alternative guidelines and programs to innovate the present educational system in Ghana. Its focus is on ways and means of 24 developing education in the context of the social, economic and cultural realities of the country.

The main question to be discussed is the extent to which education can contribute to national develop­ ment in Ghana. The role of arts education in national development is the central issue.

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose is to contribute to the search for alternatives for what now exists in Ghana's educational system. It is a study geared to fulfilling some of the basic principles underlying the proposals in the New

Structure and Content of Education in Ghana. (1974)

One of such principles aims at instilling in the indi­ vidual an appreciation of the need for change directed toward the development of the human and material resources of the country.

This contribution to educational innovation in

Ghana is also recognized as an attempt to investigate the place and role of education in the Arts in the preparation of students for national development in the broader context of modernization and "cultural renaissance." The intent here is to inquire into the relationship between art, education, and the Ghanaian society and how this relationship could be strengthened 25 and directed to national development. Questions to be dealt with will include:

1. How can we educate to assure social change but avoid the tragic social casualties of our rise to modernity?

2. How can the traditional cultural heritage committed to radically new destinies be integrated with modern educational systems?

3. What qualities of mind and character enable people to play effective roles in a changing society, and how can education foster these qualities in rising

t # * generations?

4. How effectively can the creative process in the Arts be developed?

ASSUMPTIONS

The assumptions underlying the content of the study are:

1. That the malfunction of much educational practice makes innovation in Ghana's education a necessity while the changes in socioeconomic structures and the scientific and technological revolution make it imperative. The need for an over-all and continuous re­ form of education is widely accepted by most educators. 26

2. That there is a reciprocal connection that exists between an innovative education and a progressive society.

3. That today "it is no longer desirable to undertake educational reforms in piecemeal fashion without a concept of the totality of the goals and modes of educational process. To find out how much to reshape its component parts, one must have a vision of the whole." (Faure, ed., 1975, p.175)

4. That progress in a democracy develops out of the sensitive and intelligent use of information as a basis for national change. (Frymier, 1969, p.10)

5. That "Art Education lies at the center of education that all people need, but until educators clarify their own objectives and work towards their own objectives and their realization, nothing is likely to be done." (Pappas, ed., 1970, p.254)

6. That by according an African bias to educa­ tion in the Arts in Ghana, we can modernize our country and yet remain African thereby ensuring a relevant edu­ cation.

THE SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The study encompasses the broad spectrum of a system of national education involving adult education and 27

other non-formal and informal learning situations in

general terms.

It is limited to problems in the secondary and

tertiary levels. The role of the universities in

national development is emphasized. It does not at­

tempt to deal with the administrative and organizational

issues. Neither does it delve into the problem of curriculum development of the educational system. The pedagogical aspects also are not included in this study.

METHODOLOGY

The early part of the study is largely a historical account of Ghana's educational developments. The his­ torical background is combined with descriptive data from current sources. It undertakes to do critical analysis by way of philosophical arguments and by which to view the current scene and to project future developments.

Definition of Terms

The following definitions of major substantive terms are believed to be adequate for our purposes. Additional definitions are provided in context as required.

The most central concept to be developed in this study is "Educational Development", considered as a pro­ cess of adaptation. The notion of educational develop­ ment as an adaptive process would read thus, 28

1. Educational development is defined as a dynamic transactional process of adaptation of persons, programs and instituional arrangements that are considered potentially improvable in the domain of formal and infor­ mal education. Development here involves major societal change. The many changes associated with development also involve changes in psychological, economic, social, political, ideological, and cultural elements. It is described (rather than defined here) as a "unilinear, ongoing process of growth in a sequential transformation which leads from the lower to higher stages of matter, substance, and organization. (Szymon Chodac, 1973, pp.9-

10)‘

2. Innovation connotes change, but it is not syno­ nymous with it. Choosing from among all the definitions which have been put forward, we shall settle for one offered by O.E.C.D., i.e. "those attempts at change in an educational system which are consciously and purposely directed with the aim of improving the present system."

3. Functional education is meant here as adapting education of the traditional type to development objec­ tives.

4. Modern!zation: transition from traditional to modern society is the process which sociologists have labelled modernization. It is considered in terms of 29

a combination of changes in the mode of production in the

corpus of knowledge and in attitudes and values, "that

make it possible for a society to hold its own in the

twentieth century; that is to compete on even terms in

the generation of material and cultural wealth; to sus­

tain its independence, and to promote and accommodate

to further change. Modernization comprises such develop­

ments such as urbanization (a concentration of the popu­

lation in cities that serve as modes of industrial pro­

duction, administration and intellectual and artistic

activity . . . the creation of an educational system

capable of training and socializing the children of the

society to a level compatible with their capacities and

best contemporary knowledge; and of course, the acquisi­

tion of the ability and means to use an up-to-date

technology. (Landes, 1969, p.6)

OVERVIEW

The content of the study is organized under specific

themes in six chapters.

The first chapter is an introduction to the entire

study. The second chapter provides a historical account of modern education. It first makes a brief analysis of

the traditional education before the coming of Europeans,

and then discusses the impact of Europeans or 30 westernization through modern education in Ghana. It also traces the development of modern education started by missionaries from the sixteenth century to the middle of this century.

The third chapter reviews the trends in formal education from 1951 to the present (1978). The rapid growth of school enrollments following the Accelerated

Development Plan and its attendant problems are fully discussed.

The fourth chapter brings into sharper focus a variety of key questions and problems which confront educational planners. The identified problems involve the dysfunc­ tional educational structure, content, the examination system, unemployment, and the problems of art education.

In chapter five, the central theme is constructed around the relationship between education and development.

A theoretical framework of education for cultural change and development is formulated.

It also provides an alternative model for change in

Ghana's education based on "the philosophy of reconstruc- tionism." A curriculum model is designed to show how art can be used to create a synthesis between the modern and traditional elements of the culture in Ghana's education.

The sixth chapter contains a summary review of the study with proposals and recommendations for innovating the present educational system. CHAPTER TWO

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA — THE PAST

The chapter provides a historical review of the developments shaping the present educational system in

Ghana. It starts with an analysis of traditional edu­ cational patterns, before western influences were intro­ duced, and goes on to describe the effects of schooling.

The purpose of this review is to identify important themes to help guide possible reform efforts in the present system. As such, the chapter is not another history. Excellent histories of Ghanaian education are available in Foster's, Education and Social Change in

Ghana,1965, and Graham's A History of Education in Ghana,

1971. The chapter concludes with a discussion and summary of these themes with implications for change with regards to the adaptation of modern education to suit the needs of the Ghanaian society.

Education in Traditional Ghana

Any examination of the impact of Western edu­ cational institutions on African societies pre­ supposes an analysis of traditional social structures.

31 32

The functional incorporation of Western institu­ tions into the social fabric of life in Ghana can only be understood in terms of their effect upon traditional concepts of status, social differentiation and other aspects of social structure (Foster, 1965, p.13) For this reason some comments on the traditional education of Africa with special reference to Ghana, are appro­ priate. It is evident that before the contact with

European culture the Africans had developed their own dynamic system of education. Wilson reveals:

There was indeed a naive belief that Africa had no education, and there was no under­ standing of the fact that education in itself is part of the social organization of any society, whether or not that society has any­ thing which might be recognized as a school. (Wilson, 1963, p.17)

He goes on to say that in its social aspects indigenous education in West Africa was perhaps better organized than the modern European education, and cites as examples the fact that home science and sex education were more adequately taught to adolescent girls.

Graham, disclaiming the erroneous assumptions of some foreign authors about "African Education" clearly points out thus: "... before the coming of Europeans the people of the Gold Coast educated themselves."

(Graham, 1971, p. ix) In a sense their traditional education was fully capable of supplying the necessary 33 elements to maintain the levels attained by their society

in the economic, social, technical and cultural areas.

Birmingham and others (1967) point out that traditional education in Ghana was, in fact, identical with the process of socialization by which the culture of the society was passed on to the next generation. In such relatively homogenous, slowly changing societies such a system was adequate to meet the needs of the society.

Consequently, when the first European type schools were introduced to West Africa there was no popular demand for their services (p.217)

For example the Ashantis who had established a power­ ful nation or kingdom in the central part of the Gold

Coast before 1700 with a dynamic and rich culture, did not resist Christianity, which was in most cases alien to their religious beliefs but they opposed the intro­ duction of Western education. In fact, it took a very long time with persuasion and sometimes "bribery" to attract Ghananians, especially the King of Ashanti and his subjects to accept Western education. (Foster,1965,p.52)

Foster (1965) recalls that

that although the Ashantis were not strongly opposed to the preaching of the Gospel, they strongly resisted the idea of the foundation of a school which they feared could lead to rebellion and political unrest. . . .

That the Ashantis were resolutely opposed to the creation of schools is evident from the reply given 34 to those Wesleyans who had hoped in 1876 to resume the mission after the Sixth Ashanti War,

We shall accept the mission if you as Mr. Freeman did to help the peace of the nation and the prosperity of trade, but you must understand that we will not select children for education, for the Ashanti children have better work to do than to sit down all day idly to learn 'HoyI Hoy! Hoy!' (Foster, 1965, p. 52)

What was the nature of education in various Ghanaian societies before the coming of the Europeans? Recent findings describe a form of cultural education through which Ghanaian youth, acquired the skills necessary for his economic survival in the society. Fortes (1938) referred to traditional education as "the.byproduct of cultural routine." Among the Tallensi in Northern Ghana

. . . the reality orientation of the child is also that of the adult. Children take part in adult activities to the full extent of their age and ability. describes tale education as "the gradual acquisition of an ensemble of interests, observances, and skills.

(Evans, 1971,p.42)

What Fortes says of the Tallensi in Northern Ghana is also true of the Akan where "education is regarded as a joint enterprise in which parents are as eager to lead as children to follow." As a consequence of this attitude adults are very tolerant of children's ways and

■especially about their learning. A child is never forced beyond his capacity. (Bartels, 1976, p.39) Bartels claims

By the age of twelve the Akan child would have been introduced to the empirical body of knowledge possessed by his people for the conduct of their day-to-day life. This knowledge extends and deepens as he grows. The content of this part of the child's education is both a derivative of the people's experience in their struggle with nature and a product of the relation between individuals in the common field of action which is the whole society. In brief, this content comprises the body of information and experience within the district including how work is to be done, how health is maintained, and how the economy functions as well as institutions, customs, individuals communal activities and language. (Bartels, 1976, p.56)

In most societies there are areas of specialization in the traditional educational system. According to

Glover (1974), these specialized areas are taken as seriously, if not more, than those in European schooling

In areas like carving, weaving, or drumming, secret societies sometimes exist and there are ceremonies to guard jealously the knowledge required for such enterprises. For this reason, most of this specialization run in specific families or villages. (Glover, 1974, p.44)

We see that certain specific institutions have been constructed in the society to have the responsi­ bility for the systematic education of the young indigenous Ghanaian. Let us take for instance, the simple story-time. This is an instituion, not an informal happening, which enables the child to learn the philosophy, psychology, history, and law of his 36 people. Then there ,is the course in ethno-mathematics, which some may say is unstructured, that teaches the young the complicated methods of perceiving, recording, and evaluating natural causation.

The teacher is a very significant person in this education. He is at one and the same time, the medicine man, the prophet, the seer, the historian and philosopher- teacher. He is looked upon as a leader of his community.

But more important, he is a cultural maximizer. (Dogbe,

1974, p.3)

Bartels writes

The notion of the child being helpless seems to be absent from Akan thinking as it is present in the new ideas on child care that have reached Africa from the Western world which appear to be applied with the basic assumption that the long dependence of the human infant upon its parent is to be pre­ ferred to the very early self-dependence of the offspring of animals. The school reinforces this helplessness.

With the teacher acting in loao -parentis in a child-centered type of education, the school prolongs the dependence of the child and the young man and woman. (Brown and Hiskett, 1976, p.61)

From the foregoing traditional education in Ghana as it existed before the introduction of western influences developed a complete personality, one that was well adapted to the environment in which individuals had to function. A question that one might ask then is 37 the following: if the indigenous system of education was well structured, functional and dynamic in its transmission and transformation of culture, as is claimed, why did western education become so widespread?

Though western education has come to be accepted as more attractive or "superior" to indigenous education in Ghana, one must not lose sight of the fact that it took a very long time, many lives, "bribery," and, in certain ways, force to popularize Western education in

Ghana. Also, even today, despite the great popularity of modern education, indigenous education still operates outside present modern education in Ghana. Children learn at home many traditional arts and crafts which are not taught in schools. Traditional arts — dancing, drumming, folktales and dirges are still popular. What is more, not all children of school going age are in school, esp-cially in the North, yet they are being provided some kind of education by their parents and the adults in their various communities. This indicates that tradi­ tional education has continued to play an important role in the social, political, religious and economic life of Ghanaians. (See also Bruce Grindal, 1972, pp.1-2)

Many factors led to the popular demand for Western education among the people of the Gold Coast.

a) the extension of British rule which began along the coast in 1844; 38

b) the growth of urban centers and towns where

European influence was and is greatly felt;

c) the growth of exchange economy which culminated

in the production and sale of cocoa and other cash crops

for European goods;

d) efforts of missionaries in spreading Christianity which involved the establishment of schools;

e) the increasing relationship between prestigeful occupations and education which provided more wealth, and respect that the subsistent economics outcomes or relation between modern education and social mobility; and

f) the gradual transformation of the traditional social structures as a result of European contact.

Foster (1965) points out in support of point "c"

that the basis of initial demand for Western education was economic and was in response to new opportunities provided by European contact. Graham (1971) states that over the years traditional education — although effective — came to offer little possibility for pro­ gress in the assimulation and spread of new experiences and knowledge.

The demand for modern education in the interior regions was motivated by a desire to compete with the coastal elites who were in an advantageous position 39

in dealings with Europeans. Busia observed that the

Ashantis came to believe that literacy education would

put them in a position to compete with literate coastal

people and no longer remain at the mercy of the alien

clerks. (Busia, 1962, p.132)

Western Education for Trade

The building of Fort San Diego by the Portuguese

on a hill top in Elmina near Cape Coast in 1482 marked

the beginning of recorded European contact with the

people of the Gold Coast, although they had landed there

in 1471 under Fernao Gomez. These Portuguese found gold

("MINA") at this place and called it El-Mina (Elmina-the mine). This town exists now as a small fishing port and

this first fort has been innovated by the Ghana National

Museums and Monuments Board, together with other forts

and castles in the town as "significant evidence of

exploitation and colonialism in Africa by Europeans."

Recent research has indicated that the Portuguese

were the first to introduce western type education to

the Gold Coast by opening the first Castle School in

Elmina in 1529. Other European merchants who traded

along the coast continued with their own educational

activities during the 17th century. In 1637, the Dutch

seized Elmina Castle from the Portuguese and started a 40

Castle School there in 1644. Their aims were similar to those of the Portuguese — to convert the natives into the Catholic faith and to provide reading, writing, and religious teaching for the African children. (Graham,

1971, p.l) The Danes, the Normans, the Spaniards, the

Germans, and the British merchant companies also contri­ buted towards the foundation of Western education in

Ghana, which were confined to the Castles and forts.

In the 18th century, education was mainly a subsidiary function of these merchant companies. The first school at Cape Coast which became the headquarters of Ghana's education opened in 1694 by the Royal African Company.

One distinctive characteristic of early educational practice was that it mostly aimed to teach mulattoes and children of African traders. (Graham, 1971,p.4)

Schools were opened at Christianlogy (Accra) Discove,

Axim, Anomabo, Saltpond, and other chief trading centers along the coast. Charitable societies in Europe donated uniforms, textbooks, and Bibles to these schools.

Generally speaking, the curriculum of these early schools were similar; reading, writing, the occasional addition of arithmetic, and the core of Biblical instruction constituted the Siam total of knowledge they dispensed

(Foster, 1965, p.45) These schools were remarkably similar to the English Charity Schools of the same period. 41

The Missionary Efforts

Though western education was initially experimented by merchant companies, the Christian missionary societies really were the major founders of western education in the country. Modern education was used as a weapon of

Christian proselytization. Graham (1957) reports that formal education as we know it today was begun in 1752 with the arrival of Reverend Thomas Thompson, a missionary of the Society for the Propogation of the Gospel (S.P.G.) from New Jersey who established a school at Cape Coast

(p.13) .

He was, perhaps, the first person to have endeavored to bring Christian teaching and schooling from the Castles to the Africans in their towns and villages, and to make the school the nursery of the Church. On Thompson's advice three young Ghanaians, Philip Quacoe, Thomas

Caboro, and William Cudjo were sent over to England to be educated at Islington in 1754.

On his return from overseas studies, Philip Quacoe, the only survivor, opened a school at Cape Coast Castle.

The selection of pupils was limited mostly from the chil­ dren of the growing section of African merchants. Most people did not show any interest in western education so he had many setbacks in expanding his school. It is recorded by Graham that he had only two pupils in 1775. 42

Joint efforts were made later on to raise this low level of education at Cape Coast by the Royal African Company and missionaries who followed Quacoe.

During the first half of the 19th century, trade between Europeans, especially the British and the

Africans, expanded. Schools were built in the important trading centers along the coast. As far back as 1820, an

African teacher was in charge of a school which had been established in Accra. The increase in exports and imports also contributed to the opening up of communication with the interior, owing to the peace treaty signed between the Ashantis and the British in 1831. In 1874, the coastal region, south of Ashanti Confederacy, was annexed and declared a Crown Colony under British rule. By 1879,

British control had been established in a continuous coas­ tal strip between Half Assini in the West and Aflao in the East.

The most outstanding feature of educational expan­ sion during this period was the re-emergence of the missions who had withdrawn their educational activities due to many difficulties. Most of the early missionaries had died and the earlier efforts were characterized by failure to find students for the schools for western edu­ cation at first was very unpopular.

These missions were: The German missions — Pres­ byterian, Bremen and Basel Societies? the Wesleyan Mission, 43

the S.P.G., the Scottish Mission, the Anglican mission,

and the Roman Catholics who returned later in the 1880's.

The Ahmadyya Movement also joined in later to establish

Muslim schools. The Wesleyan missionary society concen­

trated their activities exclusively in the urban areas

around Cape Coast. The Bremen missions worked more

among the Ewes and established schools in and around Keta.

The Basel missionaries first worked in Accra, but later

on moved to the inland and rural areas in Akwapim district,

Peki, and Begoro in Akim Abuakwa district. The Wesleyan

society utilized English as the medium of instruction in

their schools. In general, the type of curriculum de­

veloped by the Society was literary and academic, but it was geared toward the occupational opportunities existing

in the urban areas, consisting of clerical appointments

in commerce and government, teaching, and preaching.

The German missions — the Basel.and the Brement missions — working in the rural communities developed

an educational system based on agricultural and indus­

trial training. Industrial training in the local school was supplemented by advanced work at a central industrial

institution in Accra, which turned out skilled iron workers, joiners and carpenters. Unlike the Wesleyan

Mission, the Basel Mission adhered to the policy that vernacular should be adopted as a medium of instruction in the mission schools; and from the first, Ga and Twi 44

were adopted as languages of instruction. Transition

was made to English only when sufficient progress had been

made in a written African language (Ekuban, 1973, p.22).

The Wesleyans penetrated into Ashanti with the

arrival of Thomas Birch Freeman, reaching Kumasi in

January, 1839. Freeman consolidated the work done by the

Methodists before him, opening up schools at Cape Coast,

Dixcove, Anomabu, and also in Accra. By 1880, the

Wesleyans had more schools than any other body — 83

in all with an enrollment of over 3,000 children {The

Report of the Educationalists Committee, Part II, 1920).

In 1874, education began to have a base in Ashanti due

to reasons already given. Even then progress was minimal

until the first decade of the 20th century when British

control and trade were firmly established in that region.

The growth of elementary schools led finally to the

demand for secondary schools by the educated Africans.

In 1876, Wesleyan High School was opened at Cape Coast which laid the foundation for the present Mfantisipim

Boys Secondary School. Among its founding pupils were

John Mensah Sarbah, who became Ghana's first lawyer, and

Joseph Casely Hayford who was the brain behind the West

African congress of the 1920's which agitated for self- rule for British West Afridan colonies. The Wesleyan

Mission played a great role in collaborating the efforts 45 of the educated Africans to maintain this school. There­ fore, it is of interest to know that on the occasion of the centenary celebration's of Mfantsipini School in

Cape Coast in October, 1976, glowing tribute was paid to the early Wesleyan missionaries from Britian (West Africa,

1976, p.1537).

The local "elite" and other African merchants had organized the Fanti Public School Company and National

Educational Fund in 1874 to establish a chair of secondary schools throughout the colony. The Basel missionaries who pioneered the early educational activities included one Andreas ^Riis who arrived in 1832 and opened the first boys school in Akropongin in 1835, and one for girls in

1847. By 1880, the mission had estalished forty five schools with well over 1,200 students. The first teacher training college was opened at Akopong in 1848.

Colonial Educational Policy

In spite of all these missionary efforts, the over­ all expansion of schools in the country was not guided by colonial policy since education had not become part of a coherent British colonial policy. This is evidenced by the widely different systems of management and organi­ zation of the various mission schools. However, we recog­ nize the attempts of the government to promote and assist education by the 1882 Ordinance following the 1852 Poll

Tax Ordinance, both of which failed to achieve much

results. The imposition of a Poll Tax of one shilling per head in 1852 was to be used on the judiciary, health,

and other pressing social welfare projects and for the better education of the inhabitants of the forts and settlements. (Graham, 1971, p.107) The 1882 Ordinance provided for the establishment of a general board of education for the formation of local boards and for the certification of teachers.

A further ordinance was passed in 1887, with amend­ ments which remained in force until 19251 The system of grants to approved mission schools and the improvement of inspection were worked out during this period. In

1890, a Director of Education for the Gold Coast was appointed for the first time.

Between 1881 and 1901, there were 139 assisted and government controlled schools in the country with a total enrollment of just over 5,000 students. The growth of the system is indicated in Table 1. (Foster,

1965, p.79) Government grants rose from £1,673 in the

1892 period to £3,511 in 1898. TABLE 1

T h e G row th op Government and Assisted Schools 1881-1901*

Controlling 1881 1891 1901 Body

Government 3 1 4 7 Basel Mission 47 27 61 Wesleyan Mission 84 17 49 Bremen Mission 4 2 3 Roman Catholic 1 3 12 Total 139 53 135

* Calculated from F. Wright, The System of Education in the Gold Coast Colony’, Special Reports on Educational Subjects (London: H.M.S.O., 1905), X m , Fart n . 3. 48

Educational Growth in The 20th Century

The demand for western type education continued to grow during the first two decades of the 20th century.

The missionaries had penetrated into Ashanti and the regions lying North of it after 1900 and the demand was still greatest among the coastal population. The

Catholic Church opened the first school at Navrongo in

1910 through the efforts of the White Fathers Mission.

The Basel Mission, the Weselyan Mission, the Bremen

Mission, and the Church of England Mission continued to make more provision for schools. During 1900 and

1925 — private institutions made attempts to establish secondary schools in the country. Two of these, the

Accra Collegiate and the Accra Grammar School were qualified to receive a government grant.

Let us now consider the Government efforts during this period. In 1902 the colonial government revised the 1882 ordinance and decreed that in order to raise the standard of education, teachers should be paid by the number of children that passed the annual examina­ tions. This payment by results order encouraged the stress which had already been laid on the 3 R's. This ordinance failed. The reasons are not well known. It is worth noting, however, that this same regulation had been abandoned seven years earlier in England. This 49 is one of the typical examples of how everything British was directly transplanted in the Gold Coast without any modification. The payment by results was abandoned in the Gold Coast in 1909. In 1914, the Pupil Teacher scheme was introduced — this was to feature prominently in

Ghana’s educational system later (Glover, 1974, p.55).

The government efforts were directed specifically at opening primary schools in those areas where mis­ sionaries had made little progress at establishing schools.

In 1911, a school was opened in Kumasi and another at

Tamali. In the following year, schools were established at Sunyani and Gambaga, and by 1914, there were 19

Government schools. In 1909, the government opened a training college for teachers in Accra.

By 1919, there were 22 primary schools in Ashanti while 186 schools, including secondary schools, were scattered in the Colony. There was even less demand in the northern territories which had been correspondingly less exposed to European influence.

Pupil teachers were untrained teachers who were employed to teach because of the shortage of trained teachers. The scheme reached its peak in 1961 when

Nkrumeh introduced his Fee-Free Compulsory Education.

The scheme has been phased out with the training of more teachers. 50

Primary schools, in those days, comprised an infant year followed by seven years standards. In the year 1911, there were 10,874 pupils enrolled in infant classes. In

Standard one the number had fallen to 2,057 and there were only 387 pupils in Standard seven (Birmingham et al.,

1967, p.218). Many pupils dropped out of school for many reasons. A small percentage of girls were enrolled in school during this period, and many of them dropped out to marry before they reached the 8th grade.

Prior to the '20's, especially after World War I, there had been numerous complaints about the educational activities in African and Ghana was no exception.

While missionary efforts in some areas of the continent had had a continuous history of over 150 years, these efforts had been poorly coordinated and had reflected a pre­ disposition to build in Africa replicas of European models. In the view of many educators . . . there was a disparity between the education being offered Africans and the kind of education considered appropriate to the social setting in which they lived. (Scanlon, Traditions of African Education, 1964, p.90)

By the first decade of the present century it was evident that European penetration had produced in­ equalities in the provision of modern educational facilities. Education was not consistently applied in British colonial policy. This was evidenced by the pattern of distribution of schools by Christian missions which stemmed from an essentially "free-market" 51 approach to schools and the dysfunctional curriculum that was being followed by the schools for the majority of students (Ekuban, 1974, p.23).

It was against this background that the development of education in Ghana under Governor Sir Gordon Guggis- berg becomes important in the country's history. Two very important Commissions of Education were appointed in 1920 and 1922. These were the Educationists Committee and the Phelps-Stokes Commissions respectively. The former was to "investigate educational efforts in the

Gold Coast, their success and failure, with reasons thereof" and to consider the whole educational policy and make recommendations.

Few documents in the history of African education have provoked as much discussion as the Phelps-Stokes

Reports of 1922 and 1925. The timing of their publi­ cation was significant . . . "the role of education as a lever of social, political, and economic change was receiving serious consideration by international leaders throughout the world. ..."

The 1922 Report, Education in Africa, concerned the Western, Southern, and equatorial areas of the continent. While the report ranged from suggestions for techniques to strengthen departments of public instruction to a discussion on the use of schools as community centers, the most important recommendation

dealt with the problem of adapting education to the

African setting .... The Phelps-Stokes Report

represented the first significant effort to consider education within the context of African social and

economic conditions (Scanlon, Traditions of African

Education, 1964, pp.51-52).

The chairman of the Commission was Dr. Thomas

Jesse Jones, a man well known for his interest in

Negro education in the United States. Included in the membership of this Committee was Dr. James E. K.

Aggsey, a noted educator from Anomabo in the Gold

Coast. He was then a professor in one of the uni­ versities in the United States. Commenting on the adaptation of school curricula in Africa to the national and social environment, implying adaptation to culture, Aggsey issued this further important and perhaps enigmatic statement in a typical aphorism thus

The educational evolution of Arica will require all that is best in the knowledge and thought of the West. (Wilson, Education and Changing Western African Culture, 1963, p.38)

The Commission was dissatisfied with the teaching of Arts and Crafts. It indicated . . . "the primary handicraft needs of the natives in Africa were also neglected. In general, the Commission advocated for 53 a more practical and functional education*" (Foster, 1965, p.159) Foster claims that the views of the Advisory

Committee on Ghana's Education (1922) and the Phelps-

Stokes Report (1925) were generally similar; both were concerned with the "nature of social change and the modification of educational practice."

Governor Guggisberg saw the Phelps-Stokes Report as a combination of sound idealism and practical common sense and consequently made policies to get some of the essential parts quickly implemented. In 1923, under the 10 Year Development Program (1920-30) Governor

Guggisberg announced his "Sixteen Principles of Edu­ cation" in the Legislative Council. Some of these are the following: primary education must be thorough from the beginning to the end; secondary schools with an educational standard that would fit young men and women to enter a university must also be provided; the staff of teachers must be of highest possible quality; and there is need to provide trade schools with a technical and literary education that would enable young men to become skilled craftsmen and useful citizens (Ekuban,

1973, p.24) .

Two Educational Ordinances were passed to give effect to the Governor's 16 principles (1) The Education

Ordinance of 1925 which governed Southern Ghana and Ashanti; and (2) The Education Ordinance of 1927 which governed Northern Territories. These ordinances brought about no marked increase in the provision of schools during his term of office. In fact, there was a limi­ tation in the provision of secondary schools. Judging from the previous educational statistics, it is known that Guggisberg did not promote the expansion of schools, but instead stressed quality. The most significant event in the development of education under this program was the establishment of Achimota College in 1924. Achimota

College was, in most aspects, fashioned on the typical

English Grammar School model. It was indeed the "Eaton" of Africa; it was a highly selective, elite, residential institution. Yet, in the minds of its founders, that school should not duplicate European models. The avowed aim in creating it was to bridge the gap between the school and the local community in order to produce a type of student who is

Western in his intellectual attitude towards life, with respect for science and capacity for systematic thought but who remains African in sympathy and desire for preserving and developing what is deserving of respect in tribal life, custom, rule, and law. (Ekubar, 1973, p.66)

Aggsey, who became the first vice-principal of the institution, who supported the "theory of Cultural adaptation" symbolized it with the Black and White 55

Keyboards of the Organ. In its African educational context, he meant both western and African blends of culture for richer development. This symbol was in­ corporated in the emblem of the school which has remained the same until now.

Achimota offered the whole range of education from nursery school through secondary education to teacher education and even laid the foundation for the Univer­ sity of Ghana. Sound academic as well as practical learning went side by side. It paid "scrupulous atten­ tion to African Language and Crafts and in particular to music, dancing and drumming." (Wilson, 1963, p.42)

Achimota was more successful in adapting the concepts in the Reports embodied in the two Commissions, but other institutions in the country found it difficult to change their programs and the attitudes of their clients. What makes the difference here is that the success of Achimota was not based on the new curriculum alone, but it also enjoyed a privileged position in the educational system.

It received preferential treatment in the allocation of trained European staff and was almost totally supported from government funds, as against the limited financial contribution the government made the grant-aided secondary institutions. "Its students also enjoyed a preferential 56

relationship in terms of access to significant bureau­

cratic and government positions" during the colonial

period; this privilege still exists.

Ekuban writes

The attempt at Achimota to preserve African traditions and at the same time attain academic standards of the Western world were not duplicated with comparable determi­ nation and effect by the other assisted secon­ dary schools; Mfantisipim School, Adisadel College, and St. Augustine's College. Indeed, there was criticism from a section of the edu­ cated African population against the compulsory inclusion of Ghanaian languages and local studies in the secondary school curriculum. Legislative Council debates during this period indicate that opposition to the Africanization of the curriculum of Achimota came from some of the Chiefs as well. (Ekuban, 1973, p.25)

Foster reports

In this respect both chiefs and members of the 'educated class' were united in their opposition to 'Africanization' of the curriculum. Nana Ofori Atta suggested that it would be an unwise move to restrict studies to the African scene, while Casely Hayford characterizes as a 'dangerous policy' any attempt to lay down that one class and type of education was necessary for the African as against any other type. (1965, p.167)

Most certainly in the new group of unassisted secondary schools which were established in the late forties there was a stress on the provision of purely academic courses modeled on English trials. By the end of the colonial era, the curriculum of the Achimota Secondary institu­ tion was virtually indistinguishable from that of its

Gold Coast and English counterparts. The question to be asked is: Why did the Africans

not support the concept and policy of cultural adaptation

in the school curriculum? Foster discusses the Phelps-

Stokes Reports in detail and points to some weaknesses

of the rationale behind the two reports. He reminds us

that the "symbolic" or "legitimating" functions of the

Western academic type of schools as they affected an

individuals social status or his prospects for upward mobility were largely ignored in the reports (p.164). He asserts that they would have deprived many Africans of the opportunity for occupational and social mobility in the colonial period, and possibly might have

deferred the awakening of national political consciousness and the emergence of Ghana as an independent African nation. (Foster, 1965, p.165)

He makes reference to the South African Banu Education

Act of 1953 which became socially and politically retro­ grade in its effect.

Wilson (1963) shares a similar view. He offers some tangible reasons why the Africans were reluctant to accept the recommendations of Phelps-Stokes. Among these were

Africans of a conspiratorial cast of mind who felt that the recommendations of the Commission constituted an attempt to withhold from the Africans the very education that was perhaps the secret of Western supremacy, so that

Africans would be kept permanently in subjection. (p.45) To Africans in an underdeveloped situation bookish

education was akin to a form of magic in itself, to be

regarded as something sacrosanct and not to be tampered

with. Attempts at alteration by the colonial rulers were regarded as hostile acts intended to keep Africans

permanently as "hewers of wood and drawers of water."

Wilson puts it this way:

To them, [the Africans] it appeared that the West, which had achieved such power, privi­ lege, and wealth had done so apparently as a result of bookish and classical education. (Wilson, 1963, p.45)

The Phelps-Stokes Commission was not unaware of

the fact that one of the obstacles to change was likely

to be resistance of this kind. It was for this reason

. . . that their education was aimed at the whole com­ munity, children, youth, and adults. In the Commission view, the school took its rightful place only in rela­

tionship to the education of the whole community . . .

This as we have seen, was one of the functions of edu­ cation in the pre-literate indigenous African society.

The Commission wished education to be aimed at helping the whole community to adopt to circumstances including adaptation to change. (Wilson, 1963, p.46) Commenting upon this Wilson wrote:

Yet the hard fact is that this all-important section of the Phelps-Stokes Report indicating the need for adult education was left almost completely without implementation by both 59

government and mission, except, as has been noted, only in so far as the efforts of the school itself attempted to influ­ ence the community. Indeed, the Commission itself probably erred in believing that the school could powerfully influence the community; a rather persistent present day error. (Wilson, 1963, p.46)

Lewis, lecturing in 1959 in the University of

London Institute of Education, tried to defend the philosophy of education put forward Phelps-Stokes as relevant to the needs of societies in the process of undergoing rapid change. He said:

They emphasized the need for flexibility in educational practice to meet the diversity of community needs and the order of priorities, and called for revision of the curriculum. They thought to develop an education -which would avoid slavish imitation of the West, and pointed to the way in which the false dichotomy between liberal and vocation education might be eradi­ cated.

Finally he said:

What the Commissions attempted to do in their summary of education in Africa was, in fact, to give specific expression to the art of education as it was some thirty years later to be defined by Pope Pius XII. The art of education is, in many respects, the art of adaptation; adaptation to the age, temperance, character, capacity, needs and just aspirations of the pupil; adaptation to the rhythm of the general progress of humanity. . . . (Wilson, 1963, p.47)

Throughout Ghana's educational history there has been disparity between policy pronouncements as such and actual developments when one examines the salient aspects of observers thoughts on African education. 60

One of the paradoxes of African educational development especially as it occurred in the Gold Coast shows that while the colonial government and the missionaries often wanted to include practical subjects such as agriculture and technical education in the school curriculum, Africans shunned them for very understandable reasons, namely that remuneration and social prestige were rewards more likely to be conferred by western type academic study.

Following Achimota, other secondary institutions were established mostly by the churches and the educated

Africans. These included the following: Wesley College in Kumasi, 1924 (originally started at Aburi in 1922;

Agogo Presbyterian Women's Training College (1930);

Aburi Prebyterial Women's Training College (1930);

Wesley Girls High School (1935); and Krobor Odmasi

Secondary School (1938).

By the beginning of 1925, there were 155 non­ assisted schools, but by 1938, there were about 477 such schools (Graham, 1971/ p.158). With grants in aid, the missions continued to increase the number of schools but minimally. The economic depression which had engulfed the British government between the late 1920's and 1930's coupled with the outbreak of World War II had their "chilling effect" on the development of 61

education in the Gold Coast. Some, of the Basel and

Evangelical Presbyterian missionaries who were teaching

in schools and colleges were deported during the War

because they were Germans.

During this period, the Wesleyans and the Basel

missions intensified their efforts to work closer and to

avoid harmful rivalry and wasteful competition in the

location of schools. By then, they had penetrated deep

into the interior of the country.

The most characteristic feature of the late colonial

period in the country was the increased pace of develop­ ment of the elementary and especially the academic secon­

dary school system between 1940 and 1950. The growth was affected through the non-grant aided system as a

result of the efforts of the Africans themselves. The

demand for secondary education was not answered too well

by one colonial government. Rather it was the Africans

who brought them into existence.

Up to 1950, there was cordial cooperation between

the missions and the govenment in the administration of

the schools and in the general improvement of education.

Direct government action was previously with the grants-

in-aid to institutions developed by voluntary agencies

(Graham, 1971, p.170). The role of these voluntary agen­ cies in maintaining and running schools was considerable. 62

The majority of these agencies were mission societies

and churches. They were organized as "educational

units" and were responsible to government for their educational work, supervised by the Ministry of Edu­ cation, and received grants for the payment of teachers salaries (Ghana; World Survey of Education, Unesco,

Paris, 1958, p.479). Direct government provision of schools and their management was negligible over a long period prior to 1951.

As a result of this, standards of many privately owned secondary schools were lowered. Consequently, there was the emergence of increased differentiation within the secondary school, system. Theoretically, all secondary institutions enjoyed parity insofar as their pupils sat for the same final examinations, but the system was highly differentiated. This was very glaring to any observer and it has continued to be the same today. At the apex was Achimota School, closely followed by the older grant aided institutions such as Mfantsipim,

Adisadel and Prempeh College; following these were a few recently qualified for grants in aid.

Between 1920 and 1950, teacher education was seriously undertaken by both missions and the government.

Technical and vocational education did not receive as much attention due to its unpopular historical development 63 which we shall soon discover due to previous fatal experiences. The Kibi, Accra, Asuantsi and Mampong

(Ashanti) technical institutes and trade schools con­ tinued to be the major ones in the country. The economic environment . . . in which the educational system operated accorded inferior economic opportuni­ ties and less prestige to graduates of technical and vocational schools. In 1935, the government was com­ pelled to state that there might be a limitation upon entry into further technical training to avoid unemploy­ ment among trained technicians and artisans. Unemploy­ ment in Ghana at that time could not be related solely to the type of schools operating in the country, but must be viewed as a consequence of the relationship between a rapidly expanding school output and the vir­ tually stagnant economy (Ekuban, 1973, p.26).

A very important and forward looking document on educational development in Ghana was the Education

Committee Report of 1942. The Committee members included Nana Sir Ofori Atta I and Sir Arku Korsa. This report set out the general lines of educational develop­ ment to be followed in its recommendations and it con­ tained the aims of education which, among other things, were: (1) that the child must be the focus of the whole educational policy; . . . (4) that 64

education should be adopted to the mentality, aptitude,

occupations, and traditions of the various peoples,

conserving as far as possible all sound and healthy

elements in the fabric of their social life (Graham,

1971, p.169) .

According to Graham, the war delayed its full

implementation, and progress was made only after the war, particularly in 1951 when the Accelerated Develop­ ment Plan for Education was published.

By 1950, there were 13 secondary schools in the government and grant-aided system, all of them in the southern half of the country. There were 44 private secondary schools which were not assisted. These schools constituted an inferior alternative to the public system for those students who were unable to gain ad­ mission to the latter as a result of competitive exami­ nation.

Almost all the secondary schools were established in the urban areas. In 1945, for example, of the five assisted secondary schools in the country, three were situated in Cape Coast and two in Accra. The first assisted secondary school in Ashanti was opened in

Kumasi in 1949, while the Government opened the first secondary school to serve the north in Tamale in 1951. By 1950, the following subjects formed the core of

Achimota and the other academic secondary schools:

Geography, Scripture, English, Language and Literature,

History, Latin, Vernacular (Ewe, Twi, Ga and Fante),

Mathematics, Music, and Physical Training. This curriculum could be compared to that of a grammar school in England. In addition, each assisted school emphasized the teaching of particular subjects in accordance with its staffing position. Greek, for example, was optional at Adisadel College and Agricultural Science was added to the curriculum at Achimota School (Graham, 1971, p.

169) .

Prior to 1933, Achimota College was the only in­ stitution which purportedly provided post-secondary and higher education in the country. The courses covered the syllabus for the Arts, Science and Engineering,

Intermediate Degree Examinations of the University of London held overseas. By 1935, the overseas exami­ nations of the University of London were Matriculation, the Intermediate and Degree Examinations in Arts and

Sciences, and the Intermediate examination in Engineering.

The number of scholarships available for engineering students increased through the generosity of the larger mining companies which were operating in the country and there were five such awards in 1935. In 1944, the Government approved a scheme drawn up by the Education Department to provide a large staff of highly qualified Africans who would be required to work in training colleges and secondary schools and for supervisory duties. The scheme provided for profes­ sional training at Achimota, in the U.K. or South, for men and women recommended by the Educational Units and interviewed by the Central Advisory Committee on

Education and the Education Department. A total of

&96,000 (or $190,000) was to be spent on the scheme for seven years.

One of the significant events in post war develop­ ment of education in Ghana was the establishment in

August, 1948, of the University College of the Gold

Coast (now University of Ghana) by an Ordinance as a result of the recommendations of the Asquith Commission on Higher Education in the British Colonial Territories and those of Elliot Commission on Higher Education in

West Africa (p.2-io). From the very beginning, it was in special relationship with the University of London, from which it obtained advice on all academic matters and under whose supervision academic standards were firmly established and maintained, until it became autonomous in 1951. By 1950, there were 213 students.

A grant of Bl,900,00 was contributed by the Cocoa 67

Marketing Board to found a large teaching research

Department of Agriculture with facilities for the

study of the sciences. . . . The construction of the

first permanent building at Legion Hill near Accra began at this time (Graham,1971 , p.176).

In view of the Acquith Commission, universities had an important part to play in the stage prepara­

tory to self-government. The Commission's immediate objective in proposing the establishment of University

College was

to produce men and women who have the standards of public service and capacity for leadership which the progress of self- government demands, and to assist in satisfying the need for persons with pro­ fessional qualifications required for the economic and social development of the colonies. (Ekuban, 1973, p.26)

By 1950, the Gold Coast had developed a more exten­ sive system of education than any other African colony outside of the Union of South Africa. In spite of this, functional literacy among the population was well below 20 percent and vast geographical inequities existed in the provision of schooling. After 1950, a new

African government faced the massive task of expanding educational provision while, at the same time, attempting to eradicate major inequalities between areas. (Poster,

1965, p.171) Summary

In this chapter some important aspects of tradi­ tional education in Africa were reviewed, observing that the various Ghanaian societies had their own forms of education before the introduction of modern western education by missionaries during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was realized that early western educa­ tional efforts in the country were largely the result of

Christian mission enterprise.

The first formal schools which were opened along the coast were not popular among the Africans, even some of the "priviledged" mulattoes who had the first oppor­ tunity to attend the castle schools ignored them. Many authors agree that it was only when some strategic changes had occurred in the social and economic structure, mainly through the growth of exchange economy, and the growth of urban and trade centers that social conditions suitable for popular demand for western education among the Ghanaians began to emerge.

Up until the early 1900's the main emphasis was on the development of primary education. A few secondary institutions were created by the joint efforts of

Christian missions and the educated Africans in the early part of the 20th century. Popular demand for western 69 education among the Ghanaians began among the coastal people during the second half of the 19th century and gradually spread to the interior.

After World War I, the development of education was given much boost as the missionaries continued to provide more schools in Ashanti and in the northern territories while greater demand still existed in the south. Provision for secondary schools teacher training colleges and a few technical schools were made after the

120's . During the '20's and ' 30’s several educational commissions notably the Phelps-Stokes recommended drastic reforms in the school programs suited to the needs of the various African countries.

Attempts were made by Guggisberg to modify the cur­ riculum of the schools by introducing subjects such as traditional languages, local studies including Agricul­ ture, Arts and Crafts, music and dance. Achimota College was established in 1924 and developed as a unique insti­ tutions modeled on "African lines." Some technical and vocational institutions were established. But history recalls that the Africanization of the curriculum and the introduction of practical subjects did not please the Africans. (The Ghanaian "elites" and some of the chiefs opposed these divergences from the popular English 70 academic type school programs.) Therefore, the results of Guggisberg's efforts were generally disappointing and their achievements fell short of expectations.

Three themes emerge from the foregoing discussion.

The first is the picture of Africa before western inter­ vention. Education was functional and generally adap­ tive to local needs. At any rate it was sufficient to maintain viable cultural patterns. One question is whether such education would still appear viable today.

In the main those who look back to the past are also idealizing the past.

A second theme was that ’western education began to make serious inroads upon the indigenous pattern when it acquired economic value and was a source of social pres­ tige.

A third theme is the fact that well intentioned reform measures such as those outlined by the Phelps-

Stokes Report and implemented by Governor Guggisberg can often go awry. Change as a process has to take into account the multiple perceptions of innovations. The chapter that follows reviews Ghana's educational history from 1951 through independence to the present. CHAPTER THREE

CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1951

Introduction

This chapter surveys the development of education in Ghana in the period between 1951 and the present

(1978). The period is one that covers the transition from British Colonial rule to independence. It is a period marked by changes in political rule, various development plans, involving some major educational legislation such as the 1951 Accelerated Development

Plan, the "Seven Year Plan" (1963-1970) and Five Year

Plan (1975-1980).

The various educational policies especially the

Fee-Free and Compulsory primary and middle school education established in 1961 led to an enormous in­ strumental expansion at all levels of the educational system. But in spite of high government priorities assigned to education, the strategy of linear expansion has brought with it various problems.

Themes that began to emerge in the nineteenth cen­ tury live on in the era after independence such as the 71 72

the inability of the educational pattern to develop

programs to deal with the practical needs of the people

and to develop effective study of African cultural sub­

jects such as the traditional languages, African arts and

music.

This chapter provides a satisfactory picture of

the structure and content of the educational system in

contemporary Ghana.

Ghanaians are proud to be recognized as the first

colonized people in Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve poli­

tical independence. The election of a new Legislative

Assembly which took its seat in -Accra on February 20,

1951, symbolized the passing of the British colonial

era. Since then, the effective control of internal policy in the country lay in Ghanaian hands. Although

formal independence was not granted March 6, 1957, self-

government was achieved long before, and educational policy in particular, reflected the aims and aspirations

of the new African leadership. "The Gold Coast Revo­

lution" was as much an educational one as a political one (Foster, 1965, p.179).

One of the most outstanding features of African

leadership in Ghana during the '50's and early ' 60's was the overwhelming emphasis placed upon programs of educational expansion; often at the expense of other 73 alternatives, reflecting the belief that formal educa­ tion is the pre-eminent instrument for promoting de­ sirable sound, economic change and modernization.

Poster outlines three main reasons for this remarkable preoccupation with education.

(1) Formal education has become regarded almost as "juju" the possession of which confers almost cer­ tain success upon its possessor.

(2) The high levels of literacy has been inter­ preted as being one of the primary indices of "modern" or "developed" nations (however we may define these terms).

(3) The vigor with which education systems have expanded reflect the exigencies of the political situ­ ation itself. (Foster, 1965, p.183)

Fafunwa writes

The eradication of illiteracy is a matter of national urgency for any country that is desirous of mobilizing its total human re­ sources for social and economic development. Practically all of the advanced countries of the world have a high percentage of literacy . . . there seems to be a correlation between mass illiteracy and under-development. . . . (1967, p.157)

It becomes an undisputable phenomena, therefore, that the eradication of illiteracy in Africa was a matter of national priority especially during the ’60's if Africa was to move rapidly from its previous stage of develop­ ment to a much more advanced one. 74

In the Gold Coast, for example, Foster writes,

"the demand had far outstripped its provision in the southern areas by the end of the Colonial period (1965, p.183-4). Kaplan and others affirm that the demand for education in Ghana after the second World War was so great "that the combined efforts of both the govern­ ment and the missions could not keep us." (1972, p.164)

Therefore, in 1951, the Accelerated Development

Plan for Education was drawn up by the Nkrumah govern­ ment. This was seen as the most far-reaching educational reform ever initiated. The Convention Peoples Party

(C.P.P.) used this to demonstrate the fulfillment of its major pledge to the populace in its election capaigns, and as the result turned out it played no small part in the partys' success at the polls.

Since 1951, the government's policies in education have been based on provisions made under the Accelerated

Development Plan for Education. Essentially the empha­ sis was on the expansion of the primary school system and to obtain the maximum enrollment of children at that level. However, the main objective of .the plan was

to help develop a balanced system of working towards universal primary education as rapidly as consideration of finances and teacher training allowed, but maintaining at the same time, proportionate facilities for further education for those most fitted to receive it. (Graham, 1971, p.177) 75

Fee-Free six year primary education was provided under the plan and special provision was made for emergency training of teachers (Two-year teacher training colleges and six-week training program for pupil teachers were created). Secondary education was to undergo a more limited expansion with the creation of a number of "day secondary schools" to supplement the existing boarding institutions. To this end, the former senior (primary) schools were renamed "middle schools" and offered a four year sequence after the completion of a six year primary course. These middle schools interposed between the primary and the ordinary secondary schools, and in effect, performed the dual function of providing a terminal course for the bulk of students while supplying recruits for highly selective five year secondary schools. There were no proposals for curriculum reforms in the schools under the plan.

Emphasis was rather placed.upon children receiving instruction in English from the beginning of their edu­ cation career.

The Immediate Effects of the Accelerated Development Plan for Education

The most significant achievement of the Accelerated

Development Plan of 1951 was a vast expansion in the pro­ vision of primary and middle school education and the 76 overwhelming increased enrollment over the period 1952 to 1960. This brought with it a lower ratio of trained teachers as compared to untrained or "pupil teachers" which caused a lowering of standards. The enrollment of both primary and middle school students was increased by over 50 percent at independence in 1957 with the middle schools showing an overall increase of 67 percent.

The tables reveal persistent regional variations both in the provision of schools and in enrollment figures.

Distinct urban-rural differences in levels of enrollment have persisted in spite of energetic government efforts to distribute schooling evenly throughout the country.

Statistics show that by 1965 an average of 55.4 percent of all children of school age were in regular attendance at schools in the urban areas, but this figure drops to

35.2 percent for all rural localities. (Foster, 1965,

P*188—189) The provision of fee-free universal primary education created a great demand for secondary education. This pressure for secondary education received recognition by the government in the Second Development Plan for 1959-

1964. This plan, unlike the 1951 Plan, placed major emphasis upon secondary education. In 1951, there were

13 government and 49 private institutions to provide for all secondary enrollment. By 1960, total enrollment had more than tripled and the number of institutions both sectors had almost doubled. (Table 2) TABLE 2

The G row th of the Prlmary-School System, 1952-53—1959*

T h e T r a n s -V o lta N o r t h e r n C o lo n y ! A sh a n t i T o g o l a n d R e g io n T o t a l Year Schools PupilsSchoolsPupils Schools PupilsSchoolsPupils SchoolsPupils t 1952- 1,575 183 901 90 543 58 96 7 3,115 338 53 1954 1,610 216 960 105 578 72 123 10 3,271 403 1955 1,655 228 988 112 613 76 138 13 3,394 429 1956 1,717 237 997 114 599 77 165 18 3,478 446 1957 1,775 250 1,000 120 605 78 191 20 3,571 468 1958 1,805 250 1,008 121 606 77 215 24 3,644 472 1959 1,800 253 1,023 128 644 76 246 27 3,713 484

* Computed from the Gold Coast and Ghana, Reports o f the Education Department and Ministry o f Education, 1950-1956, and Education Statistics, 1952-53-1959. t Since 1951 regional boundaries have been changed and the term ‘Colony’is no longer used with respect to the southern regions. However in this table we have adhered to earlier usage for purposes of comparison with earlier periods. £ Given in thousands. TABLE 3

The G row th of the M iddle-School System, 1952-53—1959*

T h e T r a n s -1/o l t a N o r t h e r n C o l o n y A shanti T o g o l AND R egion T o t a l Year Schools PupilsSchools Pupils SchoolsSchools Pupils Pupils SchoolsPupils

1952- 398 51 195 26 114 14 11 I 718 92 53 1954 464 57 234 28 152 17 14 S64 104 1955 517 63 246 30 194 19 17 ** 974 114 1956 545 64 258 31 166 IS 21 3 990 116 1957 621 71 '266 32 216 21 28 3 1,131 127 1958 729 78 287 35 233 23 38 1,287 141 1959 763 82 327 42 260 25 44 5 1,394 154

* Computed from the Gold Coast and Ghana, Education Statistics, 1952-53- 1959. TABLE 4

The G row th of the Secondary-School System 1951-1960*

Governr,nent and Approveti Schools Private Schools Total Year Institu­ Enrol­ Institu­ Enrol­ Institu­ Enrol­ tions ment tions ment tions ment 1951 13 2,937 49 3,964 62 6,901 1952 26 5,033 27 2,709 53 7,742 1953 30 6,066 28 2,337 58 8,403 1954 31 6,936 19 1,666 50 8,602 1955 31 7,711 28 2,306 59 10,107 1956 35 8,908 23 2,157 58 11,065 1957 38 9,860 22 2,259 60 12,119 1958 39 10,423 24 2,773 63 13,196 1959 39 11,111 30 4,206 69 15.317 1960 59 14,000+1 52 6,000 101 20,000+f

* Computed from Ghana, Education Statistics, 1959, pp. 1-2. f These are fairly close approximations based on the I960 Census. 81

TABLE 5

Education Population ‘

1951 1957 1959 T ot a l ------226J18 589,153 624J575 P rim ary ______154,360 455,749 465,290 M iddle______66,175 115,831 139,984 Secondary ------—— 2,937 9,860 11,111 Technical ------—------622 3,057 2,782 Teacher training ______1,916 3,873 4,274 U niversity______208 783 1,134 82

At the commencement of 1961, the types of secondary

schools were as follows:

a) Government Secondary Boarding Schools (2)

b) Assisted Boarding Secondary Schools (13)

c) Assisted Day Secondary Schools (6)

d) Encouraged Secondary Schools (22)

e) Ghana Educational Trust Schools (16)

f) The Private Secondary Schools (52)

With growth of the secondary school system in Ghana

there occurred increasing internal difficulties. The

Government and the Assisted Secondary Schools formed the

"high" class segment of the system, while the Encouraged

and especially the Private Schools formed the "low" class

segment. The Assisted or "elite" schools recruited most

of the highly qualified candidates from the elementary

school. They have more highly qualified teachers, and the

facilities in them are of higher qualities. Most of the graduates of these schools are able to pursue further

studies. Indeed graduates of these schools have priority over their counterparts of other schools with regard to employment.

A secondary technical school system also was developed.

One important such school is the Takoradi Secondary-

Technical School which provided academic as well as 83 practical secondary education. All told, what emerged was a system of education very much on the British model (Foster, 1965, p.195)

It is important to note that ten years after the introduction of the Accelerated Development Plan, the government had not been able to implement all the provisions made in it. It was not until 1961, when the fee-free and compulsory primary and middle school edu­ cation was given legal sanction in the Educational Act of

1961. The Act provides that

every child who has attained the school age as determined by the Minister shall attend a course of instruction in a school recognized for the purpose-by the Minister. (Ghana, 1951, p.l) )

This was one of the main causes for the increased enrollment in schools. Also most parents showed more interest in education than before. Education, by now, had become a right to be enjoyed. Most parents invested much in the education of their children, both boys and girls. Even in the rural areas, schools sprang up like mushrooms. In some places church houses served as schools.

The children of some villages attended school under constructed sheds made of wood and roofed with thatch.

Some also traveled for two or three miles to the nearest school. Many areas in the north, pupils had to travel for more miles on foot to attend school. By I960, about 41 percent of Ghanaian children were in primary schools although regional patterns varied widely from 12 percent in the North to 60 percent in

Accra. Secondary and technical education was less dramatic; by 1960, less than 5 percent of those entering schools were in secondary education (Poster, 1965, p.189).

Research studies done on educational development in many African countries have shown a marked rate of dropouts in enrollments and Ghana is no exception. Despite the introduction of compulsory and fee-free education for primary and middle school students in 1961, there exists a great number of dropouts in primary and middle school enrollments. The problem of dropouts according to

Birmingham and others is concentrated in the primary school. 85

TABLE 6

DROPOUT OP THOSE ENTERING PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN 1955

Primary Grade Year Number Enrolled Dropout

1 1955 109,000 34,500

2 1956 74,500 3,700

3 1957 70,800 4,900

4 1958 65,900 5,500

5 1959 60,400 2,600

6 1960 57,800 —

Source: Ministry of Education, Education Report. 1960- 1962. Accra: Government Printer, 1963.

The reasons for the dropout was either voluntary or from economic necessity. There had been a steady decrease in the total enrollment in primary schools from 1,110,843 in 1966-1967 to 1,016,457 in 1968-1969, and further to

947,502 in 1970-1971.

The only serious attempt made in Ghana to relate educational development to the economy is that revealed in the Seven Year Development Plan (1963-1970).

Up to then educational development had been unplanned, piecemeal and based upon other criteria. Missionary effort in education during the colonial era saw the function of education in human and religious terms and did not consider national development as part of its function. (Gamlin, 1970, p.183) 86 The impact of the Addis Ababa Conference (1961) and the government's own Survey of High Level manpower

(1960) were sufficient to cause the Government to produce an integrated plan linking educational development, manpower and employment.

The Addis Ababa Conference of African States on the development of education ajid organized jointly by UNESCO and the Economic Commission for Africa, had as its main purpose

to provide a forum for African States to decide on their priority educational needs to promote economic and social development in Africa. (UNESCO, 1961, p.v)

The goal of the Seven Year Plan was

a program of social and economic develop­ ment based on the use of science and technology to revolutionize our agri­ culture and industry.

It was part of the government's socialist program

to establish in Ghana a strong and pro­ gressive society . . . where our educa­ tional facilities provide all the children of Ghana with the best possible oppor­ tunities for the development of their potentialities. (Forward to Ghana: Seven Year Development Plan, 1963)

This most noble aim of education is still held in high esteem in Ghana as well as elsewhere in the

World, yet the type of plan to follow or the process by which a nation achieves it remains the most critical task. 87

Notwithstanding the "dropouts" in the primary school, educational expansion in the provision of schools has continued in the various parts of the country. Especially in the middle and secondary levels, some attempts were made to reorganize their structure and contents. In the 1962-1963 academic year, an eight-year primary school program was initiated, to be followed by a two year prevocational continuation course for those not going on to secondary school.

This created two parallel courses of primary education.

Education and Manpower Development xn Ghana During the 1960's

In 1963, the Nkrumah government initiated its

Seven Year Development Plan. In view of this, the

Planning Committee was right when it pointed out:

The success of the Seven Year Development Plan is finally dependent upon the abilities and the honest hard work of the people who are charged with the responsibility of carrying out the acti­ vities required by the Plan. (Ghana, 1963, p.22)

In the new era of social reconstruction economic development was realized as the most important task in which education was an essential factor. Therefore, this Seven Year Development Plan, and subsequent ones, were the devices by means of which this development was to have been guided and propelled. Unfortunately, or fortunately, considering other

national affairs of the period, the Plan's life was

curtailed and became shortlived when in February,

1966, Nkrumah's regime itself came to an end by a

military takeover. i In general terms, the Plan accorded the highest

priority to agriculture, industry and education as the

sectors "which was to undergo revolutionary change."

It was stated in the Plan; "With these heavy demands

for trained manpower in mind, it is necessary to ex­ pand and adjust the educational system accordingly."

In this context the Plan

focused great attention on education, but it was short

lived. One cannot fully assess its impact. However,

two significant aspects of the functions and policies of education in the Plan are relevant to this study.

The first significant aspect of the function of education in the Plan was the need for "gearing" edu­ cation to the economic needs of the country and the related emphasis on science and the teaching of skills

The State assumed primary responsibility for education at the elementary and secondary levels. Under the

Education Act of 1961, the Minister of Education was authorized by legislative instrument "to make regu­ lations dealing with all matters relating to education

(Ghana: Education Act, 1961, p.l). 89

Proposals were made in the Plan to raise the existing output of Ghana's secondary schools which accounted for less than 2 percent of the total output of the country's educational system at that time to

25 percent; to emphasize science education at the secondary level and to expand facilities for training in technological and managerial skills in higher insti­ tutions. It was envisioned that secondary education would be tuition free by the end of the seven year period. Apart from the expansion in the provisions for secondary schools, many forward looking and necessary reforms were envisaged under the Plan affecting the entire educational system, and especially at the secon­ dary level. One of the most significant changes that was proposed was the reduction of time required to complete the pre-university education from eighteen to fifteen

These reductions will have the effect of making available

300,000 additional employees with varying levels of education before 1970.

To make these proposals effective, 29.1 percent of the total amount earmarked for education in the Plan was allocated to secondary education for the period

1963-1970 compared with 11.8 percent for primary edu­ cation, 17.1 percent for teacher training, 4.6 percent for technical education and 8.7 percent for the universities. 90

Education under the Plan was directed towards a practical orientation and making it available to all who can profit from it. (Ghana, Seven Year Development Plan,

1963-1970, p.XIV). These changes according to the

Planning Commission, were hastened by the needs of

Ghana's development plans and their effects on society as a whole.

Table 7 gives an indication of the rate of educa­ tional expansion which was planned during the following seven years.

TABLE 7

GROWTH IN SCHOOL ENROLLMENT FROM 1963 TO 1970

Type of School Present Total Targeted Total Enrollment Enrollment 1963 1969

Primary-Middle 1 ,200,000 2,200,000

Secondary 23,000 78.000

Teacher Training 6,000 21.000

Technical 4.000 6,000

Clerical Training 100 5.000

Universities 2.000 5.000 91

To carry out this program more than 40,000 addi­ tional teachers were to be recruited by the schools and universities. It was also estimated that this expansion would provide 850,000 educated Ghanaians ready to take important places in government, business, and industry.

Statistics showed that the out flow from these institu­ tions of employable Ghanaians from 1964-1970 would be as follows: Middle and Continuing Schools 750,000;

Secondary Schools 46,000; Universities 9,000; Trade and Technical 14,000; Office Clerical 11,000 for a total of 861,000. The background support for this Plan * was "The Survey of High Level Manpower in Ghana in 1960.

The Plan indicated that the

products of the education system offers the largest potential supply of high level employees of Ghana. It was expected that the schools and colleges, here and abroad, would furnish approximately 25,000 additional persons to the high level labor force during the next five years.

The proposal to replace the last two years of the

Middle School with a two year "Continuation School" for those who would fail in the examination to go to

This document was published-by the Ministry of \ Information on behalf of the Manpower Unit and printed by the Government Printing Department, Accra, 1961. Secondary School was introduced in 1964. This reduced the Elementary School to 8 years instead of the normal

10 years. It was meant to provide practical (vocational and technical) education for its products so they could be easily employable after leaving school. This propo­ sal appeared in the Seven Year Development Plan, but it was not until after 1966 that "genuine action" was taken on its implementation. Some 129 "Continuation Schools" have come into existence by 1970-1971. But most of these are providing little occupational relevance or vocational orientation.

Is it possible to assert that the Plan could have achieved a far-reaching reform in the country's educational system, or that a greater bridge could have been con­ structed linking the educational system to the social and economic sectors of the country? These questions are debatable. Dowse, to some extent, explained the diffi­ culties in the implementation of Ghana's Seven Year

Development Plan. He writes:

The rise in population foreshadowed diffi­ culties. It meant an increasing educational burden for a country with a young population spending a large amount on education. But it also meant that work had to be found for the school leavers, and the record since 1958 was not such as to warrant optimism. . . . This was an obvious source of political instability and especially embarrassing for the C.P.P. whose support was primarily amongst the young. (1969, p.77) 93

Equally significant, the wage structure of Ghana was tilted in favor of clerical as opposed to technical and mechanical skills. Economically the plan then would have to depend upon producing internal consumption of imported non-capital goods since export earnings were not rising and foreign private investment was not high enough to meet the plans requirements. (Dowse, 1969, p.79).

Though the Seven Year Development Plan did not mature before it was aborted, there is some evidence of its successes and failures. In the 1965 Annual Plan, statistics show that the targets set for 1963-1964 period were not reached. A government report stated:

In 1963-1964, the expansion of educational facilities at the secondary and higher levels was hampered by limitations of finance and difficulties in the organi­ zation of school building programs. (Ghana, 1965, p.79)

Lack of money and insufficient number of trained teachers in the primary and secondary institutions re­ sulted in the inadequate provision of classroom accommo­ dation for the ever increasing numbers of students. These two factors forced the government to create the two- shift system in the primary and middle schools as a means of accommodating the unanticipated increments in pupil enrollments during the sixties. During this period. 94 some teachers taught classes of 50 or more pupils. In some village schools where enrollments were very low, coupled with lack of proper classroom accommodations, some of the teachers (mostly untrained) taught com­ bined classes.

In teacher education a gap had developed between the planned targets and the actual achievements in the educational program in the first two years of the Seven

Year Development Plan period.

In the school year 1964-1965, 8,500 candi­ dates passed the examination for entry into teacher training colleges. There were vacancies for only 2,500 which is just 50% of the intake target of the Seven Year Plan.

In sum, one can say that the Seven Year Develop­ ment Plan was a great "master plan" for national development, yet the sluggish economic situation in the country at that time, coupled with government management contributed to the lags between expectations and actuality. The foreign policy of the government, coupled with internal political unrest resulting in abuses of human rights, prevented the government from receiving much needed foreign aid. What is more, in the 1965 Annual Plan it is stated:

In thr implementation of the Government's progr; under the Seven Year Development Plan th-s most serious short-falls have occurred in the three areas to which the plan had accorded the highest priority — via education, agriculture, and industry. (Ghana, 1965, p.11) 95

Assessing the development of education under plan in 1965, the Planning Committee stated that the educa­ tional system has not grown enough at the secondary level and the higher levels to meet the target. Secondary and technical expansion was less dramatic. (Dowse, 1969, p.35)

Despite the political changes and economic down­ ward trends in Ghana, some progress was made in educa­ tion. The qualification of primary school teachers in

Ghana improved considerably within the period 1961-1971.

This was the result of the expansion of facilities for training more teachers and the introduction of emer-

< gency teacher training colleges for short courses of training for uncertified teachers. The percentages of trained teachers rose from 40 percent in 1967-1968 to 53 percent in 1969-1970. In 1970-1971, the propor­ tion of teachers in elementary schools increased to 60 percent. (Ghana, Ministry of Education Report, 1968-1971, p.28)

Although secondary education was accorded high priority in government development, programs in the

1960's according to Ekuban, had not attained in 1971 as much as half the target, namely 30 percent of pupils who complete primary school should receive education at the secondary level. By 1971, the number of 96 secondary schools had risen from 68 in 1961-1962 to

125 with an enrollment of 95,376 representing only 13 percent of the elementary school leavers admitted to secondary schools in the public system.

During this period attempts were made to minimize the marked differences in regional distribution of secondary schools as shown in Table 8.

TABLE 8

REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS INTO PUBLIC SYSTEM IN GHANA: 1966-1969 AND 1970-1971

Region 1966-1967 1970-1971 Total Total

Greater Accra 33 20 Eastern 21 Central 13 13 Western 11 12 Ashanti 18 22 Brong-Ahafo 7 10 Vofto 16 18 Northern 2 3 Upper 3 6

TOTAL 103 125

Source: Ghana, Ministry of Education Report, 1968-1971. Accra: Government Publishing Corporation, 1971, p. 31.

The development of education in Ghana has not been as successful as might be expected. It has had a lot of problems especially with its rapid expansion. However, 97 in the context of African development, Ghana has achieved more success in education than any other African country outside the Union of South Africa. Especially in the provision of secondary education, many research findings point out that Ghana is far ahead. Figures produced by

Clignet and Foster clearly show that Ghana is tops, by far, in the proportion of the 15-19 year age group who in 1961 were still undergoing some form of post-primary schooling full-time "in the ten most educationally de­ veloped states of former French and British Africa."

(Clignet & Foster, 1966,p.14) (See Table 9)

Secondary School Curriculum and Courses

Prior to the attainment of independence in 1957, assisted Secondary schools in Ghana were highly selec­ tive, fee paying institutions with a predominately academic curriculum.

The core of the curriculum comprised Scripture,

English Language, Literature, History, Geography,

Mathematics, Music, Art, Physical Education, and Verna­ cular Languages (Ewe, Two, Ga, and Fante).

Each assisted secondary school emphasized the teaching of particular subjects and added a few "extra" curricular subjects in accordance with the availability of teaching staff. 98

TABLE 9

SECOND LEVEL ENROLLMENT IN TEN AFRICAN STATES, 1960-1961

Country Second Level Enrollments (Percentage)

Ghana 23.5%

Kenya 5.5%

Uganda 5.3%

Nigeria 4.8%

Gambia 4.8%

Congo (Brazzaville) 4.7%

Malagasy Republic 3.9%

Gabon 3.8%

Zambia 3.8%

Cameroon 3.7%

Source: UNESCO, Paris Conference on African Education. March 26-30, 1962, p.26. 99

TABLE 10

PERCENTAGE OP CHILDREN AGED 6-14 YEARS ATTENDING PRIMARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS IN GHANA

Year Percentage

1960-1961 42.9%

1961-1962 53.5%

1962-1963 59.4%

1963-1964 61.2%

1964-1965 72.2%

1965-1966 74.4%

1966-1967 71.8%

Source: Republic of Ghana: Ministry of Education, Educa­ tion Report 1963-1967. Printed by the Ghana Publishing Corporation (Printing Division) Accra-Tema, p.5.

Secondary schools in Ghana showed marked similarities in organization to that of the English Grammar Schools.

Foster writes: "Indeed most observers have readily pointed out the marked structural similarities between English and Ghanaian education." (1965, p.l) They were very much examination bound, and their curricula were influ­ enced by the desire of their pupils to obtain the School

Certificate. However, they lacked the variety of type and courses which has been a striking feature of the Eng­ lish secondary school and made limited provision for technical education. By 1966-1967, the traditional secondary schools had been expanded and grouped into (a) Languages, including

French, Arabic and Ghanaian Languages; (b) General

Subjects, including Bible Knowledge and Islamic Religious

Knowledge; (c) Mathematical Subjects; (d) Science

Subjects, including Additional General Science, Agricul­ ture, Health Science; and (e) Art and Craft including

General Housecraft. The teaching of technical and com­ mercial subjects received considerable attention. Out of the 103 secondary schools at this time, 13 offered com­ mercial instruction and were supplied with typewriters.

The teaching of Agriculture and New Mathematics and Science received much emphasis at the latter part of

1960. According to the Ghana Educational Statistics

(1965-1966), during that year there were 2,100 secondary school teachers in Ghana; 960 of them were university graduates. Of these graduates 660 were expatriate teachers. The prospect of recruitment and retention of

Ghanaian graduate teachers for secondary schools was greatly increased by the introduction in April, 1969, of a higher salary scale following the Mills Odoi Report on the Structure and Renumeration of the Public Services in 1967. This new salary scale helped to close the gap between the salaries of teachers and other public servants, and to retain graduates in the teaching service. 101

Higher Education

It is significant that the role of higher education

in Africa was the single, predominant subject for the

discussion at the Tenana River Conference in 1962.

(Ekuban, 1974, p.49) The University of Ghana was

established by an Act of Parliament as an autonomous and

full fledged university on October 1, 1961, after existing

a university college affiliated to London University

since it was founded in 1948. Its Medical School was

established in October, 1964.

The University of Science and Technology, Kumasi,

succeeded the Kumasi College of Technology which was

established by a Government Ordinance on October 6, 1951,

and opened officially on January 22, 1952, with 200

teacher training students transferred from Achimota to

form the nucleus of the new college. It was founded to

train the high-manpower level scientific and technological

personnel needed for the country's expanding economy.

The Kumasi College of Technology was transformed into

a full fledged university by an Act of Parliament on

August 22, 1961.

The University of Cape Coast was established as a

University College in October, 1962, inaugurated on

December 15, 1962, and placed in special relationship with the University of Ghana. The College, however, 102 attained full university status on October 1, 1972.

The University was founded primarily to meet the pres­ sing demand for graduate teachers in the secondary schools, teacher training colleges, polytechnical, and other technical institutes in Ghana.

The role of higher education and of the African university has been described in these terms:

to teach and impart knowledge as an end in itself and for the edification of society? to seek and discourse Truth which for centuries has defied the genius of man; to disseminate its findings to all, so that mankind generally and the African in particular may shed the shackles of ignorance and want, and the world may be a better place to live in. (Ghana, Report of the Education Review Committee, 1967, p.91)

As a result of the inauguration of Ghana's third

University, (December, 1961), and the modifications in the entry requirements to the University of Ghana as recommended by the 1961 Education Report which called for much greater flexibility, together with some new departments which were created at the University of

Science and Technology, and at Legon, there was a pro­ nounced growth in the total enrollment of university students in Ghana during the sixties. In the 1961-1962 academic year, there were 1,378 students altogether. By

1967-1968, the overall enrollment had risen to 4,712.

In 1969-1970, the total number of university students 10 3 9 was recorded as 4,790. The enrollment in the Ghana

University alone, for example, was 2,500 representing

a four fold increase since 1948 when it was first

established.

Suggestions for the establishment of African

Studies in all African universities made at the

Tenanarive Conference "to provide an objective

knowledge of all aspects of African life, and foster

a cultural revival," in 1967, were well received in

Ghana. The Institute of African Studies in the Uni-

i versity of Ghana has, since 1961, maintained links with

the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi and

the University of Cape Coast. African Studies were made a compulsory offering in that same year for all

students in their first year of University degree

course work in accordance with the recommendation of

the Tananarive Conference in 1961. It is very signifi­

cant to note here that the Institute was first established

in the University of Ghana, Legon in 1959, three years prior to the Tananarive Conference.

The Universities in Ghana were considered to be the institutions with the resources and the competence to promote the cultural revival in Africa and the ulti­ mate achievement of African Unity. Thus in a statement issued in 1961, the Ghana government observed, 104

The Government of Ghana considers that the question of African Unity and economic independence and progress of Ghana are closely associated with the establishment ' of universities in Ghana in tune with the aspirations of the people and capable of giving concrete expression through their teaching and research to the political, social and economic needs of Africa as a whole. (Ekuban, 1974, p.51)

The Education Review Committee (1967) did not only advocate the retention of African Studies in Ghana, but also stressed the need to "impose on the British Uni­ versity pattern certain peculiar African attributes."

(Ekuban, 1974, p.51) Its program includes teaching and research projects in Ghanaian and other African languages and literature; historical and social studies; and the arts — African music, drama and art. (University of

Ghana Calendar, 1968-1970, p.126)

Since independence, more Ghanaians have been offered government scholarships to train in overseas institutions of higher learning especially in programs which are not offered in the country. Three thousand four hundred and ten students were reported in 1966 to be studying under Ghanaian and foreign scholarship awarded in various

European countries, North America, and Australia. About

600 were reported in the Soviet Union in 1968, but most of these have since 1970 completed their courses and returned home. Most of Ghana's students now studying abroad are in Britain and the United States. 10 5

By a Presidential Command in 1964, the University institutions were assigned the following major areas:

(1) The University of Ghana was to confine itself to courses in Arts, Social Studies and Science; (2) The

University of Science and Technology was to confine itself to courses in Engineering, Applied Science and

Technology; (3) The University College of Cape Coast was to offer courses leading to the B.A. and the B.Sc. in Education.

In addition to these institutions, the College of

Art was established as a separate institution in October,

1965. Before this, it was a faculty of the University of Science and Technology. The 1965 Cabinet directive converting the Faculty of Art into an autonomous College with its own Council and its separate grant, was also to have been transferred to a stie near Tema.

At present, it is evidenced that Ghana's education has made some giant strides in the expansion of its structure as well as in the provision of schools and colleges, to contain the ever increasing demands for them, though its staffing of schools with qualified teachers is not yet adequate, it has made some progress in the training of more qualified teachers.

According to Harbison and Meyer's scheme of classi­ fying developing countries in one of three stages 106

- depending upon the level of economic activity as well

as by the state of growth of the educational system,

"Ghana may be said to have reached the second stage

of development." (Boyd, and French, 1974, p.198)

The second stage is reached when

universal primary education has become an "attainable and mandatory goal" and the "top priority" in human resource policy is the reform and expansion of secondary education. (Boyd, and French, 1974, p.198)

It is also at the second stage that the most rapid and

probably the most vital expansion of the secondary

school will take with "greater emphasis (being placed)

on better teaching of fundamentals of mathematics

and science." (Boyd, French, 1974, p.198)

The Structure and Content

The educational system of Ghana is made up of a

public sector, consisting of schools which are either

run by or assisted financially by the Government, and

a small private sector. Contrary to the situation in

most countries, the private schools have less prestige

and lower standards than the public schools, and they

invariably transfer to the public sector when they

reach the required standards. (Birmingham, et al., 1967,

p . 222) 107

Foster and other observers have remarked that

Ghana possesses one of the most elaborate structures of education in the whole of Africa south of the Sahara.

The present national system of education covers Kinder­ garten and Nursery (pre-primary) schools/ Elementary

(primary and middle) schools/ Secondary schools/ and

Higher education. Teacher training colleges/ technical education and Adult literary classes are also provided.

(Ghana; 1975 Official Handbook/ p.245)

Nursery Education .

The recent changes in the structure and content of the school system’which started in September, 1974, envisage an 18-24 months Kindergarten course for every child between ages four and six. The Kindergarten and

Nursery Unit of the Ghana Teaching Service caters for pre-schools (which are predominately in the private sector at the present time), and offers opportunities for the overall development of young children to pre­ dispose them to conditions of formal education. The

Unit supervises nursery schools through its Regional

Nursery Organizers; runs a Nursery Training Center; and organizes workshops for nursery assistants, teachers, and proprietors. (Ghana; 1975 Official Handbook, p.245)

Approximately 20 percent of the population of Ghana is 108

aged between 0-4 years. Model nursery schools in the

regions have been accelerated to act as a catalyst for

the organization of pre-primary schools.

Elementary Education

The basic first cycle of education has six years

primary and four years middle school. Before September,

1974, there were two parallel courses of elementary

education. The older course comprised (which is still

operating) six grades in primary school and four years

in middle school, after which a Middle School Leaving

Certificate is awarded (a ten year elementary education).

The new course, introduced in 1962-1963 academic

year, allows eight years for completion of the primary

and middle school syllabus, and is followed by a two

year course in Continuation Classes. With the most recent

education structure which started in 1974, basic ele­ mentary education, which is fee-free and compulsory, is

said to be six years Primary plus three years Junior

Secondary. According to the Government's announcement

the Primary One intake in September; 1974 was to form the first batch of the Junior Secondary School pupils in 1980-1981. The existing middle schools will be converted for Junior Secondary Programs. (Ghana: 1975 Official Handbook, p.245)

Statistics of enrollment indicate that in 1973-

1974, the overall enrollment ratio in the country was 109

about 70% of the school age population. Since 1972-

1973 some 300 new primary schools have been started

to meet the ever increasing demands of the school age population.

Pupils following the older course take the Common

Entrance Examination in the eighth or ninth year and

those who are successful enter secondary or secondary-

technical school. Pupils in the new course take the

Common Entrance Examination in the eighth year or earlier, say the sixth or seventh year. Those who are unsuccessful at the end of the eighth year receive pre- vocational education in Continuation Classes for two more years making their elementary education still ten years. The Continuation program which started in the

1969-1970 school year with 18 pilot schools (two in each of the nine regions), had by 1974-1975 expanded to involve 328 schools. The course content of the pro­ gram has been systematically diversified to involve some 20 different vocations including vegetable gar­ dening, poultry farming, "adinkra" and cloth making, cane work, dressmaking, woodwork, and fishing.

The increased number of children in the first cycle of education has resulted in a progressively increasing number of pupils taking the Common Entrance

Examination — about 80,000 in 1972-1973, and 98,000 110. in 1973-1974. No more than one sixth of the candidates do find places in public secondary schools and the Govern­ ment is making efforts to provide more secondary school places.

Curriculum

Ghanaian languages are being introduced to all

Primary Classes one to three as the medium of instruction.

According to the Ministry of Education's Policy, all pupils in the upper primary course will learn their own language, and, in addition, one other Ghanaian language.

English is taught as a subject from the first three classes and from the fourth class it is used as a medium of instruction. Other subjects taught in the primary schools are Mathematics (modern), Geography, History,

Civics, Elementary Science, Agriculture, Cultural

Studies — religion, music, art, and crafts, physical education, games and sports.

In line with the Government's determination to make schooling as practical and meaningful to the pupils as possible, subjects relating to animal and crop hus­ bandry, local crafts, and vocations are being given greater emphasis in the elementary school curriculum.

The teaching of elementary science and home science has been extended to more pupils and under the new educa­ tional policy these subjects will continue to receive Ill increasing attention. (Ghana; 1975 Official Handbook, p. 245) The percentage of qualified teachers was 81 percent in the 1973-1974 academic year; this improvement in the recruitment of more trained teachers has accelerated the pace of the replacement of the pupil teachers (i.d., untrained teachers). Since 1972-1973 the teaching force has been strenghtened with an addi­ tional 6,350 trained teachers.

Secondary Education

The regular secondary school course lasts five years at the end of which pupils take the School Certi­ ficate Examination of the West African Examination

Council (W.A.E.C.). Each candidate presents not less than seven subjects including English Language,

Mathematics, and General Science as compulsory subjects.

This certificate is awarded in three divisions and those who pass in divisions I or II Ordinary level are eligible for entry into the Sixth Form. The Sixth

Form is a two year advanced secondary course which is interposed between the regular secondary school and the university. It prepares students for the univer­ sity courses. It is an area of specialization. At the end of the second year (Upper Sixth) students take the Advanced Level examinations also conducted by 112

W.A.E.C. and those who pass will with the regional grades continue in the universities. This means the period of secondary education is seven years in Ghana.

The secondary schools generally follow an academic curriculum leading to final examinations; therefore, instruction is examination-oriented. Their core cur­ ricula parelleled that of the English Grammar Schools.

Within, the last few years, however, Agriculture,

Business and Commercial subjects are being introduced in the main course of study. Religion Knowledge, Arts and Crafts, Home Science, Music, Social Studies, French,

Ghanaian Languages, and Physical Education are also taught.

According to the present head of State, General

Acheampong, in his address on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of Mfantsipim Secondary School at Cape Coast, the Government was anxious that the curriculum of primary and secondary schools should be so diversified as to highlight the importance of practical, vocation and agricultural education. (Ghana:

1975 Official Handbook, p.245)

Under the new educational policy, secondary education will be restructured into a three Junior Secondary Course

(equivalent to the American Junior High School), replacing the present Middle Schools. This will be followed by a 113 two year Senior Secondary Lower course leading to the present "0" level, and a two year Senior Secondary Upper

Course leading to the present "A" level. Entry to the senior lower course will be through a competitive selection examination. Candidates from this level who wish to continue to higher formal education and who obtain the requisite aggregate scores on their "0" level performance can proceed to the senior upper course.

The two year Sicth Form in the present system will con­ tinue following the Senior Secondary School cycle. The new secondary school structure is to be started in the

1980-1981 academic year. Pupils who do not proceed on to an university from this level will be encouraged to train for middle level professions in institutions like polytechnics, specialist and initial teacher training colleges. (Ghana; Official Handbook, 1975, p.248)

The number of secondary schools in the public sec­ tor has increased from 95 in 1960 to 112 in 1967, and from 149 in 1972 to 180 in 1976. The enrollment in

1973 was 72,036 in the public sector according to the

1975 Official Handbook (page 247). The Central Bureau of Statistics provided the secondary school enrollment as 68,489 for 1973-1974. This discrepancy is obvious as there is no reliable way of collecting data in the country. 114

Despite these increases in the number of secondary school provisions and the accompanying enrollments;

the index of opportunity for elementary school pupils to enter secondary schools is only about 17 percent according to the 1975 Government Report. Out of the

98,000 candidates who took the Common entrance examina­ tion in 1973-1974, not more than one sixth of the candi­ dates did find places in the public secondary schools.

Several private primary schools exist outside the public system. The most prestigious ones are referred to as "International" or "Preparatory" schools. The children of the staff of foreign embassies in Accra, -for example, go to such schools. This type of school offers a six year basic primary education with emphasis on English as the medium of instruction. Other "priority" subjects taught include Mathematics and Science. Some French is also taught in the later stages where a specialist teacher is available. Teachers of such schools are highly qualified and they receive higher salaries than those in the public system.

These schools prepare their students purposely for the Common Entrance Examinations to secondary schools.

On the average, over 75-80 percent of all the students from these prestigious private institutions which are presented for the exams do gain admission to secondary 115 schools while those from the public schools show an access of less than 20 percent gaining admittance.

What is more aggravating is that most of these latter groups of students attend the "lower class" secondary schools.

Summary

In this chapter we have reviewed the development that took place in education after 1951.

After the Second World War, popular demand for education increased tremendously after a slow down due to the economic depression in the 1930's and the effects of the War. After 1950, when the Africans gained control of the administration of the country under the leadership of the late Kwame Nkruman, the country witnessed a great expansion of education especially at the elementary level. This expansion continued through the 1960's and enrollments became so "bulged" that there were not enough schools to contain all the students in the elementary schools. This gave rise to many problems in the school systems. The new African government assumed greater control over the administration of the schools. The number of secondary schools increased.

Two more universities were established during the 1960's.

Many graduates were produced to take over some of the key 116 positions in the Civil Service under the "Africanization" scheme. African Studies became a new course of study in the universities as from 1959 and attempts were made to modify the structure and content of the elementary and secondary schools, but the bias toward academic studies continues to prevail.

Education in the Arts has continued to suffer in the system due to the emphasis on the "academic sub­ jects." Generally, practical and technical subjects have been relegated to a secondary position in the educational system.

The universal primary education which was en­ visaged in the Accelerated Development Plan for

Education in 1951 is yet to be achieved for up till now only about 75 percent of the children of school going age are attending school.

The lag between elementary and secondary schools provision has become wider, and the disparity between rural and urban schools has not yet been bridged. The differential distribution of schools in the regions still exists between the north and the south.

Many graduate teachers have been trained at Cape

Coast University and other Specialist Institutions for the secondary schools, yet there is more to be desired especially the specialist teachers for the 117 physical sciences, biology, business and commercial subjects. In the elementary schools, due to the fast production of Certificate A teachers, the number of pupil teachers had tremendously reduced.

Since independence, many educational committees and commissions have been set up to study the education system; some especially for higher education. Reports of the commissions and committees have taken some measures in line with these recommendations and some changes have been made in the system. However, many observers agree that the post-independence era has not shown any overwhelming divergence in the structure of the system from that which characterized the colonial education. The system continues to imitate the "old"

English pattern. The curriculum of schools and colleges have not seen much change since 1951.

Recently, the present Government had made policy statements and regulations affecting proposals for reforms in the structure and content of the pre-uni­ versity education. These were supposed to have come into effect in September, 1974. But it seems that, like many other educational policies, their implementation falls short of expectation. It is not likely that the principles laid down could be effectively implemented nationwide by 1980 due to the economic problems now 118 facing the country. The change of Government next

July may have other repercussions too.

Most observers agree that in the African scene,

Ghana is far ahead in the provision of educational facilities and relatively has the highest percentage of literates outside the Union of South Africa. Yet, they point out the fact that the historical develop­ ments reveal a disparity between policy pronouncements and actual development.

Foster sums this up thus:

the expansion of the educational system in Ghana has given rise to many per­ plexing problems and revealed many unexpected consequences. (1965, p.vii)

After studying the outcomes of the present educational developments, it seems appropriate to examine the system in terms of its problems and the "unexpected consequences" which Foster has mentioned. What are these problems and unexpected consequences?

We shall try to identify some of them in the next chapter and discuss them more fully. CHAPTER FOUR

SOME MAJOR PROBLEMS IN GHANA'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM: THE DILEMMA OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Previous chapters uncovered numerous problems in

Ghana's educational system. The present chapter dis­ cusses these and the previous attempts to overcome these problems. From among the problems the writer will focus upon those where the arts are affected. The arts are also discussed in terms of their potential for over­ coming some of the problems identified earlier.

Many people from all walks of life, including teachers, politicians, parents and students alike have, for many years now, raised critical voices against the various aspects of the educational systems in Africa and charged them as "dysfunctional, old fashioned, irrelevant to modern challenges" and "outmoded;" and they call for "radical changes" or "modifications." The

Ghanaian educational system has not escaped this kind of criticism.

The burning desire for change and the proliferation of reforms are, according to the reports of many countries, including Ghana the outward signs of unease which is

119 120

growing as time passes, since the same problem

lingers on.

The great expansion of the public educational

system has placed a growing and eventually very heavy

burden on the national budget. For example, in Ghana

Education was taking 22 percent of the recurrent budget and 19 percent of the total (recurrent and development) budget as of 1970-1971. (George, 196 , p.81)

Educational budgets in the 20 to 30% range are common

in developing countries.

From the examination of the educational system in

Ghana as documented in the preceeding chapter, we may

infer that the country has made great strides in its

educational development since independence. What is

indeed striking in present day Ghana is the rapid inten­

sification of pressures on the educational system,

especially at the secondary level as a result of accelera­

ting public demand. Already the system has turned out

thousands of elementary school graduates. Above all, its university graduates have been "asserting a rightful claim to the occupational opportunities in the country previously open to aliens." (Ekuban, 1974, p.52) Other

social and economic benefits have been achieved by the elementary and secondary school graduates. The country as a whole has produced medical doctors, engineers, teachers, technicians, and other man-power needs for 121 social and economic development through its formal educational system. Comparably, Ghana seems far ahead of the other African countries outside of South Africa.

It is tempting to conclude from this that educational development in Ghana is now "over the hump" and can take further progress with greater ease from here on.

But unfortunately quite the opposite is the case. The truth that educational systems virtually everywhere now find themselves beseiged by a crisis whose end is nowhere in sight. (OISE, UNESCO, 1975, p.33)

Most Ghanaians, as never before question the efficacy of the educational system from various angles.

Ghanaian educational experts, economists, sociologists, and laymen, as well as foreign observers who have followed Ghana's educational development since 1951 are constantly sounding critical reminders saying: Lookl

All is not well with the national educational system.

Many parents who have been investing a lot of their financial resources in the education of their children through the system are always complaining when their wards fail to jump the hurdle at the end of a level to the next or when they fail to get lucrative employ­ ments after leaving school or college. It is sometimes charged that many of the products of the elementary system have become "functionally illiterate." All these and other charges which are levelled at the educational 122 system denote that the country is in a dilemma. Adam

Curie and others talk about most schools as "training grounds for failures." (1973, p.3)

Todaro has said:

Most Third World nations have been led to believe or have wanted to believe that it is the rapid QUANTITATIVE expansion of formal educational opportunities which holds the basic key to national development. All countries have committed themselves, there­ fore, to the goal of "universal" education in the shortest possible time. The quest for immediate universal education has become a politically sensitive but too often an economically, costly "sacred cow." (1975, p.225)

This is exactly the situation in which Ghana finds itself. The Addis Ababa Conference in 1961 which set out "Educational Targets and Attainments in

Africa" (UNESCO, 1961, p. v) recognized the close relationship between education and development. "Until recently" according to Todaro, "few politicians, statesmen, economists, or educational planners . . . would have dared to challenge publicly the cult of formal education." (Todaro, 1975, p.225)

In Ghana, however, Busia, an educator and former prime minister of the Second Republic, expressed great concern about the Accelerated Development Plan for Education as a leader of the opposition. He characterized it as an "ill-digested series of propo­ sals based on political expediency." (Foster, 1965, p.190) 123

His caution was ignored, but the challenge neverthe­ less is gathering momentum and it comes from many sources.

After almost three decades of rapidly expanding enrollment and hundreds of billions of dollars of educational expenditures, the plight of the average citizen of Asia, Africa, and Latin America seems little improved. Absolute poverty is chronic and pervasive. Economic disparities between' rich and poor widen each passing year. And unemployment and underemployment have reached staggering proportions with the "educated" increasingly swelling the ranks of those without jobs. {Todaro, 1975, p.225)

The strategy of linear expansion which most of the worlds' educational systems have been pursuing for more than a decade has now run its course and ended in crisis .... The crisis varies in form and intensity from nation to nation according to differences in local circumstances. Yet its main lines of force and basic features are similar for all. Essentially it is a crisis of maladjustment — of disparities taking many forms — between educational systems and their social — economic environments. (OISE, Unesco, 1975, p.33)

The actual problems are stated as:

a) The gap between educational demand and supply;

b) The gap between resources and requirements;

c) Inbalances between educational outputs and jobs;

d) The obsolescence and irrelevance of educa­ tional content and methods;

e) Imbalances between formal and non-formal education. (OISE, Unesco, 1975, pp.33-37) 124

Todaro points out that

one must recognize that many of the early claims made on behalf of the unfettered quantitative expansion of educational opportunities ~ that it would accelerate economic growth, raise levels of living especially for the poor, that it would generate widespread and equal employment for all, that it would acculturate diverse ethnic or tribal groups, and that it would encourage "modern" attitudes — have been shown to be greatly exaggerated and, in many instances, simply false. (1975, p.226)

We may then agree with Thomas that the relationship between the educational system and social structures now lies at the heart of most educational problems. She also pointed out.

This relationship does not, in any case, operate in one direction only because, although school to a large extent reflects the state of society, it is also a powerful element in social change. (Thomas, 1975, p.22)

Can we then conclude that if., the educational system

"is suffering, we must find its root causes in the prob­ lems of society itself?" While this may be a true • conclusion the argument is a futile one in that it exonerates the educator from attempting solutions. Of course, educational problems have their roots in social problems but it is the educator's responsibility to attempt to solve the problem. For example, the educator cannot solve the unemployment problem among school levers, but he might be able to redirect the thrust of the curriculum to lead students in more lucrative directions 125

The Main Problems

The defects in the Ghanaian educational system may be grouped under the following broad categories:

1. Inadequate adaptability of the system

2. Undemocratic practices in the system — Elitism

3. Lack of personnel and facilities

4. Curriculum Problems — Lack of concern for needs of individuals and society

5. The selective mechanism for social mobility

6. Imbalance between educational outputs and man­ power requirements

7. Attempts to reform the system and obstacles to change

Let us consider these problems individually thus:

The Dysfunctionality of the Educational System

Here we begin with the "biggest and most widespread prob­ lem of all and one which has, for years, been the favorite theme of the reproaches levelled at modern education."

(OISE, 1975, p.35) There is a broad consensus on the inadequacy and unsuitability of the present system of education in Ghana despite its great achievements. The criteria by which the critics assert that the Ghanaian system is unsuitable is mainly based on the fact that the normal functioning of the system is not producing the results which the majority of the people are entitled to 126 expect of them. School dropouts, the poor performance of education and the inequality of opportunity are leading critical observers and even the authorities to question some of the principles on which these systems are based. (Thomas, 1975, p.28) There seems to be a great lag between the expectations and the reality of the outcomes of the system.

Many educational Commission Reports (1920-1925; 1967,

1972) have statements in them which point to doubts about the efficacy of Ghana's educational system. Let us acquaint ourselves with two of them. The Report of the

Education Review Committee of 1967 indicated: The terms of reference of this Committee are obviously based on the assumption that at present, education in Ghana leaves much to be desired and urgently demands reform.

Considerable evidence before the Committee indicates widespread discontent about public education (page 2).

Five years later the Educational Advisory Committee on the Proposed New Structure and Content of Education states:

It is not the old fashioned system of formal education we now have that can bring about these changes. The system of education we have inherited has, to some extent, pro­ vided the nation with personnel. But on the whole the system has been found ineffective in meeting the present economic, social, and political needs of a fast-changing Ghanaian Society. (1972, p.l) 127

The great expansion of the educational system has, of course, brought educa­ tional opportunities to a much greater proportion of Ghana's school-age children than in the past — but to a smaller proportion than one might have expected. (George, 1976, p.207)

According to the Report of the Educational

Advisory Committee of 1972, the system of education we have inherited is, to a large extent undemocratic

(p.2). It claims that although the Educational

Act of 1961 makes it obligatory for every child to go to school, not all children of school going age are receiving education in the public system. Official papers indicate that about 30% of the school going age children are out of school. It seems the compul­ sory education policy governing elementary education is still not effectively applied.

There is also a great disparity in educational pro­ vision in the regions. The great expansion of the system has affected the geographical distribution of school facilities and the educational opportunities and school attendance in various parts of the country.

Table 11 shows the number of public schools of each type in each of Ghana's nine Regions. The comparatively small number of educational institutions in the

Northern and Upper Regions in readily apparent. 128

TABLE 11

Earofcncat in priaaary schoob by region

1962-63 1963-64 1964-65 1965-66 1966-67 1967-68 1968-69

Public Primary Schools ...... 788,098 871,385 1,037,884 1,137,495 1,116,843. 1,072423 1,016,457 W eston ...... 84,286 100,071 86,434 126438 115449 111,082 104,768 C entral...... 89,937 113.036 125,728 135452 130,933 118412 115,661 A c c r a ...... 56,739 45,192 77.695 88,630 93,050 92,186 93,447 E astern...... 151,141 172438 205,197 216494 216431 208.944 197,350 V o l t * ...... 110,629 127,058 I47,i 163 150,008 141,929 133433 124,457 Ashanti ...... 161,012 157483 214426 225,126 226.791 227.805 »216,757 Brong-Ahafo ...... 69.541 83.031 97,831 106,632 100.048 97,648 88.136 Northern ...... 23,616 25450 32,168 36,161 41499 36,469 34,120 U p p e r...... 41,177 47,426 51442 53,054 50,913 46444 41,761 Private Primary Schools .. 18,123 12,954 20424 W eston ...... 193 586 C entral...... 480 6IS A eon ...... 7,913 6414 12,774 E a sto n ...... 4,298 — 883 V o l t a ...... 436 1,088 214 Ashanti ...... 4,423 226 4,726 Brong-Ahafo ...... 123 4,467 290 Northern ...... 134 286 74 U p p e r...... — 62 Saiws:Munmy of Edjqtion.

• EarobuP lamiddle eeheels by region • 1962-63 1963-64 1964-65 1965-66 1966-67 1967-68 1968-69 Public Middle Schools 202.529 208,626 257,625 267,434 280,862 329,679 368,601 Western ...... 18491 20.326 21,462 23408 24474 31,007 36473 C en tral...... 27,421 29,632 32,067 33499 38406 43.006 A c c r a ...... 18,955 14,785 22439 23,437 24499 30488 35424 E astern ...... 45446 52454 56400 57,691 65.142. 72417 V o l t a ...... 32,096 35.480 48,434 41.403 41.714 47457 50,730 Ashanti ...... 38,742, 52,727 57412 61,438 75,178 2 85,898 Brong-Ahafo ...... 15458 16441 18,946 21410 23,087 32476 Northern ...... 4,220 4,015 5437 5,624 5467 7456 9,749 U p p e r...... 6,491 7,153 8499 9,037 9,870 11458 2,128 Private Middle Schools 2,406 — —— 12454 1414 Western ...... 126 ——— 193 -- C en tral...... 8 _ —— 480 m A c c r a ...... 883 _ _ — 6414 — E astern...... 1,117 — — 1,088 f 22 V o l t a ...... 67 _ —— 226 604 Ashanti ...... as —— 4,467 — Brong-Ahafo ...... — — —— 286 — Northern ...... _ _ _ —— — U p p e r...... — — — — — Santa: Mistery of Eduestion. 129

The present educational system as many people see it, is not adequately adapted to the modern cultural needs of the nation. Despite the numerous political, social, and economic changes which have taken place since independence a move toward modernization or industrialization, contemporary educational system still shows relatively little divergence from that of the formal

British system.

Indeed, most observers have readily pointed out the marked similarities between English and Ghanaian education. (Foster, 1965, p.l)

On the question of the inadaptability of the system to Ghana1s needs, we can say that

an imported style of education even if introduced with the best of intentions, can never correspond to the social struc­ tures, cultural traditions, economic needs or national aspirations of States which have become independent and assumed responsibility for their own identity. (Thomas, 1975, p.26)

Factors Resulting in Inequality. The fact that the provision of schools and other socio-economic factors have helped to creat inequalities in the system cannot be denied. Some educational practices and methods are considered, to a large degree, undemocratic. It is alleged by some critics that the system is even serving as a major contributing factor in creating a class system in the country. Let us zero in into these problems. 130

Another factor resulting in inequality involves

"the great disparity in educational provision in the

urban areas as compared with the rural areas, and the

situation is more acute in the Northern and Upper

Regions and parts of the Western and Brong Ahafo

Regions. (Dzobo Education Report, 1972, p.2) The

fact that schooling provided in the towns is much more

thorough than in rural areas is confirmed by the obvious

examination results of the entrance examination to

secondary schools which reveal that the majority of those

who gain admissions are students in city and urban

schools. Elementary education is terminal for the

greater majority of rural people in Ghana.

A study of the method of selecting students for

secondary education by the Common Entrance Examination

conducted by some members of the academic staff of the

University of Cape Coast

showed that the present examination net is failing to catch the number of children particularly from the rural areas who, to all intent and purposes, are potential engineers, medical doctors, mathematicians, economists, etc. . . . (Cape Coast University Bulletin, 1974, p.10)

It is evidenced that the educational system is continually contributing to the imbalance between rural and urban development in Ghana. The distribution of

trained teachers often show a bias against rural school 131 staffing. The distribution of school textbooks, equip­ ment and other materials to the rural areas comes last only after the big towns have had their share. On several occasions some of the essential materials such as teacher's notebooks and exercise books for rural schools arrive long after the opening of schools.

A 1963-1964 social survey of the University of Ghana student body showed that at the time, the number of stu­ dents per 100,000 of the general population attending the

University for each of eight Regions was as follows:

Ashanti 38.6 Volta 35.2 Eastern 37.2 Central 20.5 Brong-Ahafo 19.5 Western 17.1 Northern 2.1 Upper 1.8

These figures clearly showed that a young person from the Northern and Upper Regions had a very much smaller chance of reaching the University than one from one of the Southern Regions. This regional disparity occurs at all the levels of education. Probably due largely to the greater rate of sound and economic change and ur­ banization in the South than in the North the great gap between North and South seems one of the most persistent characteristics of Ghanaian education and one unlikely to disappear for many years. (George, 1976, p.217) The differences between the two areas are partly due to the 132 gradual progression of western contact from the coast to the North. Varying degrees of social change, and varying

local reactions to western education as we have already discussed in Chapter One.

From the colonial era until the present, it has been the concern of the various governments to bridge the gap in the distribution of educational facilities but it seems the efforts are not achieving any great success. This has been causing political agitation in some areas. The persistent inequalities "is politically embarrassing to new African leadership pledged as it is to nations of

"equity" in educational provision. (Foster, 1965, p.293)

Thomas remarks:

Inequality of educational opportunity is thus felt everywhere to be one of the most serious and least tolerable problems. (Thomas, 1975, p.22)

In Ghana, the prospects of modern education above the elementary school level is only for "a fortunate few" which is contributing to create a nascent class system.

An elite class already exists.

Differentiation in the School System

One of the apparent characteristics of the develop­ ment of education in Ghana is the forms of differentiation that have existed within the educational system. From the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, 133

Ghana had different categories of school based on various criteria. [Before independence we had two major kinds of schools — the "government and assisted" and the "non­ assisted school." For example, in 1881 there were 139

"assisted and government controlled schools" and a larger number of "unassisted" mission schools.] The 1882

Ordinance "for the Promotion and Assistance in the Gold

Coast Colony" which brought about the clear distinction of primary schools into two classes: "government schools" maintained entirely from public services and "assisted schools," established by missions or private individuals and groups but aided from government funds.. This system continued until the middle of the Twentieth Century.

By 1950, there had been established numerous private schools outside the above two classes.

The relatively small number of government or government-aided schools constituted the elite sector and provided the most effective access to later professional studies. The private sector remained a low prestige segment of the secondary system competing on unequal terms with the public schools. (Foster, 1965, p.171)

It was made very clear from the previous chapter that the growth of the secondary school system since the colonial era involved increasing internal differentiation of that system. The Government and Assisted schools form a "higher status sector while the Encouraged, Assisted 134

Day and Ghana Educational Trust Schools form a "low

status group."

The justification or criteria for designating schools

as "low" or "high" status is obvious considering various

characteristics or factors governing their exitence.

These differentiation variables are clearly shown studies

by Foster. In his detailed study of this particular

problem of internal differentiation in the secondary

school system in the early 1960’s he stated:

We are not dealing with a unitary secondary school system but rather with two systems which enjoy "parity of esteem" and are structurally similar but which at the same time, functionally heterogeneous. (Foster, 1965, p.223)

On the hierarchy of the secondary schools he differen­

tiates the two main clusters of schools in terms of

relatively simple objective criteria: (1) enrollment,

(2) size of entry for public examinations, (3) success

in such examinations, and (4) teaching staff charac­

teristics.

Other factors or criteria used include: student

perceptions of the school hierarchy, the Ethnic composi­

tion of the school population, recruitment into the

secondary school system as well as the socio-economic background of the school population. Similar internal

differentiation of the secondary school system is gradually revealing itself in the primary school. Looking 135 back into the recent history of modern education in Ghana, we recognize that with the implementation of all-free public primary school education in 1952, most of the private primary schools then in existance were absorbed into the public system. These private fee-charging primary schools, although comparatively very small in number and enrollments, have continued to play a significant role. Students from these "private" or

"international" schools compete with those in the public system for places in the secondary schools through the

Common Entrance Examination.

Empirical.research shows that these few private schools succeed more in preparing the students for the secondary schools than the public schools. The reason being that they are better staffed, more adequately equipped with textbooks and what is more, the curriculum of such schools is apparently Common Entrance Examination oriented.

These are contrary to what is characteristic of the pub­ lic primary school.

The Commissioner for Education made a statement at the 16th Conference of heads of assisted secondary at

Greenhill, near Achiamota, which condemmed these inequalities in the selection of students for secondary education. He said basing the selection of pupils solely 136 on the C.E.E. without considering other factors tended to favor pupils from the private "international” schools.

He said,

It appears that the good old secondary schools like Mfantsipim, Achimota . . . are now meant for the children of the rich who can afford to pay the expen­ sive fees of the private "international schools to the deteriment of the poor in non-urban areas."

Lack of Qualified Personnel. One of the most serious problems of education especially at the secon­ dary level is the shortage of teachers. It is often complained in educational reports that

the woeful inadequacy of trained teachers is impairing the efficiency of the national educational effort. (Educational Review Committee Report, 1967, p.4)

There also exists the city of qualified middle-level technicians needed to assist in the teaching of technical and commercial subjects in schools and colleges.

Hie 1966-1967 Education Review Committee pointed out:

Clearly the most important problem facing the country's educational system is the lack of qualified personnel in adequate numbers. . . . This situation is serious enough, but there appears to be no prospects of improving because conditions of service of the educational personnel are comparatively poor. This discourages people from taking up teaching as a life career. (Ghana, Education Report, 1967, p.39) 137

It should be considered a matter of grave con­ cern at this stage in Ghana's development that there are so few Ghanaians willing to look upon teaching as a life career, rather than a stepping stone to more lucrative jobs. Due to the problem of paucity of science-oriented and language (English and French) teachers, Ghana has consequently had to rely heavily on foreign teachers to staff her secondary schools, particularly to provide graduate staff. Though the reliance on foreign teachers has drastically been reduced since the late sixties, by

1971-1972, 17 percent of secondary school teachers (534) were foreigners: United States, 214; U.K., 130; Canada,

54; Other countries, 136.

It is often asserted that the reasons why Ghanaian graduates do not choose to enter teaching or remain long in it are "the demanding nature of the profession and the conditions of service which compare very unfavorably with those of other services; for example, commerce, industry, and the Civil Service." (L967 Education Report, p.73) Since the Committee's recommendation for better conditions of service for teachers and the subsequent increased in salaries, there exists still many problems for teachers.

Even within the Ministry of Education, Education

Officers are worse off compared with their counterparts 138 in the administrative and other branches of the Civil

Service. It is not surprising, therefore, that the

Ministry has been losing and must continue to lose its officers to other ministries with better prospects.

The net result of all this is that the education ser­ vice both within the Ministry of Education and in the teaching service is chronically and dangerously under­ staffed, and consequently the nation is not deriving the greatest benefit from its substantial investment in education.

The problem of depletion of the ranks of qualified

Ghanaian teachers is increasing especially among the science teachers in secondary schools as well as Univer­ sity lecturers and other personnel, leaving the teaching profession; others are also leaving the country to take up teaching jobs in neighboring West African countries where remuneration are relatively more lucrative and conditions of service more attractive. This exodus is currently affecting the high quality of science education in which Ghana prides herself, and is causing much con­ cern to the government. The present government is also being blamed for the flight of teachers into other countries.

The Inadequacy of Educational Facilities —

Building, Equipment. The 139 uncontrolled expansion of the system has resulted in appalling standards of accomodation and equipment in many places. By law, each local authority is required to build, equip and maintain in its area all public primary and middle schools, including playgrounds and gardens. Most local authorities, however, have failed to discharge this responsibility in full, and there are at present many schools that are very poorly housed, maintained and equipped. The shift system of school attendance which became established in the early sixties is the direct result of the shortage of school buildings.

(Education Report, 1967, p.57) The 1966-1967 Educational

Review Committee made it clear that "the appalling condi­ tions of many elementary school buildings and their equipment reflects discredit to Ghana."

Since then some improvements have been made, but on the whole, there is still the problem of inadequate renovation of the school buildings. Especially in the rural areas, some children attend school under shoddy shelters. The inadequacy of places in the schools accounts very much for Ghana's inability to reach the tar­ get set for universal primary education. There has never, in fact, been compulsory education in this country since the places in schools have not always been available.

(Education Report, 1967, p.60) 140

The accomodation problem does not only effect the elementary schools. Most private and some of the newly established secondary schools are poorly housed. Housing accommodations for teachers in the rural secondary schools and Teacher Training Colleges are, in most cases, not appreciated compared to the staff quarters in the schools such as Pempeh College, Achimota, Secondi-Takoradi Secon­ dary Technical School.

6. Lack of Textbooks and Teaching Aids. For decades, imported textbooks largely determined the learning ex­ periences in the classroom. Within the past decade at­ tempts have been made to produce some books locally that are meaningful and relevant to the child1s needs but the problem of providing adequate numbers of textbooks and other teaching materials remains acute in Ghana. The

Ghana Publishing Corporation is helping to produce enough exercise books and other materials but the distribution of these has been irregular and unsatisfactory. The replacement of lost and destroyed free textbooks takes a long time and schools of the rural areas are the worst hit. The lack of modern techniques and aids for teaching has hindered effective learning in our schools and colleges. Apart from the lack of textbooks for schools and universities, there is also less use of modern 141

instructional materials including audio-visual aids

such as radio, television, tape recorders, motion and

still pictures, models, and other three dimensional

materials. In many secondary schools, science

education, for example, is grossly handicapped by

inadequate laboratory space and equipment.

7. Curriculum Problems — Lack of Concern for Needs.

Most of the criticisms fired at the educational system

in Ghana are generally centered around the curriculum.

Some of them attack the basic forces that influence and

shape the content and organization of the curriculum.

Reports and debates on curriculum problems and reforms

in Ghana's education has been a continued activity, so we

shall try to identify some of the critical issues in the

curriculum by looking to the past and zeroing in to the

present problems and how they are being solved.

Despite the long history of Ghana's educational

development, the establishment of a Curriculum Develop­ ment and Research Unit of the Ministry of Education is a

recent development. The Curriculum and Courses Branch

of it issues a subject syllabus and time tables for the elementary, middle, and continuation courses. It also

issued annual lists of recommended textbooks and school materials for classes 1 - 8 and Middle Forms III and IV.

(George, 1976, pp.121-122) 142

A major criticism leveled at the curriculum is that it is anachronistic and fails to cope with present reali­ ties in the country's development. In recent years, the curriculum has been criticized as "dysfunctional" and

"out-moded." Walter Bledge, in his article on Educational

Change in Ghana, comments:

It is no wonder our curricula are as old as the schools, and that the schools promote a lot of the "dead knowledge that that Reimer referred to. ..." (p.6)

The 1973 Report on Education indicated that

there exists in our schools an old- fashioned curriculum. The products of this type of curriculum have been found to lack the proper attitudes and skills necessary to equip them to work with their hands. . . . (p.3)

It has been common ever since 1850 for politicians and administrators to criticize the curriculum in

Ghanaian schools as being too academic. This criti­ cism perhaps reached a peak in the 1920's with the castigations first of Governor Guggisberg, then of the 1920 Committee of Education, and finally, of the Phelps-Stokes Commission which has already been discussed in Chapter Two. The crux of the criticism was and still is the lack of curriculum adaptation to the environment and needs of Ghanaian society with emphasis on the individual learner's needs.

In the numerous literature on African education since post-independence era, much complaint has been 143 levelled at the curricula of the various systems. It is often charged there is too much emphasis on academic achievements in the schools and colleges. In Ghana some attempts are being made to reintroduce and en­ courage vocational and technical courses in the pre­ university system, but these are mostly official pronouncements; very little is being done to balance the academic with "practical" programs. There is a persistent tendency in the country to regard graduates of the technical and commercial schools as academically inferior, and the general attitude towards commercial subjects and other practical subjects in the ordinary secondary "grammar" school is one of scorn and degra­ dation.

Fafunwa said that most of the secondary schools in

Africa are geared toward literary attainment, almost to the utter neglect of training in technical or prac­ tical skills. This type of education that tends to perpetuate the prejudice against the so-called manual and technical occupations is undesirable and detrimen­ tal to African development. (1967, p.55) Ayisi points out that in the past, private commercial and technical schools dominated the provision of vocational education.

This has given rise to several problems, including the lack of trained teachers in these institutions. . . . Commercial and secretarial education was accordingly 144

held in low esteem and inadequately rewarded some responsibility for com­ mercial education, the products of such education enjoy only a low status.

Foster points out:

The paradox in Ghanaian education has been the emphasis placed on vocational and agricultural training in all docu­ mentary sources and the relative absence of it within the actual system of education. (Anderson & Bowman, 1965, p.144)

In practice, he asserts that the demand by Africans for western education was and is predominately oriented

towards the provision of more academic-type schools.

He then defends the choice of the Africans by saying

that

those who criticize the "irrational nature" of African demand for "academic" as opposed to "vocational" education fail to recognize that the strength of academic education has lain precisely in the fact that it is preminently a vocational education providing access to those occupations with the most prestige and, most important, the highest pay within the Ghanaian economy. The financial rewards and the employment opportunities for technically trained individuals were never commensurate with the opportunities in the clerical field.

He then concludes:

Since the graduates of the academic school were manifestly more advantageously placed, the pressure for "academic" education reflected fairly accurately the demands for the alternative types of skills within the ex­ change sector of the economy. (Anderson & Bowman, 1965, p.145) 145

How effectively technical and vocational education could be established in Ghana to serve the needs of society is a major persistent problem various governments have faced and the current waves of increased unemploy­ ment, as well as manpower needs of the country, makes it imperative for a solution to be found if we are to reverse the downward trend in the economy of the country.

The academic nature of most of the pre-university institutions in Ghana makes it imperative for curriculum content to be organized strictly around subject matter.

This tends to make a subject matter an end in itself; it further encourages an over reliance.on textbooks

"and worst of all, it vitiates development of concepts and obstructions that enable students to use the infor­ mation they gather." A British professor once remarked about the ineffectiveness of the Western African school curriculum. He said:

the teachers are most conscientious. . . their pupils listen and memorize and practice until their drill and their knowledge of facts are well nigh per­ fect. But if they are asked to think for themselves, to apply the rules to some everyday situation, to reason from the facts. . . they are lost.

Another pervasive curriculum problem is that of cultural alienation. Bledge siad that the curricula of our schools in Ghana, 146

are instruments of alienation. The schools produce literates who are hardly educated in terms of the culture that is around them.

Some schooled people fail to appreciate and to parti­ cipate in activities involving traditional arts. There are some children of the "elite class" parentage who cannot speak proficiently any of the traditional lan­ guages in the country. English is their main spoken language. This is creating some difficulties for them as they become adults. They are unable to under­ stand many aspects of the traditional culture when they attend festivals and some ceremonies such as child- naming or out-dooring.

It must be stressed here that the present academic and therefore bookish curricula being followed in the schools and colleges are not suitable for the larger majority of the students. They fail to equip them with the necessary skills and right attitude needed for their employment and contributions to national development.

Low Quality Standards In Education

The 1972 Report of the International Commission on the Development of Education produced a critical reflec­ tion of the present situation of education in the various regions of the world and in it revealed that "the quantitative expansion of education systems does not go 147 hand in hand with efficient education; enormous finan­ cial and human resources were laid out to develop costly school models, the results of which often fell short of expectations.” Linear expansion is thus responsible for the poor efficiency of education and for most of the disappointments suffered by many of the development countries. (Ghana Journal of Education, 1970, p.18)

There is a commonly held view among parents, teachers, . and employers that there has been a noticeable fall in the "educational standards?1 in the country. The 1967

Education Review Committee clearly brought this problem out. In its 'report it stated the term "educational standards" refers to a number of different things. These include levels of academic achievement, quality of teaching and learning efficiency of supervisors, ade­ quacy of staffing. . . and norms of discipline and be­ havior in educational institutions. It is about the quality and content of academic achievement that the public disquiet seems to be greatest. (p.3)

Up till now no effective research into this parti­ cular problem, the complaints about the lowering of standards according to the Report

cannot be lightly dismissed, since they raise serious doubts about the quality and relevance of public education in Ghana. It is often claimed that the standard of English has fallen and this is reflected in the "functional illiteracy" 148 among many elementary and secondary school leavers. Employers in the public sefcvice and the commercial and industrial estab­ lishments give evidence of their experience of the poor comprehension and the unsatis­ factory writing of elementary and secondary school leavers they have engaged due to their inability to carry out instruction in business manuals. (Education Report, 1967, p.3)

The Problem of Examination Mania

From the foregoing discussion one can imagine the importance or the powerful role of examinations in the educational system of Ghana. An analysis of the role of the final examinations in curriculum development of various levels of the educational system reveals some problems and weaknesses which American educators have often remarked about the limitations the British exami­ nation system has imposed upon the Ghanaian educational system.

The "single examination" svstem which is used for assessing students' "fate" in life is often referred to as "life and death examination" especially at the university level.

Wendel describes these examinations as "crude instruments that give unreliable assesments of the individual's learning." He contends that the single examination actually discourages learning. The faith in cramming before the examination is not conducive to long term learning. He argues that it does not build 149

self-discipline as it is designed to do, but discourages

creativity in students, teachers and examiners. There has

been recent criticisms about the examination results at

the various levels.

The recently published document on Ghana's education

by the U.S. Department of Health Education and Welfare

provides statistics dealing with the results of School

Certificate Examinations between 1958 and 1969 are re­

vealing.

Table 12 shows that during that period only 25 percent

of the candidates passed in five or more subjects each year.

Evidently, in most years less than two- fifths of the students completing the basic five year secondary course per­ formed well enough to continue their studies in any full-time program. (George, 1976, p.29)

The study by T.A. Boyd and S.A. French on the "Performance of Ghana's Secondary Schools" brought about these con­ clusions :

The students fail at O-level and this colors the whole of their future career. They, there­ fore, pose the question: "Is it not time that the secondary education in Ghana became success- oriented, rather than a failure-oriented activity so that a pupil setting out on his five years of secondary education did so with some chance of winning a certificate in the end? (1973, p.206) TABLE 12

NUMBER AND PERCENT OF STUDENTS TAKING THE SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION WHO WERE AWARDED/NOT AWARDED DIVISION I, DIVISION II, AND DIVISION III CERTIFICATES

Number Students taking Students Awarded School Certificates Not Awardee exami­ Certificates nation

Year Total Division I Divisioni II Division III

Num­ Per­ Num- Per- Num­ Per­ Num­ Per­ Num­ Per ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent ber cent PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS 1958 1,498 978 65 176 12 413 28 389 26 520 35 1959 1,530 975 64 160 10 402 26 413 27 555 36 1960 1,727 ------— ------— ------— ------— 1961 1,852 1,190 64 242 13 464 25 484 26 662 36 1962 2,123 1,335 63 242 11 499 24 594 28 788 37 1963 2,639 1,787 68 328 12 626 24 833 32 852 32 1964 3,120 2,152 69 467 15 748 24 937 30 968 31 "RECOGNIZED" SCHOOLS 1958 1,356 916 68 174 13 391 29 351 26 440 32 1959 1,495 954 64 161 11 396 27 397 27 541 36 1960 1,533 1,031 66 204 13 423 27 404 26 522 34 1961 1,778 1,182 66 243 14 455 26 484 27 596 34 1962 2,012 1,332 66 242 12 506 25 574 29 690 34 1963 2,407 1,737 72 330 14 621 26 786 33 670 38 1964 2,889 2,119 73 475 16 742 26 902 31 770 27 (-- means source gave no figure) U1 TABLE 13

NUMBER AND PERCENT OP STUDENTS TAKING THE GENERAL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION ORDINARY-LEVEL EXAMINATION PASSING IN FOUR OR MORE AND FIVE OR MORE SUBJECTS

Number Students Passing Taking 4 or more sub­ 4 or more sub­ Year naMnn 5 °r m o r e 4 or more subjects jects including jects including subjects English and English Mathematics Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS 1965 3,984 ----- _ _ 598 15 1,122 28 1,729 43 1966 4,946 ------633 13 1,214 25 1,943 39 1967 6,370 1,620 25 -- — ----- — 2,326 37

— . ----- — 1968 6,207 ------f 2,234 36 1969 7,157 ---- — ------— 2,760 39 "RECOGNIZED" SCHOOLS 1968 6,247 1,555 25 -- — ----- —— 1969 7,132 1,902 27 -- — ----- —— Sources: Republic of Ghana, Ministry of Education. EDUCATION REPORT 1963-67. Accra: 1968, p.80. EDUCATIONAL STATISTICS 1968-69. Accra: 1971, pp.88,89. Sarah French and T.A. Boyd, AN ENQUIRY CONCERNING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL LEAVERS IN GHANA. Cape Coast: University Press, 1971. University of Cape Coast Social Studies Project. Research Report Series Paper No. 6, p.15.

H Ln 152 Obviously most of the total failures come from the less advantaged public and especially private secondary schools. Some critics have expressed skepticism about the validity of the methods being employed by the West

African Council.

Ghana's Commissioner of Education, recently questioned the procedure for selecting students for the Secondary

Schools. He said that basing the selection solely on the "one-shot" Common Entrance Examination "without considering other factors tended to favor pupils from private 'International' schools which are meant for the children of the rich."

In fact, the present ruthless approach to examina­ tions seem not conducive to the development of individuals and to the country at large, because it makes the edu­ cational system become examination-oriented instead of development-oriented.

Let us consider the problem of Educational Wastage.

This is perhaps the oldest and best known problem, and has lost none of its gravity. (George, 1976, p.21)

Analysis of the detailed statistics showing national enrollment in each grade ,of the elementary course, which appears in Table 14 seems to lead inevitably to the conclusion that wastage at the elementary level has been a continuing and perhaps an increasingly serious 153

TABLE 14

Number of educationafinstitutions and students in the public educational system, by level or type of institution: School years 1951-1971-72

I... means there were no institutions or students.i

School All insti- General Com- Tech- Teacher Univer- year tutions Primary Middle secondary mercial1 nical training sities __ . _ _ _ „ 7 8 g

INSTITUTIONS

1951 1,661 1,083 539 13 5 20 1 1952 3,792 3.069 667 26 6 22 2 1953 3,898 3,131 704 30 6 25 2 1954 3,921 3,136 717 31 7 28 2 1955 4,065 3,210 786 31 7 29 2 1956 4,249 3.312 862 35 8 30 2 1957 4,381 3,372 931 38 a 30 2 1958 4,511 3,402 1,030 39 a 30 2 1959 4,625 3,428 1,118 39 .. a 30 2 1960 4,708 3,452 1,177 39 3 30 2 1960-61 4,905 3,552 1,252 59 9 31 2 1961-62 7,034 5,344 1,580 67 9 32 2 1962-63 8,614 6,749 1,738 76 9 39 3 1963-64 9,442 7,392 1,906 85 11 45 3 1964-65 10,139 7,900 2,089 89 11 47 3 1965-66 10,624 8,144 2,777 105 11 84 • 3 1966-67 10,472 7,913 2,346 103 13 *11 83 3 1967-68 10,706 7,480 3,017 104 9 ‘ 11 82 3 1968-69 10,712 7,293 3,201 108 9 "15 83 3 1969-70 10,876 7,239 3,422 112 9 15 76 ' 3 1970-71 10,780 7,008 3,546 125 9 15 74 3 1971-72 10,563 6,715 3,608 139 9 15 74 3

STUDENTS

1951 226,218 154,360 66,175 2,937 622 1,916 208 1952 424,079 335,094 80,013 5,033 866 2,363 710 1953 471,976 372,379 88,600 6,066 1,178 2,939 814 1954 506,616 396,933 97,391 6,936 1,255 3,272 829 1955 538,250 419,362 105,009 7,711 1,756 3,498 914 1956 560.372 436,854 108,548 8,908 1,744 3,551 767 1957 589,153 455,749 115,831 9,860 3,057 ‘ 3,873 ’ 783 1958 598,553 455,053 125,313 10,423 2,749 ‘4,055 “960 1959 624,575 465,290 139,984 11,111 2,782 “4,274 •1,134 1960 645,689 478,142 147,519 11,874 2,522 4,529 “ 1,103 1960-61 702,862 520,026 157,683 16,523 2,894 "4,552 1,184 1961-62 854,934 641,770 184,292 19,062 2,980 5,452 1,373 1962-63 1,024,134 788.088 202.529 23,891 "1,575 6,021 2,030 1963-64 1.122,055 871.385 203.626 27,663 4.228 7,711 2,442 1964-65 1.374.450 1.065,251 257.625 33,131 4,834 10.203 3,406 1965-66 1,471,407 1.137,495 267.434 42.111 4 956 15,144 4,267 1966-67 1.467.701 1,116.843 280,866 42,280 2,755 4,010 16.441 4,506 1967-68 1.473.324 1.072,523 329,679 43,889 2,442 3,145. 16,768, 4,878 1968U69 “l,476,897 1,015,457 131,569 46,512 2,892 6,040 19,392 5,035 1969-70 1,484,278 975,629 424,430 49,182 3,625 7,577 19,076 4,759 1970-71 1,479,065 947,502 442,302 52,852 4,273 7,896 19,511 4,729 1971-72 1,509,847 960,403 455,398 56,801 4,615 8,345 19,221 5,063 154 problem in Ghana. Education Report 1960-1962, shows that in 1955, 109,000 students were enrolled in primary class one, but in 1960, the figure had reduced to 57,800 which shows that over 45 percent of the cohort of children who went through the primary school dropped out before the 7th grade.

Despite the fee-free and compulsory primary, and middle school education policy in 1961-1962, the enroll­ ments in Ghanaian schools have not been rapidly increasing as it should. Up till now the target for universal literacy in the country has not yet been reached. While the drop-out rate in the southern part of the country has reduced drastically, the more severe rate of decline in enrollment has always been in the northern parts.

We shall now turn our attention to the problem of unemployment among "educated" people. From the preceeding discussions some important aspects in the present edu­ cational system of Ghana have become apparent: the educational system has been highly selective, at certain points retaining only a minority of the students and thus sending into society the remaining majority with only a little bit of general education. The problem of the middle school leaver who has received only this general education and drifts to the towns in a futile search for employment is very old in Ghana, and has been 155 growing as larger numbers come through the elementary schools while the economy's demand for middle school leavers has continually declined.

The Education Review Committee Report of 1967 stressed that the Middle School leavers constituted a serious problem. The report states:

.... Already 50,000 children leave middle school every year, nearly 80 percent of them with the Middle School Leaving Certificate. In five years (i.e. 1972) the number of leavers will be nearly 100,000. These leavers are presenting a very serious unemployment problem. The education they receive is not oriented towards productive employment. There is a tradition that any­ one who has been to school should be given a "white collar" job and consequently these young people drift to the towns in search of the kind of work they think they are suited for, and create social as well as employment problems. There is no longer much demand for this level manpower, and it is said that the pupils are being "educated for frustration." (Ghana, Education Report, 1967,p.64)

What was true in 1967 concerning the problem of unemployment among middle school leavers continues to be true today. It has reached alarming proportions in recent years due to the economic stagnation of the country.

What is more, at present unemployment is not only a serious problem only among middle school leavers but also among secondary school and university graduates. In considering the economic consequence of the expansion of higher education in Ghana, the references made by the

Head of State, Colonel I.K. Acheampong, to the threat of 156 graduate unemployment in a speech given at the inauguration of the University of Cape Coast (1972), is pertinent.

Evidently, the unemployment of the products of the nation's higher educational institutions whose training has been subsidized by the State exerts a downward pull on the nation's standard of living, in so far as trained human resources which could be utilized to add to the national income are allowed to run to waste for lack of suitable employment opportunities. (Ekuban, 1974, p.53)

It seems clear that mass unemployment among school leavers in Ghana as in many African nations

is due to dysfunctions existing between the gross rate of school output and the slow expansion of occupational op­ portunities of all types within the exchange sector. (Anderson & Bowman, 1967, p.150)

Foster has said:

Whatever the long term consequences of educational growth may be, it seems clear that serious short run dysfunctionali­ ties are inescapable. (Foster,

Unemployment among school leavers has not arisen because the schools have employed "the wrong kind of curriculum" and thus created groups of individuals merely interested in "white" collar employment.

It is rather the consequence of dis­ parities between the rising output of the schools and the low rate of expan­ sion in the exchange sector of the economy. 15 7

The schools alone can do little about this problem. (Foster, 1965, p.9)

Lack of Link Between Education and Manpower Planning

It is indisputable, considering the various factors which have contributed to our economic stagnation and set­ backs in our national development plans, that the problem underlying the dysfunctionality of the educational system lies in its ability to cope effectively with the demands or needs of the society? in fact, the lack of link between educational development, manpower needs assessment and employment.

In the meantime, there were no firm data on requirements against which to measure the output of the universities, which together with overseas institutions, provided Ghana's high-level manpower, or the educational institutions producing the middle-level personnel. The extent to which they were meeting requirements or overproducing or underproducing gradu­ ates in various fields was, therefore, open to conjecture. . . . (George, 1976, p.275)

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Science and

Technology in his congregation address in 1970 noted that

"we lack knowledge of what the manpower requirements of the country really are.1'

The 1972 report on the 1968 survey (Ghana, 1972) finally provided much of the missing information

(Table 15). The report declared the findings "prove TABLE 15

1972 REPORT ON THE 1968 SURVEY

1968 Employment Addi­ Apparent tional needs as of 1968 require­ 1971 (Total Non- Vacan­ ments of columns Ghanaian cies 1969 3, 4, and 5) and Total 1970

Administrators 3,460 130 629 366 1,125 Managers 1,298 306 68 964 1,338 Doctors 525 167 157 67 391 Dentists 43 5 14 5 24 Pharmacists 482 5 27 15 47 Surveyor 70 2 26 10 38 Geologists 30 9 9 0 18 Engineers Chemical 3 3 0 2 5 Civil 364 104 44 14 162 Electrical 150 36 15 —20 31 Mechanical 293 125 24 2 151 Mining 13 9 0 0 9 Metallurgical 6 1 0 4 5 Technical Managers 459 173 70 111 354 Architects 60 27 5 2 34 Agronomists 382 7 152 165 324 Agricultural Engineers 24 5 0 0 5

United States Office of Health, Education and Welfare. EDUCATION IN GHANA, U.S. Govern­ ment Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1976, p.278. P* Ul 159

beyond doubt that many more trained people are needed in

the high level manpower segment of the active labor

force." Ghana still faces shortages in the administrative

and managerial category and middle-level categories. The

Manpower Division listed as crucial the shortages in the

following categories: doctors, dentists, pharmacists,

geologists, secondary school teachers of science and mathematics, technologists, laboratory assistants and draftsmen, only to mention a few.

Not surprisingly, the report on the manpower survey contained some critical comments on the educational system. Discussing the shortages of professionals with science and mathematics-based skills such as engineers, geologists. . . and surveyors the authors declared:

A more serious effort at remedying the situations is urgently needed. The solu­ tion is not a simple one. It involves re­ viewing and restructuring the educational system — to place emphasis on the right places — e.g., the teaching of science and mathematics and the introduction of the appropriate incentives to help produce the skills in this category.

Two main defects in the active labor force of the country were pointed out as low skill levels and acute shortages. On these the authors stated:

The defects are largely due to lack of adequate and realistic planning of our training and educational programmers: there has been very little effort, if any, to relate or gear educational development specifically to the needs of 160 the growing economy. Education has not significantly shifted from its traditional role of providing basic education to its beneficiaries. The focus has been more general in most cases than direct or specific with the result that the economy is not supplied with its entire needs of trainable persons (output of the schools/ institutions) both quantitatively and qualitatively.

The system does not seem all along to have benefited from the experiences and advice or requirements of employers, industrialists or the users of the pro­ ducts of the schools. The result is that the economy to some extent is made to cope with what it gets out of the institutions. (George, 1976, p.282)

Excessive Length of Stages of Pre-University Education

Compared with educational systems elswhere the average Ghanaian child spends for too long a time, a maximum of 17 years as compared to Britian 13, America

12, and Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania 13 — to complete his pre-university education. (Dzobo Report,

1972, p.3) It seems Ghana is the only country in Africa with the longest period of schooling. But this does not seem as an advantage. It is seen as a waste of students' time and the nation's money. At the moment many people are calling for the abolishing the Sixth

Form which is sandwiched between the ordinary secondary course and the University. 161

There are problems in replacing the Middle School with the Secondary School as proposed under the new

Guidelines of Education. It seems the phasing out of the

Middle School will delay a little before the Junior

Comprehensive Secondary can really become a reality. It seems the introduction of the Junior Secondary School by 1980-1981 may not materialize in most places as planned, because of a lack of qualified specialist teachers in the practical arts and science subjects. The lack of adequate facilities and equipment may also cause some problems.

Obstacles to Change

Finally, we shall now consider some of the obstacles to change in attempts to reform the Educational System.

One must be aware of the fact that throughout the history of modern education in Ghana some reforms have been planned or proposed for the improvement of education — either in the field of curriculum or instruction or in the structuring of the entire system; all attempts have ended on drawing boards and in official documents with­ out their outcomes ever becoming implemented. And if implemented at all, they did not bring about the desired results. A series of recommendations for innovations in the educational system of Ghana have been made especi­ ally after independence which have been accepted by the 162 government but most of these recommendations have not been successfully carried out.

According to the lastest Education Committee's

Report, the main problem has been that of the lack of effective implementation of these recommendations be­ cause of certain factors that work against educational innovations in our society. (Dzobo Report, 1972, p.5)

There exists a discripancy between the ambitious aims and plans or policies for change and the indifferent means for implementing them. This and other factors of resistance to educational innovations are the causes for the disparity between policy statements and prac­ tical results affecting the educational enterprise in

Ghana.

One major factor which has impeded developments in

Ghana and especially those affecting education in the post-independence era is the lack of political stability.

The country has since 1966 experienced rapid changes of governments, due to internal conflicts. The frequent government changes imply not only the reversals of pre­ vious policies but also some changes in administrative personnel. Government interventions in University affairs, especially during the Nkrumah regime and under the present military rule, all contributed to resistance to changes in education. 163

Administrative deficiencies are some of the major obstacles to successful implementation of innovations in education. The liaison between the Ministry of

Education and Culture and the other Government depart­ ments, especially Economic and Manpower Planning,

Health, Finance, and Social Welfare and Community De­ velopment are not streamlined. Lack of effective liaison between these ministries have hindered pro­ gress in the effective implementation of plans for edu­ cational change.

Extreme traditionalism involving values and reli­ gious beliefs among some sections of the Ghanaian society sometimes hinder innovations or change in educational development. These people especially the northerners are reluctant to deviate from some of their common practices and beliefs.

Other major factors which militate against inno­ vation in education which were reported by the 1972

Educational Committee on the new proposals of the

Structure and Content of Education for Ghana are as follows:

1. insufficient finances,

2. inadequate teacher training program,

3. administrative bureaucracy,

4. lack of adequate experience on the part of some teachers and educational administrators, 164.

5. administrative reticence,

6. the conservatism of the educational system as an establishment,

7. certain personalities and pressure groups that block the adoption of innovative proposals — some of these personalities are the decision makers at the level of the Ministry of Education and Government, Regional Officers, Heads of Educational Institutions, School Inspectors, the classroom teacher, and parents.

8. the conservatism of the public colonial attitude to and worship of elitist formal academic educa­ tion , and

9. inadequate innovations in textbooks reflecting curricula changes and other instructional materials.

Problems in Art Education

The vital role of art in education has been expressed in many literary writings and in speeches by politicians, educators and even some laymen. "Art is a way of living" and the mores of the people are reflected in their art.

(Everett, 1935, p.38) But the narrow concept of art which is held by most people virtually excluded it as a vitali­ zing force in contemporary and technological civilization.

In the Western world some authors, such as John

Dewey, Lowenfeld, and June McFee, have objected to such a divorce of art from the modern life and have expressed some ideas which relate the arts to modern civilization, but the majority have virtually adopted the non-functional art theory, "Art is for Art's Sake." (Everett, 1935, p.39) 165

One of the chief difficulties in any attempt to develop in America a functional art which would exert a driving force somewhat comparable to economic motives has been the confusion among artists, art teachers, and art patrons as to the scope and place of art in a machine culture. Shall art include photography and the cinema

. . . . ? Shall art include machines. . . .? Can machine made products — steel railway cars, automobiles, furni­ ture, implements, household utensils, clothing — be con­ sidered art? Or shall art be limited to such conven­ tionally recognized fields as music, painting, sculpture, architecture, and our relatively few handicraft products?

The answers to these questions have thus far been overwhelmingly in favor of limiting art to the conven­ tionally recognized art and art-craft fields. (Everett,

1935, pp.35-36)

The African conception of art and artist is quite different from that of the West. While the West sets both the artists and the arts apart from the rest of life, in Africa they are both integral parts of the society.

Arts form an integral part of African traditional life as it is in other non-technological societies. The arts are a life provoking force in the traditional com­ munities. The arts are functional and they play a vital role in the social, economic, religious, political, and 166

the entire cultural life of the African people. The arts are enjoyed by all. The western distinction between

"arts" and "crafts" artists and craftsmen is not usually relevant in African traditional societies.

All African arts reflect the structure of society in some degree. The arts serve as cultural mirrors.

They have always responded to changes in the society. In the second half of the 20th century, the arts in Africa have been changing more rapidly than ever before. As society changes the occasions when traditional art forms are required become less frequent; but they are replaced by a new kind, to which African artists are responding.

With the emergence of political independence in Africa from colonial clutches, education in the arts becomes one of the pre-occupations of governments in their at­ tempts to advance their rich artistic cultural heritage.

Ghana is very fortunate to be endowed with much cultural resources for education in the arts. The artistic culture everywhere is profound; rich cultural dances, festivals, social and religious ceremonies and other cultural activities, sculpture, jewelry-making and leatherworks, all these are functionally operative in the life of the people.

The establishment of cultural centers, museums and galaries, and the creation of a National Arts Council show government support in the nation's effort to project 167 the concept of "African Personality" through the arts.

The creation of a special "Ministry of Education and

Culture" as a wing of government signifies the importance the government attaches to the development of cultural % studies including the arts and demonstrates in no mean terms the desire to Africa's renaissance.

"Art and Crafts," music and dance, are among the subjects to be taught in schools and colleges. Syllabi are prepared for them. African Studies is a compulsory course of study for all first-year undergraduates in Ghana.

These educational programs are provided in contemporary education so that students may become more aware of their cultural heritage and to effectively contribute to the advancement of African civilizations. They are also meant to assist them to effect "their own personal and individual synthesis of the many influences that affect their culture." The schools are, therefore, called upon to create and to develop artists and audience as well.

Educational objectives in Ghana reflect these.

Many educational commisions, dating back from the

Phelps-Stokes1 Commission's era in the 1920's recom­ mendations, have stressed the teaching of practical subjects, including traditional "arts and crafts."

The 1967 Educational Review Committee's report indicated inter-alia, 16 8

1) Education should assist in nurturing the capacity of the individual to use his senses with ad­ vantage to himself and others; to cultivate those emotions that are worthy and responsible; and to

"foster a spirit that is sensitive and responsive to the ideals of truth, beauty, goodness and love.

[Emphasis added.]

2) Education should provide suitable learning experiences in as practical way as possible, so that the individual can:

a) use all available means of communication

including languages and art, to express himself

intelligently and creatively. . . . [Emphasis

added.]

b) understand his changing environment and

intercultural heritage in an age of science

and technology, and appreciate their role as

instruments for enriching the life of the

community in which he lives, (p.2) [Emphasis

added.]

However, these educational objectives are not fully pursued in the schools and colleges. So far as education in the arts are concerned much remains to be done. There are many problems and obstacles that hinder the effective development of the arts in the schools and colleges. 169

For a very long time now, the arts have not been popu­ lar school subjects despite policy pronouncements in their favor. But because the school had developed as an island, insulated from the traditional culture, "school art" has not a strong base in the curriculum or in the school life; this in spite of the fact that "the arts form the focus or the mirror of African culture." It is usually complained that the colonial education has

"estranged" the student from his own culture. Fafunwa has said:

African schools have already produced too many people who today shun their own art and music because they thing it is "pagan," "fetish," and "illiterate,". . . . (1967, p.75)

He had also revealed that

the teaching of music and art in African schools is still considered a "frill" by many an educator. Yet there is hardly any other subject through which the artistic and creative genius of a people can be more easily expressed and perpetuated. (p.74)

Many "schooled people" view art education as "the teaching of drawing and painting," as simple as that.

They also harbor some false assumptions about artistic expressions and experiences; aesthetic education they claim — is meant for only a few gifted or talented indi­ viduals. These misconceptions and false assumptions about the nature of art and art education do not encourage the development of art education in the schools — they hinder it! 170

On the question of the difficulties in accepting the functionality of art in this "age of science and technology — the machine civilization" we may pose this question which is often asked when some African brains gather to find solutions to Africa's economic and social development: Have the arts any practical solution to our quest for development in this Space Age? Many people find it very difficult to readily demonstrate the role the arts can play in Ghana's modernization programs. They can only think of science and technology which they con­ sider are divorced from the realm of art. One of the most serious decisions ever made which affects education in

Ghana was the one announced by the Committee of Vice-

Chancellors on University education that "as from the

1976-1977 academic year students whose field fall outside the "priority" areas will have to seek their own accom­ modation and feeding arrangements. ..." The "priority" courses include agriculture, building technology, engi­ neering, geology, physical and biological sciences and medicine. Others include mathematics, statistics, ac- countanting, business management, economics, French and

English. The article concludes:

This means that students of the liberal arts and some social sciences will have to suffer because of the emphasis on "priority" subjects. The arts were already 171

out! Since time immemorial opportunities for the

students interested in the arts have been limited in

Ghana's education. English Language, Mathematics, and

the "Science subjects" (the academic subjects) have

always been emphasized while the arts have always been

relegated to a secondary position when it comes to

"grading school subjects that demand more attention."

This obviously demonstrates the plight of the arts in

education in Ghana — whither art? They are degraded

or benigned subjects.

Another aspect about the whole educational system

* which creates more problems for art education is the

Academic Nature of the Curriculum of Schools. The

emphasis on the so called "academic subjects" in Ghana's

educational system has brought about the suppression

of the program in art education. The critically exami­

nable subjects in the schools and teacher training col­

leges excludes the arts. Most of the students always

make sure that they spend almost all their private study

time on the "emphasized subjects." Fufunwa has pointed

out that "the amount and sort of music and art taught

are conditioned by the demands of the examination sylla­

bus." In many Ghanaian secondary schools, especially in

the private ones, art is not taught at all. 172

Yet Connant and Randall (1-959) affirm:

Art is an integral part of education and life. Art education has become recognized as a field which contributes richly to the total experience of the child, without art, and art teachers to guide children's experiences no school curriculum is complete. (p.24)

The great philosopher, A.E. Whitehead, in his book

Aims of Education writes:

You cannot without loss ignore in the life of the spirit so great a factor as art. Our aesthetic emotions provide us with vivid apprehensions of values; if you maim these, you weaken the force of the whole system of spiritual appre­ hensions. If the aim of education is the development of the whole personality, and if art is the supreme and mature subject which fosters this development, one cannot arbitrarily refuse its urgent demands. Furthermore, history shows us than an efflorescence of art is the first activity of nations on the road to civilization.

Ghana's rich cultural arts could achieve more world respect for her than anything else as a nation.

Is it, therefore, not sad that such a serious decision as omitting the arts as potential subjects rather than to be heavily supported in institutions of higher education?

The ever increasing and perpetual shortage of qualified teachers in Ghanaian schools and colleges is greatly felt in the area of arts education. Art and

Crafts, music and dance on the timetable of elementary schools are generally taught by ordinary classroom 17 3 teachers. While it is recognized that the art teacher's role is crucial, demanding concentrated professional preparation and experience in the area — the broad field of art education and "creative teaching", according to Dewey, most of the teachers who teach art in our schools are handicapped in various ways. Their methods of teaching are dictatorial, imposing their ideas on the studying without leaving any room for freedom and self expression. Some classroom teachers use the arts periods to do other things they consider more important.

In the secondary schools, specialist art teachers, most of whom with diplomas, offer some effective teaching. i Some of them are over-burdened with too much work — teaching load. Most of the schools have only one art teacher. Only the "high class" schools we talked about earlier are able to employ more than one art teacher.

Music is another subject which suffers due to lack of trained personnel.

The institutions of higher learning are not able to upgrade their courses by offering Master's and doctorate degree programs in the arts because of the lack of "professional" lecturers in the arts. The outstanding students of the University of Science and Technology,

Kumasi, for example, are offered scholarships to pursue further studies in the arts because of lack of qualified trained staff to direct the post-graduate programs. 174

The lack of sufficient equipment and materials create problems for the successful teaching of art, music and related subjects. This equipment and materials in­ clude furniture, tools, audio-visual aids, paints, colors, and even paper. One of the most serious handicaps is the lack of good textbooks for the various subjects.

Local textbooks in the arts are few so most of the literary materials have to be ordered from overseas. The use of local materials are not fully explored. But it is assumed that a lot of art and craft materials could be obtained locally instead of importing them.

The Problem of Content Development for Art Education — "The Need to Conceive of the Teaching of Art Within the Context of Twentieth Century Dynamics."

Most of the arts programs in the schools and col­ leges are considered out of tune with the present day realities

Given a greater sense for the changing forms and styles in the traditions of art, made more aware of the changing pur­ poses and values motivating the creation of new materials and images, today's artist is, at once, faced with an infinity of possi­ bility and the responsibility of his own choice. (Ghana, 1975, p.

New developments in African music due to foreign influences should serve as guides. The present challenges in our development programs due to the emergent needs of 175 society presupposes changes in the curricula and this poses a challenge to curriculum developers and teachers.

What should be included or extracted to or from the old syllabus involves great problem solving. The role of the arts in technological advancement which calls for much involvement on the part of art educators and all persons interested in the arts find that solving problems also creates more difficulties. In sum, the problem becomes: How best can we direct art education programs to make a contribution to national development — a crucial question indeed.

Elitism and Educational Change

Many people are asking why Ghana's educational system has not changed with the times but still perpetuates the colonial elements despite constant criticisms.

By far the most difficult problem in the way of edu­ cational change is elitism. Elitism wields a pervasive influence over all forms of change in Ghana's educational system. The elite class has not been encouraging education in the arts. Most children of high socio-economic and educated class are not encouraged to take courses in art education serious at all. They often look down upon their mates who major in the arts. Even the learning of

Ghanaian languages in school is an abomination. 176 Walter Bledge puts it this way:

A lot of "language" is learned to justify the view that school language is different from community language. . . . A lot of music is dangled before the eyes (not ears) to enable the student to play a Beethoven piece on the piano, but not to help him understand the poetry being poured out from a drummer's talking drum at a festival; that kind of music is too naive to be school music. (Bledge, 1972, p.6)

The dislocation of departments of art is creating problems in the attempt to integrate the arts. The decompartmentalizing of the arts and locating them in separate institutions is considered not advantageous for successful development of arts education in higher education. Originally, the three Universities were created individually to perform specific and unique tasks for manpower development. Throughout the years, some controversies have been created through the duplications and overlapping of courses. For example, the Ghana School of Music and Drama is part of the

University of Ghana, Legon; while the College of Art at U.S.T. Kumasi, offers courses in fine art, indus­ trial art, and a postgraduate diploma in "art education for prospective teachers." Also at the latter College, the Department of Architecture is entirely separated from the College of Art. It seems this disintegration and dislocation of the various art programs have followed

European patterns and attempts to reassemble all the 177 art programs in higher institutions at one place as proposed by Nkrumah will be reconsidered due to the complaints coming up.

The compartmentalization of subjects and the rigid traditional attitude towards subjects on the syllabus meant that the individual was imprisoned within the knowledge he acquired, and this is one of the problems in education in the arts especially at the university level. Especially art teachers need to have basic knowledge about the arts and the necessary skills to teach many of them.

The Problem of Lack of Adequate Research in Art Education

There is no well-organized research into art education by Ghanaian authors at the moment. Kwabena

Nketia has done some research on African art and music with no pedagogical materials. In order to successfully develop good art education programs, we have to carry out research into the teaching and learning in art education. We will have to research all the problem areas before we can satifactorily find solutions to them.

Kwapong has pointed out: "Good quality research produces good quality teaching." 178

Summary

The identification of these problems to which no adequate solution has yet been found makes it easier to form a clearer idea of the actual situation in the educational system of Ghana. There is no doubt, the problems in art education reflect those in general education. From the foregoing chapter we have become more familiar with the consequences of the uncontrolled expansion of the various sectors of formal education in

Ghana.

The identification of the problems have also revealed the needs of education in Ghana which have to be satisfied in our quest for national development which range from adaptation of the curricula to cultural needs which call for reconstruction of aims and content of education, to the need for research into learning and teaching techniques which will guide us to produce the environment for "productive living."

The most important revelation in this chapter is that formal education alone is not responsible for these problems enumerated. Rather, the root cause of most of them can be traced to the nature of society and the values shared by the people. What is more, the popular assump­ tions held about the close relationship between formal education and economic development has been proved 179 faulty. Though formal education has had immense impact in Ghana, it has been revealed that the schools have not functioned in the manner intended by educational planners.

This chapter, therefore, seems to be a crucial one for it indirectly reveals the requirements of edu­ cation and provides the ground for finding some strate­ gies and solutions for the problems in General education and especially for education in the arts in our endeavors to innovat.e the educational system to make it more respon­ sive to national development in Ghana.

The main point that has been revealed in this chap­ ter is that the educational system is not successfully fuffilling the demands imposed on it by the society.

Instead of serving the needs of all its clients, it is only providing more elitist type of education to suit only the

"fortunate few."

It seems the changes that are expected in education are not happening as quickly as desired. The curriculum reforms which have so far been made have not been effect­ ively implemented. This may be due to conservative leadership among the elite who want to perpetuate the

"colonial" system which has served them so well.

But the country can not afford to continue spending about a third of its budget to support an 180 educational system which is supposed to contribute to national development to run counter to its social, eco­ nomic and cultural priorities.

In the next chapter we shall discuss alternatives to the present system and find ways to innovate it and make it more related to the needs of all individuals and society. CHAPTER FIVE

STRATEGIES FOR INNOVATING GHANA'S EDUCATION

Toward a Theory of Education For Cultural Change and Development; Closing the Techno-Cultural Gap

We have already indicated that this study is basically concerned with the role of education in Ghana's national development. It is intended that a discussion be orga­ nized in this chapter on the extent to which education can contribute to the desirable cultural change that Ghana needs for modernization.

From the analysis of the preceding chapter it becomes clear that the present educational system has become dysfunctional in meeting the needs of modern Ghana. Time has now come when people involved in the development of education are looking for new strategies of effecting change in the system so that it can serve better the needs of individuals and society.

The chapter is composed of four sections. The intro­ ductory part describes a theoretical model of education based upon the need to bring about desirable cultural change in Ghana. The framework is based on "the dynamics

181 182 of cultural change which some well-known social scien­ tists have recently addressed themselves. The focus is on blending traditional and modern elements which are considered essential for cultural development in Ghana.

The second section will provide a discussion on a strategy for innovating the present educational system for national development. This strategy is considered under the philosophy of reconstructionism which is de­ velopment-oriented and geared towards a more humane and democratic education which seeks to contribute to the development of individuals and society.

The third part will consider the role of ecjucation through the arts in national development. The need to evolve a synthesis between traditional and modern forms of art to promote cultural indentity as well as for modernization is discussed, and a curriculum model is developed to show how effectively and harmoniously ele­ ments of traditional and modern cultures could be inte­ grated in educational program to produce a cultural syn­ thesis to undergird development in Ghana.

The fourth section will deal with a strategy to ini­ tiate innovation in education through the arts and to attempt how best to generate a nationwide adoption of the model for other areas in general education.

In this chapter a philosophical inquiry is conduc­ ted into the relationship between education and development. 183

It deals with the issue of art as vital part of general education and it is haped that this will help point the way to solutions for some of the problems discussed in chapter four.

Ghana has been described as a traditional society.

Typologically, transitional societies were defined as standing between traditional and modern societies on indices of "modernization." Presumably such socieites constitute some special "stage" in the development of human societies in general. But beyond that, this concept had also a temporal historical or developmental connotation that stressed the tendencies and capacities inherent in these societies pushing them in the direction of modernity. (Eisenstadt, 1973, p.17)

The term social or cultural change, industrialization, modernization.and development in sociological analysis are often used synonymously in this chapter to describe kinds of innovation that are intended.

Theories of cultural change invariably point out that all societies undergo cultural change, but the means by which they adopt, respond and adapt to innova­ tions may vary. Barnett, for example, defines innova­ tion as "any thought, behavior or thing that is new because it is qualitatively different from existing forms." (Barnett, 1953, p.7) Generally social scientists, maintain, that the materials for all innovations within a society come from two major sources: (1) The cultural inventory, which includes all the ideas that belong to a parti­ cular ethnic group or others; and (2) The non­ artificial elements within the experience of the innovative people in a particular ethnic group. Exo­ genous sources of culture change is also expressed by modern social scientists. For example, George Foster states that "notwithstanding the importance of local innovation and discovery, the major force of cultural change is borrowing. Contact people socieites is the single greatest determinate of culture change." (1962, p.25)

Sorokin provides reasons why cultural change occurs.

First, he describes how sociocultural phenomena tend not to be static, and why sociocultural changes do not pursue a uniform linear or cyclincal course, but instead ex­ hibit varying rhythms and tempos. In a nutshell, he claims that "Change is an inherent property for all functioning systems." He continues to say: "Whether a system is scientific or religious, aesthetic or phi­ losophical, whether it is represented by a family, a business firm, an occupational union or a state, it bears within itself seeds of incessant change, which mark 185

every action and reaction even in a fixed environment."

(See also W.E. Moore and R.M. Cook (eds.), 1967, pp.

68-69.)

Lurie characterizes culture change as continuous.

Culture change is crescive, building upon itself. Whatever shortcomings existed in the bald revolutionary scheme of bar­ barism from savagery to civilization, and criteria of progress such as the bow, agri­ culture and writing, they established a habit of anthropological thought to expect a change to follow from preceding conditions. Whether change is thought of in highly localized terms of a given culture, or in regard to overall sequence, it is a logical and continuing pro­ cess depending upon a pre-existing cultural inventroy. (Clifton, 1968, p.277)

In discussing the direction of modernization in

Ghana we must bear in mind that we are dealing with a peculiar problem of social history because Ghana's contact with Europe has brought about a great cultural change. Levy claims that once a relatively non-modern society comes into contact with a relatively modernized one, the previous indigenous patterns always change, and they always change in the direction of the patterns of the relatively modernized society. (Moore & Cook,

1967, pp.189-190)

In Chapter Two we noted that "the willingness of a particular African people to accept change can be

assessed by their early or late acceptance of Western

style schooling." This view is supported by 186

Malinowski/ who sets out certain specific principles for the study of culture change, and states that modern education is a part of the process of culture change.

(Cowan, et al. (eds.), 1966, p.356)

Education in its broadest sense is a process of cultural contact. All individuals whether children or adults, learn and by so doing ac­ quire an education, through contact with such sources of culture as books, personalities, social and political institutions, historical sites and monuments. (Cowan, et al.(eds.), 1965, p.351) Read provides six stages in the cultural contact process as a working hypothesis. It describes the

stages as a continuum ranging from external cultural

resistance to acceptance and utilization. The sixth

stage in the cultural contact between the British and

Africa is illustrated by a "process of constructive­

ness" making use of the new selections by Africans of

elements in their traditional culture which they wished

to incorporate in the educational system.

In transitional societies, "the balance between preservation and innovation is constantly shifting." There is taking place a rapid absorption 'of some of the elements of the technological culture of western industrial coun­ tries. These countries consequently exhibit marked contrasts of "traditional and "modern" culture, accompanied by efforts on the part of the state to transform their educational systems in order to equip their populations 187 with the learning necessary to exploit the new culture that is being imported from Europe and America and other countries such as Japan, Russia and China. (Unesco,

1975, p.17)

Modern Western education has been a continuous and persistent feature of culture change in Ghana.

There is little doubt that the West and Christianity have been destructive of African culture. Even today, the need to borrow from the West hurts self-esteem of the African intelligentia. (Cowan, et al.(eds.), 1966, p.39)

However, we should be mindful of the great debt that

Africa owes to missionaries, for in a situation in which the forces of economic exploitation, colonialism, and imperialism as well as "the missions themselves were creating havoc, it was the missions that began to re­ build and gave them a chance to rebuild? (Cowan, et al.

(eds.), 1966, p.235)

The acculturation that has gone on in many African countries has created ambivalence among some "elites."

They are said to live in two worlds. Some foreign ob­ servers have expressed the situation in which they find some educated Africans as culturally disturbing and conflicting. Sir Eric Ashby writes:

For an African the impact of a university education is something inconceivable to a European. It separates him from his family and his village .... It stretches his nerves between two systems of ethnics, 188 two horizons of thoughts. . . . Like many other outsiders, he asserts that many of the cultural tenets of the West :— com­ petition, obedience to the clock, indi­ vidualism and all the social philosophy which goes with science and technology are anathema to traditional African society. (Hutchins, 1968, p.48)

Hutchins, on the problems of importing alien cul­ ture, calls into question the proposal by the late Nkrumah that "our whole educational system must be geared to producing a scientifically technological people," and relates this idea to the slogan of the Meiji restorers in Japan many decades ago which was "Western Science —

Eastern Morality." He asks whether such a combination is possible. He points out*that

No one would claim that a synthesis has been achieved; the two cultures coexist uneasily. . . . A schizo­ phrenia situation of this kind is bound to be unstable. (Hutchins, 1968, p.46)

A profound incongruence lays at the heart of the imported educational system in Ghana as it is in most

African countries. (See Fafunwa, 1967, pp.4-5) Ocaya-

Lakidi and Mazuri describe this maladjustment as a techno-cultural gap of the Western heritage in Africa.

(Brown & Hiskett, eds., 1975, p.279)

Foster asserts that

Every society exhibits pathological and disintegrated aspects which are inevita­ ble consequences of social change. (Foster, 1965, p.165) 189

Sometimes these observers seem to exaggerate matters. We may agree with Goody, when he writes:

Sociologists and anthropologists appear to be increasingly committed to a hypothesis that culture change increases "individual anxieties", emotional malaise! (Foster, 1965, p.174)

In Ghana, cultural ambivalence exists, but not to the extent that some social scientists may claim.

The culture of present day Ghana is not only an aggregate of diverse traditional forms but also a composite of old and new, indigenous and foreign. (Ghana, 1975', p. 16)

Fafunwa, throws some light on the concept of living in two worlds in Africa — traditional and scientific technological cultures. The African is operating in both these worlds as best as he can. Any individual faced with a similar problem anywhere would possibly respond in the same way as the African, es­ pecially if the individual were not adequately pre­ pared to cope with these conflicting realities of life

(Fafunwa, 1967, p.5)

He criticizes those who erroneously charge that the average African is either incapable of the scien­ tific attitude of mind or that it will take him count­ less generations to acquire it as a form of logical reasoning. There is no doubt that culture is learned; according to Fafunwa and other educators, knowledge is not inborn or inherited. The scientific attitude 190

can be acquired as a way of life, in the same way as

socialism, capitalism and communism and the like are

injected into the society as a way of life. (Fafunwa,

1967, p.5)

Eisenstadt, in making a comparative study of modernization in contemporary societies in general and

in "developing" societies in particular declares:

The most general and common problem attendant on modernization. . . is the ability to develop and maintain an institutional structure capable of absorbing changes beyond its own initial premises and dealing with continuously new and changing problems while also developing qualities of participation, liberty, and some degree or types of rationality. . (1973, p.210)

It is often said that in the pre-colonial Africa,

there were appearances of cultural stability. According

to Levy, Jr., those non-modernized societies were not necessarily well adjusted, and highly integrated socie­

ties devoid of internal pressures. Some of them were in various stages of change . . .

the pre-existing patterns were such that elements of stress and strain were powerfully controlled — not because they were absent. (Moore & Cook, 1967, p.196)

The problem we should devote much attention now is how best can we direct, control, and cope with the rapid changes in the Ghanaian society? We have assumed that it is mainly through education that we can do this. 191

Looking back at what has happened in education, we may

agree with Lewis's remark that the principles of the

1925 memorandum are still valid for Africa and only need

to be applied to changing circumstances. To remind our­

selves, the memorandum is summarized thus:

Education should be adapted to local conditions in such a manner as would enable it to conserve all sound elements in the local traditions and the social organiza­ tions, while also functioning as an instru­ ment of progress and change. (Lewis, 1762, p.86)

To continue blindly copying practices obtained else­ where without regard to local realities is to stultify

social growth and creative genius of the people. With

regard to the culture, it is the job of the school to

build into the personality of the young the selected

aspects of the culture, these are imperatives. Each cul­

ture has its own values, methods of training the young

ones, its health habits, mores, family relations and so

on. The society itself is dynamic and is therefore sub­

ject to change. It is the job of the school to equip

the child for effective participation in his changing

society.

In support of this idea Meier writes thus:

The educational system designed for the transition cannot solve the problems of each person passing through it nor can it transmit generalized rules for be­ havior in the new age, but it can give a foretaste of some of the new situations 192

that will be encountered. It can reduce the confusion experienced by so many young people who are living through the transition period. (Meier, 1962, p.264)

Hutchins (1968) proposes that for education to become humane a child has to learn the language of his people,. . . . He has to understand too, the tradition in which he lives, (p.71) He believes that all men are capable of learning. He further states that

The republic a true res publiaa, can maintain justice, peace, freedom, and order only by the exercise of intelligence, (p.72)

In this world of rapid change the type of intelligence greatly needed can be defined as the ability to make successful and rapid adaptation to new situations and to learn from experience. (Battle, 1969, p.19)

This is indeed what our education should promote, as its goal in contributing to national development.

Intelligence must be defined so that it can serve efficiently the present era, an era in which man is demanding more democracy and one in which techno­ logy offers him a chance for more complete intellectual and spiritual fulfillment. . . . It is possible that this can be done if much of the instruction in the school is based on culture. (Battle, 1969, p.51)

There is much to be derived from our traditional culture to be included in our educational programs that will make immense contribution to human development and human spirit. 193

If contemporary education is to meet the chal­ lenges of the present and the future, it must help mankind to become more intellectual and more humane.

To do this it will have to relate itself more directly to life outside its own walls. (Battle, 1969, p.35)

He finally declares that a culturally based educational program can better serve students "by deepening the quality of their concern and helping them to give better service to the contemporary world." These words were spoken about American education but it means even more to Ghana's development.

Going back on the question of solving our educa- i tional problems which deal with culture change, some politicians and educators advocate for "return to traditional system." The concepts of Negritude

"Africanness" and African personality and some kind of indoctrination such as the development of African consciousness has produced a cadre of intellectuals who want a retreat to the African past. Amanuke's

Ph.D. (1977) dissertation is in that direction. Amanuke's dissertation deals with Education in the Arts which em­ phasizes the arts of the cultural past and fails to consider the cultural gap between the past and the pre­ sent. But we cannot agree completely with them. We can make use of the past for our present and future 194 development/ but we need not attempt to relive the past. This is an impossibility. While using the sound elements of our cultural heritage we need also to learn how to get the most from the technological society and to remedy the weaknesses in our society.

Meier draws attention to the need for cultural integration for development. The call for the return to the old virtues and the quest for adopting the scien­ tific and technological attitudes, and skills needed for our determination and inherent conflicts. He asserts that the industrialization program cannot escape the friction between these two sets of cultural interests and those of the new bourgeoisie. Out of this conflict a synthesis can be expected a style which is definitely a hybrid of the old with the new, the native with the foreign. The themes may be expected to appear first in the universities, trade schools and art circles, (p.258)

The Need for Change

There is no doubt that the present educational sys­ tem has not been very effective in helping to meet the needs of Ghana. Time has come when the people involved in the development of education are looking for strate­ gies to effect change in the system so that the lag between education and society could be bridged. 195

In this chapter we shall attempt to find a more dynamic means of developing the educational system to become more relevant to the social, economic and cultural development of the nation.

Janne writing the preface to Fragniere's book,

Creative Education, states:

When society finds itself on the threshhold of changes, education ceases to be a mere reproduction of the past: it becomes creative.

This conception of the transforming role of education is summarized by Fragniere as follows:

. . . the critical impact of knowledge, with its ability not only to transform the physical environment but also to call in question the structure of society and how it functions, is by nature revo­ lutionary and a source of social change. At the present time it is this hypothesis of the educational system as an agent of transformation which is being verified, (p.28)

In the preceding chapter, we became familiar with the problems facing education. We did realize also that some of these problems are societal problems. It has been expressed in various ways by the leaders in Ghana, the press, and other prominent organizations, "the need for change directed towards the development of the human and material resources of the country." Time has come when the educational system is being called upon to be an agent of change. But the present education system is proven ineffective in contributing to the change needed. It is out of tune with present cultural realities in Ghana.

That education that does not take fully into account the cultural realities of the lives of the people will either stand helpless and empty-handed, or it will do positive harm. . . . (Brembeck & Hanson, 1966, p.225)

A more dynamic system of education must be evolved

It must recognize the nature of the society in which people stand rootless between the "old” and.the "new". It must prepare them for change. Most importantly it must prepare them to control change, drive it into con­ structive channels and use it to human betterment. (Brembeck & Hanson, 1966, p.225)

What is mostly needed now in Ghana is leadership and a guiding philosophy.

The most widely affirmed contribution of philosophy to educational development is its contribution to expanded awareness, to enlarged consciousness of various dimensions of meaning and values as these affect the beliefs and choices of men, to widen consciousness of alternatives in human con­ duct and in rationales for human conduct. (Benneth (ed.), 1966, p.140)

A Unesco Report (1977) points out

The search for authentic cultural sources from which to derive firm guidelines for renewing education or better still, for creating truly relevant education systems, is one of the most striking trends in the present history of education. (Hummel, 1977, p.175)

The Ghanaian society is groping in this transi­ tional period and needs a breakthrough in its "under­ development." A new kind of society that would rest 197 on humanistic values (rather than focusing on material values, creating forces of rivalry and aggression and which encourages exaggerated consumption) should be our hope and goal.

The need to find a way out of the labryrinth of ills of "the production and consumption" society is one of the justifications for advocating a "learning society." (Dave, 1976, p.344.)

To revert the present social, economic, political and cultural problems in Ghana demands a new kind of society — a revolutionary, if you like, and "learning society" whose educational institutions are development- oriented. For "continued development along the 'colonial lines' can only spell disaster." Consequently, a new look at the system of education in Ghana must be under­ taken with a view of mapping out completely new guide­ lines.

. . . partial reforms will not in general be adequate, even if they are major ones. We must innovate and envisage fundamental alternatives to the very concepts and structures of education. (Learning to Be, 1972, p.180)

Indeed, a developing country like Ghana which now finds itself in the throes of social, political, and cultural crisis, needs a "cultural revolution" — a peaceful one as in Tanzania to quickly bring about 198 national unity# peace and progress. Education should be a dynamic force in this process.

Part of Tanzania's revolution is an educational revolution. Education plays a role in producing the skills needed for development and is now called upon to make an important contribution to the' building of a socialist state. In order to do so, however, there is need for a revolution in Tanzania's educational system. (Resnick, (ed.), 1968, p.3)

In this context, the term education is broadly considered; it is no more synonymous with "schooling" as most people perceive it. It will be conceived with­ in the concept of life long education.

Education is viewed as a continuing process guided by the over-riding goal of improving quality of life.

It is a comprehensive and unifying idea which

includes formal, non-formal and informal patterns of learning through­ out the life-cycle of an individual for the conscious and continuous en­ hancement of quality of life, his own and that of his society. (Dave, 1976, p.11)

The urgent need for a renewal and resurgence of the spirit of man calls for a revolutionary transforma­ tion of education along with the development of creations.

The concept of lifelong education arises from a growing crisis of contemporary civilizations; lifelong education is required to fulfill the need of contemporary man to 199 control, adapt and create the relevant technology and social organization for a new quality of life and for a meaningful quest for more effective and appropriate values of the spirit. (Dave, 1976, p.98)

Rogers has stated that Educational Revolution is

"desirable and necessary." In fact, it is urgent that change becomes the central element and aim of American education. He writes:

The plan I am advocating for, necessitates an approach that views change not merely as a static here to a static there but a continuing process that is fluid, adap­ tive, and, in effect, a continuing con­ structive turmoil. (Goulet, ed., 1968, p.120)

So should it be in Ghana’s education.

On the importance of revolutionalizing education,

Rustin reminds us: "Violence is frozen, revolution is upon us." He goes on to ask the following questions about relations between education and a revolutionary society:

- What will be the role of education in this revolution? - Will it be a posthumous "cleaning up of the mess," a belated, makeshift attempt to adjust to the new world, or - Will it be a completely designed blueprint for a moral and intellectual re-orientation?

If educators select the first alternative, it would be well to provide oneself with a survival kit. If they select the second, they should start now to formulate plans for a very different world. (Umans, 1971, p.163) 200

We have opted for the second alternative. It is

our belief that it is very painful to wait for change

to overwhelm any society. We must be prepared for change.

We must get the gadgets with which to adopt to the

anticipated social, economic and political problems that

will be experienced in the future. We must also pre­

pare for the unanticipated problems with the skills to

adapt to them.

The problem of the future consists of defining

one's priorities and making the necessary commitment.

If we must prepare the individual for a world that is

constantly changing and unpredictable, correlatively we must develop individuals who will be able to cope

with change, who will be flexible and adaptive, who will

learn how to learn, and who will thus be able to learn

continuously. (Umans, 1971, p.164)

Development in all dynamic countries show that

education is essentially the base of all sources of

change.

Without it there will be change, of course, but also the possibility of chaotic change brought on by the lack of understanding of the process, and planning for it.

Our problem is how to direct some of this change con­

sciously. There exists a host of theories of social

change which are relevant but we don't intend to discuss 201 them fully here. However, let us briefly discuss the

concept of planned change. In discussing strategies

for affecting change, we are talking about broad plans,

the over-all design for gaining acceptance.

Chin, in his analysis of the strategy of change,

refers to two types of technologies: "thing technolo­

gy" and "people technology."

As attempts are made to introduce these new

"thing technologies" into school situations, the change problem shifts to the human problems of dealing with

the resistances, anxieties, threats to morale, con­

flicts, disrupted interpersonal communication etc., which prospective changes in patterns of practice evoke in the people affected by the change. (Umans,

1971, p.75)

The problem of change in human behavior also leads

to the problem of diffusion. Everet M. Rogers classi­

fies diffusion in the following steps: "awareness,

interest, evaluation, trial and adoption."

Towards a New Conceptualization of the Relationship Between Education and Development

The central question here is: Where do we now

stand in understanding and employing education as a means of development in Ghana? It is worthwhile quoting

Dean Rusk when he said, 202 Education is not a luxury which must be afforded after development has occurred; it is an integral part, an inescapable and essential part, of the development process itself. (Hanson & Brenbeck, 1966, p.28)

Truly since 1951, Ghana's political leaders have always expressed an unqualified faith in education.

Education lies at the heart of Africa's development. It is one of the main levers for speeding up her advance in all spheres: . . . . Education is therefore . in a strategic position in our struggle for progress. (Ki-Zerbo, 1966, p.234)

In order to get further understanding of the inter­ relationship between education and development, we shall briefly analyze the two important concepts. In the first place let us consider education. In this study, we question the "fundamental dogma of modern educational systems according to which schools are the sole fountainhead of education." (Thomas, 1975, p.107) Schooling is a limited.aspect of education. In its broadest sense,

Dewey asserts that "education is life" and not prepara­ tion for life. Many people now equate education with

"learning," or "learning to become." "... learning involves all of one's life in the sense of both time- span and diversity." (Thomas, 1975, p.107) Ac­ cording to the International Commission on the Develop­ ment of Education,

education must be conceived of as a process in the human being, who thereby learns to express himself, to communi­ cate and to question the world, through his various experiences, and increasingly — all the time — to fulfill himself. Hence the title of the report: Learning to Be.

In this chapter we shall discuss fully the new

concept of life-long education and apply its salient

principles for our educational innovation. By con­

trast to what is known as schooling, life-long

education is "conceptualized as something that occurs

at all ages." Furthermore, it encompasses many kinds

of structures, formal, non-formal, and informal . . .

makes use of many different processes and patterns of learning other than the formal, structural, teacher

directed learning of the conventional classroom.

(Dave, (ed.), 1976, p.361)

One alternative is to view education as centrally

as a process of cultural reconstruction and renewal,

to use Professor Brameld's terms. The philosopher,

Whitehead has pointed out:

There is only one subject matter for education and that is life in all its manifestations. (Battle, 1964, p.18)

We may turn to the anthropologist's definition

of education which is always expressed in broad terms.

Education is referred to an "enculturation." By en-

culturation they mean the processes partly passive

and unintentional through which "individuals acquire 204

the attitudes and propensities, linguistic or other­ wise, that characterize them as mature members of

various social groups." (Barnett, 1966, p.11) Culture

and education are seen here as closely linked, "they

are two facets of one and the same reality."

Now let us examine the term development which

carries with it various tags. Development, as an

evolutionary concept, has captured much attention from

social thinkers and scientists especially during the past

two decades. This term has diverse connotations; we shall

consider a few of them here. Progress, growth, change,

industrialization; these are some of its more frequent

meanings.

Harbison has written:

The slogan of the world wide revolution of rising aspirations is DEVELOPMENT; . . . . In many countries, development means industrialization. . . . The sociologists and political scientists tend to think of development as the process of modernization. . . . But to everyone, development means change requiring rapid innovation. In the end successful development depends upon making a society change — conscious. (Anderson & Bowman (eds.), 1965, p.229)

Guba and Clark consider "development" as improve­ ment-oriented change. (1974, p.9) On National Develop­ ment, Katz writes: 205 Development is a dynamic change of society from one stage of natural being to another, with the conno­ tation that the latter is preferable. (1965, p.2)

Barnett claims that development is the "awakening of awareness." He goes on to say that a society

will develop only as the individuals in it develop their true potential and are prepared to give themselves to social efforts to which they feel personally related and in which they feel they have some right to control their destinies. (1970, pp.28-29)

Goulet also maintains that the process of realizing basic human goals constitute development.

These goals are stated as "life insurance, esteem and freedom." And Curie, offers a comparable defini­ tion to Goulet's as "the achievement of certain quali­ ties in the society." He terms these qualities; safety, sufficiency, satisfaction and stimulus.

Probing further into these concepts of education and development, we are confronted with the critical issue of the inter-relationship between the developing educational system and other aspects of the development process. The question now becomes: To what extent is education related to development or nation building or simply to society?

There is nothing new about asking what role education plays in society. All philosophers who have 206 pondered over questions of education have done so from

Plato to Jean Jacques Rousseau, from Wilheim Humbold — who thought that the formation of a well organized personality . . . could not and should not take place except when removed from social constraints — to

John Dewey, who in his book Democracy and Education, considered that we were far from realizing all the constructive possibilities inherent in education as an agency for the improvement of society. (Hummel,

1977, p.124)

Hummel, points out:

the fact that relation between education and society, . . . have for some time been becoming a problem may mean that education is no longer as well integrated with society as in former times. But it may also mean as some claim, that the societies in question are in a state of crisis. (1977, p.124)

Ghana is in such a crisis!

Thomas confirms this when she states that the relationship between the education system and social structures now lie at the heart of most educational problems. She clearly points out that

This relationship does, not in any case, operate in one direction only because, although school to a large extent reflects the state of society, it is also a power­ ful element in social change or in national development. (Thomas, 1975, p.22)

Indeed, there is a dialectical tension between the two. Here, we cannot undertake an analysis in depth of the "complex” relations and interactions between education and society or attempt to sum up all the theories and ideologies which have dealt with this question during the last few decades.

However, we shall attempt to sketch a few out­ standing features of current thinking on this subject.

One of the most controversial questions, is whether education can change society or whether educational systems are entirely dependent on social systems — in which case it is necessary to change society in order to change education later on. (Hummel, 1977, p.125)

According to the first argument, "education is considered the fulcrum of Achimedes from which it is possible to move an entire society."

The other argument falls in tune with Marxist theory, according to which "an education system is a function and tool of the society which conceived it."

Prom this point of view, an educational system becomes an agent of control. Freire expresses this very forcibly:

There is a more or less widespread and naive belief in the power of institutionalized education in trans­ forming reality. . . it is not syste­ matic education which somehow molds society, but on the contrary, society, which, according to its particular struc­ ture, shapes education in relation to the needs and interests of those who control the power in society. (Hummel, 1977, p.127) In deciding what the prerequisite should be in emphasizing either educational change or social change for Ghana’s development we readily recognize a crucial problem. It has already been pointed out that the educational system is in crisis. All the same the social, economic and political systems of the country are in similar crisis. The country is experiencing very serious economic and social problems.

Despite the great potential resources the country has, both human and natural as well as the physical resources, no progress seems in sight within a decade to come. Added to the problem of braindrain, political instability, economic depression, is apathy, selfish­ ness, social ills such as bribary and corruption, and other forms of immorality which cannot even be mentioned here. The most controversial question is "Who is changing whom?"

An Akan proverb states: 'Okoto rewea3 neba rewea, hena na obegye obi taataa' (literally means "mother crab and child are both crawling who shall assist the other to walk upright?) Readily, one may conclude that neither the society, nor the educational system could easily influence change in the other. Notwithstanding the paradoxy of this situation which may be linked to the riddle of the "hen and the egg," brings home to us 209 the leadership role of education in nation building.

"Education," he claims, "is the prerequisite for de­ velopment. 11 Halsey points out that

education generates response to and is pressed by fundamental conflicts in the search for a modern identity for the new nations. (Unesco, 1975, p. 18)

Realizing the present situation in Ghana, we may be perfectly right in advocating for a kind of education that should be revolutionary in nature. It is education

which stimulates social awareness and public participation in tackling communal problems; it helps to increase the ability of each people to produce new ideas and create new resources and techniques; it should also facilitate the latter's utili­ zation in the interests of society as a whole. (Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, 1977, p.126)

In this case education becomes a prerequisite for development in Ghana. But as it has already been pointed out the present educational system which is a perpetuation of the "colonial" model is vulnerable in the presence of present socio-economic and cultural realities. It has not the power to effect change, hence the constant cry for change in the system.

It is interesting to note that the Director

General of Unesco in his message to the International

Education Year, observed that

the need for new human models, both for society and for the individual is making itself felt almost everywhere. And while inventions of such complexity may be beyond the power of education they would 210 be quite impossible. For, when all is said and done, no progress has reality or meaning for man except in so far as it is projected and reflected in his education.(Unesco, 1970, p.36)

It should be understood, however, that education is not the "cure all" of all social problems. Hutchins

(1968) points out:

It is futile to agree that a big push in education by itself is an adequate means of promoting the development objectives of a new country. It is equally futile to point to the great contribution which education has made in the more highly developed countries. . . . Certain allocations which may produce notable results in economically advanced countries may have virtually no impact on the rate of economic growth of newly developed countries, and in extreme cases, may even be conducive to a decline in the level of income. (p.42-43)

We can agree that there is no evidence that educa­ tion, which is conceived in its limited terms as

"schooling" or formal institutions of learning, will lead automatically to economic social and political develop­ ment in Ghana.

There can be no doubt that

education alone cannot serve to trigger the process of development, but it seems equally obvious that education is an essential factor in any development of a society. (Hummel, 1977, p.132)

Cole S. Brembeck has said,

That there is no magic in education, except we give it magic. Education can heal or kill, bind or 211

tear up, lift or deprave. It is an instrument that can be used for good or evil. (Brembech, 1966, p.233) How best can Ghana's education be redirected to become a capable contributor to national development?

This is the central problem of this study. "Although not all school reformers advocates want to be revolu­

tionary, most important educational reforms are originally based on a political will aimed at renovating

it."

The malfunction of much educational practice makes

renovation in education necessary. Changes in socio­ economic structures and the scientific and technological

revolution make it imperative. Scientific research

and technological progress related to education, com­

bined with growing awareness among the people of the world, make it possible. (Faure, et al., 1972, p.105)

Faure, here reminds us that continuous change in

all aspects of life is with us, due to the reciprocal

connection between society and education, because of the

technological revolution which places ever new demands

on education, since progress in these fields cannot be

sustained unless the educational system produces the manpower that is needed.

It is our belief that the educational system and

the society must both change for the attainment of 212 progress in the Ghanaian society- "Most educational innovations require social systems changes . . . if the intended consequences of the change are to occur/"

(Fuller, 1972, p.2) and this is what is being expected in Ghana.

The attribution to the paradox between education's conservative and innovative functions of responsibility for all or most of the most current educational ferment

"is perhaps to oversimplify the issues involved." But just as a major part of the great political debate in the Ghanaian society at present can be resolved into a

clash between conservative and revo­ lutionary forces, so can the roots of many educational issues be traced to similar practical and ideological issues.

David A. Goslin points out:

Responsive as they must be to the needs and desires of the society they serve educational institutions reflect society's indecisions and paradoxes. (1965, p.85)

It is hoped that by attempting to consider in a more or less systematic way the relationship between the various functions of education; — the formal and informal mechanisms by which influence is brought to bear on the administrative sector, teachers, parents, and students; and the pressing educational problems of our time, it will be possible to arrive at some useful suggestions for attacking these problems. 213

In trying to evolve a theory of education for development Hanson and Brembeck conclude:

We have learned not only to be skeptical of easy educational solutions or panaceas but also to be confident that education imagi­ natively conceived can play a critical role in the intricate process of de­ velopment. (1966, p.499)

Before we will be able to consider strategies for innovating our educational system, let us now, as a matter of relevance look into the needs of the Ghanaian society. This will help us to restructure the edu­ cational system to meet the needs and goals for national development.

In our quest for "cultural renaissance" in Africa as a whole, many factors to be considered as prerequisites come under educational development as they relate to the development of individual nations and citizens of

Africa. What are the national objectives to be pur­ sued; in other words, what are the national needs for development? This involves great decisions and choice making.

Criteria for National Development

Before we enumerate these needs, let us ponder a while on the question posed by the late Professor 214 * Busia, a well-known sociologist, educator and a

nationalist writes:

"Whither development?" What choices should be made. The chosen goal should be clear. The ultimate test should be the quality of life and the sort of society that the development plans are intended to achieve. How it is answered will depend on the opportunities he has to de­ velop himself, and on the sort of society in which he lives. More food, housing, clothing more and better services, more education, and so on — all of these and all of the amenities that contemporary civilization places within reach are sought in order that the quality of individual and social life may be better.

He continues to say:

The goal of economic, and social, development is *the freedom and uplift of the individual and the improvement of human relations and the quality of social life. This is the chal­ lenge that African nations must face in their choice of methods to tackle the problem of development. (1962, p.126)

These sayings make good sense because they make clearer understanding of what contributes to civiliza­ tion. According to Arnold, civilization "is the humanization of man in society."

The sort of society we are hoping to achieve has now become a number one agenda for debate in Ghana. The

* The late Dr. Busia was the Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969-1972. His book The Challenge of Africa con­ tains a wide range of ideas about Afrxca's development. 215

choice for political; social, economic, and cultural

goals for the country is a big challenge to the

integrity and wisdom of the Ghanaian people. Ghanaians

are being called upon to find adequate solutions for

the problems that have beset the society.

The prospective nature of educational reform poses

a difficult problem at the outset: How can one estab­

lish a profile of society and technology in the future;

for what society are the young of today preparing

themselves, or being prepared? As yet nothing can be

stated with certainty — beyond the fact that rapid

changes will continue in science, in techniques of pro­

duction and in social organization. (IBE: Unesco,

1970, p.35)

Even without a clear view of future society for

Ghana,

it is possible to derive goals or education from the political, social and economic choices which nations are now making for themselves. (IBE: Unesco, 1970, p.36)

It is pertinent to consider here some broad

national goals developed by the Advisory Committee for education (1972) in the form of needs stated as follows:

a) The need to develop the nation's potential. . .

b) The need for the development of national

consciousness and unity. . . c) Also the need to develop and modernize our traditions and culture, (p.l)

d) Finally, the need for the development of a new Ghanaian who will be healthy in mind, in body, and all in spirit. (p.l)

According to Don Adams, the overriding goals of contemporary African nations are national unity, economic growth, and social justice.

These goals mean, on the one hand, a rejection of much of the colonial and non-colonial past, and one the other hand, the utilization of selected existing institutions as part of the foundations of new societies. (1969, p.60)

The above national goals may be expanded in the following terms:

1. The creation of a sense of national identity,

2. The development of national consciousness and unity, and

3. The need to develop political awareness and maturity among all sections of the society

4. The need for a democratic form of government and political stability

5. The need for economic growth and the elimina­ tion of poverty

6. Modernization of agricultural production

7. Adequate provision of social services such 217 as adequate housing, health facilities, good transpor­ tation systems,

8. Minimum population growth

9. Rural development emphasized

10. Industrial development — the need for inter­ mediary technology

11. Reduced inflation and unemployment

12. Universal literacy and quality education for all

13. Social justice and respect for human dignity

— guarantee of freedom and justice

14. The modernization and development of the traditional culture

15. Development-oriented educational system.

Other goals may be stated thus:

i) Contribution towards the total liberation and unity of African states.

ii) Pursuance of positive neutrality and non- alignment as well as non-interference, as the guide- post of our nation's foreign policy.

iii) World peace and human understanding.

According to this study, the most important ob­ jective centers around the type of education which will contribute to the attainment of national progress and the realization of the "cultural renaissance" which 2X8 is our ultimate goal. "Broadly speaking, national goals for the community as a whole produce a complex set of imperatives for the system of education." We see from the above goals that they include, political, social economic, and cultural goals; and it is imperative that educational development takes all these into consi­ deration because education cannot be isolated from society. The needs of the student are of prime impor­ tance and must be reflected in the educational goals.

The development we are proposing here for Ghana does not just involve attempts at economic breakthrough or necessarily only for the material well-being of the people. We are also desirous of a humanizing culture which is the essence of civilization. It is our be­ lief that "human values and aspirations cannot sur­ vive without first strenghtening their sources and the enrichment of their content."

The writer is opting for a peaceful revolution in Ghana so that the peace, and happiness which has now eluded us since independence could be regained.

It is a central thesis of this study that a revolu­ tionary education can help contribute to Ghana's national development for quality life.

The attempt of emerging nations to use education for their own modernization or development, is an 219 expression of their faith that education can achieve social reconstruction. This attempt also recognizes that education should do more than preserve the heri­ tage of their past: that it should assume the role in shaping their future. (Hanson & Brembeck, 1966,p.100)

In Brameld's judgment,

mere relationship between education and national development is not enough; the key lies in the quality or nature of the relationship. Education, to fulfill its rightful function, must come to grips with the most urgent problem of a culture; it must rest upon con­ sidered appraisals and commitment within that culture. (Hanson & Brembeck, 1966, p.101)

In this painful transitional period in the political history of Ghana, when we are searching for a new social order it becomes imperative that we seriously consider an educational system that would be change and develop­ ment-oriented to serve the needs of individuals and society for the good life.

We want to see democratization in education. We must set new tasks to education and call for stupendous efforts of expansion, innovation and integration to evolve lifelong patterns, programs and objectives. The changes taking place in the Ghanaian contemporary society calls for

a radical change from elitism of the past based on priviledge, stability of estab­ lished orders, social hierarchies, explicit or implicit belief in inequalities, white 220

collar job superiority, high esteem for intellectual work, sophistication, social snobbery and diverse forms of exploitation. (Dave, 1977, p.103)

The sense of urgency and the efforts needed to raise the living standards of the economically backward sections of humanity within a comparatively short span of time require application of knowledge in a planned and systema­ tic way and a much greater stress on non-formal education. (Dave, 1976, p.102)

We may then conclude that educational development by itself, not related to the direction of social, economic, cultural and political development,"simply perpetuates and widens the rift" between school and society which lies at the root of the problems dis­ cussed in Chapter Four.

Now let us turn our attention to considering the kinds of alternative developments of education that may best serve Ghana's development needs.

We may briefly consider three alternatives. They may be characterized as:

1. The perpetuation of the pre-independence elitist system of education.

2. The most recently proposed reforms in the present systems' structure and content of pre-univer­ sity education.

3. Development-oriented education. Any empirical study about what type of education

Ghana would need for her development would reveal

that some people would ask for the "colonial" model:

an observer may wonder, why, (despite all the blames

placed for the many problems in the country). A

section of the older generation considers the stan­

dard of the colonial education higher than the present

one. This alternative would be supported mostly by some

of the educated adults who succeeded through it. They

are unhappy about the relaxation of the regimented dis­

cipline in the schools. They do not approve of "whole­

sale promotion" and the taking away of the "whip" from

the classroom. They would like to see reinstated in the schools, corporal punishment, and the strict selection of pupils for higher levels in the system of education.

It emphasizes more "academism" and rote-learning. Its advocates would like to bring back into society, all that they now find missing in the school system of today, which they regard as essential in the "good old days" and also for today. The emphasis is on the "moral education" under this alternative is supreme.

The second alternative which seeks to reform the present educational system's structure and content is mostly concerned with the pre-university level. The

Report of the New Structure and Content of Education 222 for Ghana (1973) calls for the shortening of the elementary education, by replacing the middle school with three year Junior Secondary School. The second cycle education will be made up of Senior Secondary

Courses — (lower and upper) leading to the present

"A" level; a teacher training course or a polytechnic course. Under content, the Report reads:

The study of languages, mathematics, science agriculture and practical and vocational subjects shall be given the greatest emphasis and pupils shall participate fully in cultural activities, youth programs and in sports and games. (p.

A semi-comprehensive type of high school is being proposed under this alternative. Much emphasis is placed on formal schooling. It calls for a 9 year compulsory and free education, covering the length of the basic formal education. Pre-school education of between 18 and 24 months before starting formal education is being advocated.

The third alternative assumes some major in­ dicative innovations in all forms of education in the country. It calls for a more radical or revolutionary pattern of education, which will use the "schools" and colleges as centers of learning for both the young and the old. It calls for an integrative educational development which will cover all levels of education from pre-school to higher education. Under this system, 223 adult education, will feature very prominently. It will involve industrial training, agricultural exten­ sion services, and other non-formal or informal activities including mass literacy campaign. « Its goal is development-oriented and it is meant to foster quantitative as well as qualitative educa­ tion. In a nutshell, it is closely associated with

"basic" education as proposed by the Nairobi Seminar

(1973) and recommended by the Lagos Conference of

African Ministers of Education (1976) which is con­ sidered as "a powerful means of development." It is rightly to be regarded as a primary component of an over-all system of life-long education.

Let us assess the strengths and weaknesses of each of these three alternatives and choose one for development in the future by applying the following criteria.

1. To what extent is educational system regarded a priority or luxury in the society.

2. To what extent is the system related to the social economic, political and cultural needs or goals of the country.

3. What percentage of the population will bene­ fit from the education provided?

4. To what extent is the system considered democratic? 224

5. To what extent is the curricula relevant to individual needs? Is it child, teacher, or subject matter centered?

6. To what extent is the development planning of the system made an integral plan of national development?

7. To what extent does the system provide education to illiterate adults and dropouts?

8. To what extent are the academic and non- academic subjects balanced in the curricula?

9. What is the place of the arts in the curricula?

10. To what extent is the system preparing the students for life?

11. How efficient is its pedagogy?

12. To what extent is the system serving as change agent or trailing the directions of society?

After assessing the characteristics of the three alternatives, it becomes apparent that the third alternative which is development-oriented may best serve the needs of the Ghanaian society. It is neces­ sary to throw more light on this revolutionary educa­ tional system.

It has been proven beyond all doubt that the present system of education is very poorly adapted to the needs and aspirations of Ghana. The need for reform 225 has been clearly stated in the New Structure and Content

for Education (1974) as published by the Ministry of

Education. In almost all of the independent African nations they are searching for new educational models

adapted to their needs and aspirations. Indeed there

is need for innovative educational reform in Ghana.

In this connection, the development-oriented educational system will be a revolutionary one in

strengthening "the learning capacity of the nation1' and to direct education to the over-all strategy

for the development of the country. This system's development is meant to become integrated with the

social, economic, political and cultural goals of Ghana to bridge the growing disparity between education and society. It will serve as the main objective of this new kind of education "to reinvent the traditional cultural capital in modern educationI" Through this system, efforts will be aimed at continuing some of

traditional forms of education which will serve the needs of the present age — especially with regards to promoting cultural heritage. Education through art becomes uniquely important in this.

This educational model will adapt itself to the objectives of lifelong education. These will include the awareness of the need for education on the part 226

of all citizens. It is to encourage the self-fulfillment

of the learner.

Dave describes one of the objectives as "exposure

to broad areas of learning." Schwartz and others also

emphasize the importance of individualizing the rate

at which knowledge and know-how are acquired. It also

stresses the importance of "action" which should replace

learning based solely on knowledge by tasks which have

to be carried out. (Hummel, 1977, p.51)

One of the fundamental objectives is to link up

school and out-of-school experiences, or to integrate

the different educational situations.

Education goes on wherever and whenever the individual finds himself. The reason for this is that life goes on whether school keeps or not and life is always educative, one way or another .... (Hummel, 1977, p.103)

No school by itself can provide any such education.

Such education is the wholeness of life emergent in the

new individual. Our task is to find the means by which

this wholeness of life may become operative once more

in education (Hummel, 1977, p.113) of contemporary world

as it did in the days of old in Africa, in Greece, (Athens)

and in the far East. (Hart, 1951, p.103)

It is also an essential and central objective of

this model to provide equality of opportunity. This will make it possible to make sure that all members of the 227

society are benefiting from education directly and

personally — to help those who have some difficul­

ties and not to drop out but to help individuals to

develop their human potentials to the maximum.

The content of its program should be flexible

and constitute a broad base for subsequent studies.

It is essential to link educational experiences to real life and to the exploration of the environment and milea to which the learners belong.

This is one of the cardinal principles underlying this model. The development of creativity is very important

here. Freedom of expression and independence should be

developed.

The structures of this model will be different from

that of the present system.

The present school will integrate itself with the other stages of education. It will provide basic education, especially at the primary level, and will subsequently be diversified and enriched. (Hummel, 1977, p.54)

The scope for integration is vast and challenging.

Apart from the inter-disciplinarity, the educational potentialities of the home, the local community, the

larger society, the world of work and the mass media

need to be linked together or integrated in order to make the educational process more effective and to

create new learning situations. (Dave, 1976, p.100) 228 These possibilities indicate the range and scope

of integration, calling for great ingenuity and

improvisation. In the Ghanaian scene, the facilities

of the present school will be utilized more effici­

ently to cater for a broader learning situation. Com­ munity centers, libraries, churches, museums, and

other public places should be used to a greater extent.

The existing schools will become learning centers for a variety of learning activities far above what goes on under the present system.

As we have already mentioned, adult education will

feature prominently under this model. In Ghana, at

the moment over half the adult population is illiterate.

Almost all the adult farmers in the rural areas cannot read or write. To achieve progress, we need to mobi­

lize the entire population through education and pre­ pare them to contribute to the well-being of themselves and to society. Training and retraining in skills needed

for economic development becomes essential for those workers in the modern sectors.

The development-oriented education under the um­ brella of lifelong education is "a genuine educational project." Like any project of this kind, it looks to the future: it envisages a new type of man; it is the carrier of a system of values; it involves a project 229 of society. It constitutes a new philosophy of edu­ cation which may be likened to the "Reconstructionist philosophy."

Reconstructionism is thus a philosophy of magnetic foresight — a philosophy of ends attainable through the development of powerful means possessed latently by the people. To learn how to exercise that power for these ends is the first priority of education. (Brameld, 1961, p.25)

We also need to be reminded of the Lagos

Conference's declaration which defined the aims, role and purposes of the educational process thus:

The far reaching changes, not to say radical transformations, which must be introduced into existing educational systems are becoming an urgent necessity. They stem from the new mission which those responsible for education in Africa intend to assign to education in order to strengthen their independence, to make good the deficiencies caused by colonialism and to promote an authentic modern African society. In this innovative context which in many cases, is revolutionary in character, education on values and knowledge to the younger generations, but should produce fully conscious citizens and future productive workers in a dynamic context; it should alter ways of thinking and attitudes among individuals and among groups in order to initiate the necessary social changes and to provide an impetus to change in the direction of progress, justice and liberty. (Hummel, 1977, p.19)

Let us now turn our attention to the strategies for using the development-oreinted system of education to contribute to the development of individuals and society. We can frame the statement in a question form thus: What role should development-oriented system of 230

education play in contributing to national development

in Ghana?

Sanders and Sofianos proposition of the concept of educational development state that "improvement-

oriented change in educational practice and opera­

tions" is a phenomenon of crucial importance in modern

societies. They provide fourteen general principles about the essential features of the adaptive process which permeates biological, psychological and cultural

realms. (1975, pp.11-13)

The proposed model as a strategy for change, is education for all and sundry. It is geared toward helping every individual to develop his potentialities to the fullest. The national goal to achieve univer­ sal literacy among the school going age group seems unattainable by 1980 as target date. It has already been mentioned that over ahlf the adult population are illiterate. Through the development-oriented edu­ cational system this problem would be overcome within the shortest possible time. Cuba and China were able to provide functional literacy for their populations within a short span of time. Ghana can do it. Tanzania has embarked on a similar program to produce a func­ tionally literate citizens.

This kind of education will not only produce the trained manpower required for industrial progress, 231 political development, and social advance; it will also create an adequate social base to undesigned develop­ mental aims — adequate in terms of values, attitudes and motivation as well as skills to support modern national objectives. It contributes a lot to the democratic process.

In order to achieve this, educational planning will be integrated in the over-all national development plan.

For purposes of this study, educational planning is defined as the designing of a national system directed to realistic educational goals, responsive to manpower needs geared to available national resources for edu­ cational expenditures, and fully integrated with total national development planning. (Jacobs, 1964, p.17)

Illiteracy, ignorance, and superstition are perhaps the most formidable barriers to economic development, and these are barriers which this educational system will attempt to eradicate from Ghana. Illiterate farmers and fishermen in the country will be helped to acquire new knowledge and skills that will help them to improve upon their occupations for higher productivity.

There is no evidence that education will lead automatically to economic development. Only if education becomes part of a closely inte­ grated and comprehensive plan for development, involving both the government, and private sectors of the economy and including all levels 232 of society, can it play its full part in the African revolution. (Cowan, Gray, 1965, p.27)

And in Ghana this is exactly what the development- oriented system of education is meant to be.

This model of education will not necessarily be associated with school and book-learning, and with merely intellectual faculties, it will be closely related to the totality of life experiences and human activities to maturity of feelings power of imagina­ tions and strength of mind, to the curiosity which accompanies the search for answers to all questions and to the feeling of responsibility for wprds and actions in all social contacts. ' Creativity for development will be enforced. And especially, art as an essential factor in education will be given equal status to scholarship, as well as social, professional and leisure activities.

The use of the radio, cinema, theatre and the television as well as other types of technological development will gain importance as media of education.

Through the media, the masses will be.well informed.

They can obtain extra learning opportunities through them. New ideas, can be directly diffused, and im­ portant government policies can, more effectively and easily, be communicated to the masses. 233

Rural development will be an essential area for attention under this educational system. An integrated action by various ministries e.g. Social Welfare and

Community development, education, Health and Economic

Planning will work together to raise the living standards of the rural people. Education of adults and children will be directed mostly to improving the conditions of the rural communities. Subjects such as hygiene, nutrition, family planning, home economics, and some aspects of modernized farming and fishing will feature well on the agenda for Rural Community develop­ ment. Some self-help projects can be carried out with technical assistance provided by the Ministry of Social

Weifar and Community Development as well as other government departments and private firms. The improved life of the rural communities will help to reduce the dramatic influx of the youth to the urban centers.

The education of the adolescents will involve both formal and non-formal activities. Besides the class­ room activities, they will have the opportunity to engage in some on-the-job training. Practical sub­ jects such as agriculture, auto-mechanics, masonry, carpentry and textile weaving, among others can be provided outside the school to augment their working skills and knowledge about the world of work. Indus­ trial arts will be one of the important features of 234 this system to introduce students to knowledge about vari­ ous kinds of careers in the society. They will not be trained for any specific vocations until they reach the senior secondary stage or above, up to which everybody should get some broad-based education. With this kind of training they may be able to adapt themselves to many different situations and new skills.

Cultural education will be an area to be emphasized in the curricula at the various levels of the system. It has already been pointed out that education must be invested with its role as galvinizer of African values. (Kizerbo, 1966, p.233)

African studies as a course will become an important part of all curricula. This will provide avenues for the students to appreciate some of the vital elements of

African traditional culture which are relevant to modern realities. These include the arts, customs, folklores, philosophies, and politics.

It will also provide avenues for promoting nationa­ lism and patriotism, unity among the various ethnic groups as well as universal harmony.

One of the chief tasks to be undertaken by this educational system is to remove the traditional barrier between "academic" and "non-academic" disciplines.

Its students will have a general education for fruit­ ful living. The interest of students should always be guarded and developed in any area of learning; the 235 syllabus should be flexible, and not "militarily" regulated as it is now. If Ghana's education is

"to stimulate rather than obstruct development, it must be firmly rooted in the environment, develop creative capacities of individuals and accord equal opportunities." Individual development is an essen­ tial aspect of the system.

On the other hand, the system will try to check extreme individualism. Rather co-operation will be more stressed. President Nyerere in Tanzania;

Revolution by Education (1966) states; "... the educational system must emphasize co-operative endeavour, not individual advancement. ..." (p.54)

A well-endowed, nationwide adult educa­ tion is a vital prerequisite of national development. . . . An adult education service is also vital as a means of en­ couraging people to welcome innovation and to adjust to disruptive social change. (Prosser, 1967, pp.146-147)

This means that the adult population should be mobilized and quickly enlightened, to understand the nature of the problems facing them and to participate most effectively in their solution. "Only if they are willing and able to do this will development programs succeed."

Adult education is therefore as important as education of the younger generation. Research shows that when parents are educated, their children will also 236 become even more educated. The right attitudes of adults toward development will have more impact on change and modernization.

The educational system proposed here will help create a better relationship between the school and the community; between adults and children; between teachers and students.

The schools will cease to be islands or closed doors, isolated from the community. It will, rather be open and "throw out their nets widely to embrace all those who are able and willing to assist, in the allround education of the children." (Unesco, 1975, p.203)

The post-secondary education outside the universities which will include polytechnics, teacher education, and nursing, institutions will be considered very crucial and will demand much attention. It will be from this area that the most needed middle or inter­ mediate manpower can be obtained. It will produce the much needed technicians for our industries and other social institutions. Some of these will be specialists in the field of agricultural extension. They can serve as links between the farmer and the universities.

The educational system will help in the revitaliza­ tion of our "unproductive industries." What's more it 237 will encourage and provide assistance for increased agricultural production so that the nation can once again become "self-sufficient” in food production.

Teacher training, of course will be one of the nerve centers of the educational system. More should be done to raise the standards of the teaching pro­ fession.

Much of the success of this model will rest in the hands of the teachers. Their roles will become like that of parents. They should be able to assist each individual to develop his intellectual, moral, spiritual, physical, and aesthetic potentialities to the fullest.

One of the most important contributions that a school can make of its students is to help them to become aware of them­ selves — their potential, their strengths, their weaknesses. This can be effectively achieved through a comprehensive, on going, and detailed approach to evaluation which takes the form of a dialogue between student and teacher. (1973-1974, p.237)

If it is a premise of this study that education should lend support to the over-all strategy of develop­ ment, then the institutes of higher learning will have a vital role to play in it.

It must be stressed here that "for the countries in Africa the imperatives of national development determine the place of the educational institution," 238

especially of the university, "which often have the lar­

gest concentration of trained manpower." (Thompson &

Fogel, 1976, p.9)

The universities in Ghana were originally estab­

lished to pursue specific objectives. For example,

Designed primarily to meet national development needs, the University of Science and Technology, established in 1961 combines training, research, service and consultancy. (Fogel & Thompson, 1976, p. 94)

The goals of higher education should be moderniza­

tion and development, with special attention given to

the structure, needs and manpower resources of the country.

Under the ideal of autonomous intellectual communi­

ties that the new system will guarantee, the leadership of the universities will be able to provide guidance and support for cultural change in Ghana.

The universtiy is "a key institution in goal- changing mechanism within a society engaged in develop­ mental planning." It will be the role of the insti­

tutions of higher education to produce the future revolutionary leaders of the country and in activities such as, building a school, provision of adequate water supply, street construction, road-building, and "mass education" activities including instruction in family 239 planning, nutritional guides, "literacy campaigns" and in civic rights and responsibilities.

They will help to strengthen the capacity to solve urgent problems such as food and nutrition, health and environment, employment, and human resource de­ velopment, housing planning, urban imigration and equity.

The universities will be in a position to generate and promote many aspects of national develop­ ment. They will cooperate with the government de­ partments in formulating and carrying out development with many programs.

If institutions of higher education are to be agents of social development or instruments of change in society they cannot limit their role to community action programs, to manpower training, or even to education reform. . . . A list of what needs to be done by higher education therefore must include recog­ nizing and analyzing the most urgent national problems, planning their solu­ tions and educating the people who can do both. (Thompson & Fogel, 1976, p.103)

Under the present and future conditions the universities should give more attention to modernization of rural areas in the context of rural development. More research should be carried out in the rural areas to indicate the real needs of those areas and then try to find solutions for them. 240

The universities should concern themselves with the improvement of agricultural development in the country. The departments of agriculture in the various institutions of higher learning including post secon­ dary institutions should offer services to farmers, fishermen and the public as a whole. More research should be carried out on higher yields of crops, pest control, fertilizers, and in soils. Their successful research findings should be desseminated to the public.

There should be more communication between the agricul­ tural departments and the farmers.

In the words of Bradley, president of the Hazen foundation, this "will transform the very fabric of their nation in respect to domestic and international affairs."

Pilot projects in intermediate mechanical farming involving the use of some small machines and tools should be set up as demonstration farms for training farmers. This may be the perogative task of the Uni­ versity of Science and Technology in Kumasi.

The medical schools should direct much attention to research in preventive medicine. Studies should be conducted in the improvement of medical and health services. More para-medical officers should be trained to offer services in the rural areas. Pro­ grams in specialization in medical practice should be 241 established in the medical schools for post-graduate

training. It is also urgent that the medical school

devote more attention to finding sources of drugs

from local materials to reduce the high cost of import

of drugs.

The universities will be required to engage in more extension, extramural and continuing educational

activities to serve the public. These activities will provide opportunities for some individuals to improve professionally, and thereby contribute more to national development. It will also promote self-improvement at

least.

They will, through their improvement and expansion of educational services "broaden and strengthen the

indigenous capacity to absorb and advance science and technology for development, promote accumulation and transfer of skills." (Thompson & Fogel, p.170)

They will be effective in promoting national inte­ gration. The universities should promote in their students a sense of nationalism, sense of devotion to duty, and the willingness to serve their country.

As the late Dr. Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana said,

It should be the honour and responsi­ bility of those of us who have had the priviledge of the best education our country can afford to strive in every 242 way possible to make our generation better than we found it. We must not only feel the pulse and intensity of the great African revolution taking place in our time/ but we must also make a contribution to its realization, pro­ gress, and development. (Cowan, et al., 1966, p.316)

They should continue to act as watch dogs to help maintain "freedom and justice" which is enshrined in

the nation's emblem.

They will create more consultancy centers besides

the one at the University of Science and Technology,

Kumasi. These centers should act as a clearing house

through which the university makes available its expertise and resources. They should negotiate con­ sultancy contracts with outside organizations and submit proposals to Government for research develop­ ment. They should engage in interdisciplinary projects and recruit consultants not only from among staff but also from outsiders. The research work of these centers should be coordinated with that of other research institutes in the country for the overall development of the nation.

They should seek to offer technical assistance

"to existing craft industries such as textiles, pottery;

to generate new small scale industries, and to assist the entrepreneur." 243 Concerning their contribution to educational reforms, the institutions of higher education have a vital role to play. The universities will have specific roles in this.

For example, the University of Cape Coast will be responsible for developing strategies for reorganization of the educational structures, contents. It will also emphasize its concern with curriculum innovations and design educational materials. The University of Ghana,

Accra, will be concerned with problems of traditional languages, and if possible evolve a "national language."

The University of Science and Technology will provide help in the area of technical/industrial education.

To sum up, higher education can contribute to de­ velopment in at least five ways. It can

1) define social needs and problems,

2) prepare effective contributors to social development,

3) apply knowledge to the solution of development problems,

4) strengthen education at other levels (through teacher training, common language program, curriculum research, designing materials), and

5) help society define values and purposes.

(Thompson and Fogel, 1976, p.54)

In order to effectively shoulder these responsi­ bilities, there needs to be cooperation between the 244 universities and the government and between the general public and the universities.

The Role of Education Through Art in National Development: An Art Approach to a Symbxosis Between Traditional and Modern Culture

After probing the philosophical, social, cultural, artistic and psychological insights into what constitutes human development, one gets a deeper understanding of aestheticism. It is Read's thesis in his book. Education

Through Art, that "art should be the basis of education.”

(P-D

m Let us examine briefly the basis for this assumption.

Read attempts successfully to show that the

most -important function of education is concerned with the psychological "orientation"; and that for this reason the education of the aesthetic sensibility is of fundamental im­ portance . (p. 7)

Much of contemporary thoughts about art education fall in line with his "theory" which embraces all modes of self expression, literary or poetic (verbal) no less than musical or aural, and forms an integral approach to reali­ ty which should be called aesthetic education — the education of the senses upon which consciousness, and ultimately the intelligence and judgement of the human individual, are based. It is only in so far as these senses are brought into harmonious and habitual 245 relationship with the external world that an integrated personality is built up. (p.7)

For Read, 1958, it is assumed then that

the general purpose of education is to foster growth of what is individual in each human being, at the same time harmonizing the individuality thus educed with the organic unity of the social group to which the individual belongs. (Read, 1958, p.8)

Barkan, a well-known aesthetician claims that

Aesthetic education is concerned with the power of man to fuse life with meanings by the very media and forms he selects to convey these meanings. In this sense, the arts and humanities are complementary. The humanities teach ways that problems and ideas about life can be perceived and imagined. * Aesthetic education shows how such problems and ideas can be experienced, expressed, enjoyed or made tolerable. (Barkan, 1970, p.2)

Ryor, president of the National Education Associ­ ation makes this case for the arts as part of the fabric of education thus:

Quality education in its most fundamental sense cannot be separated from the culture of a society. The quality of the culture is expressed in the arts and its humanities. (Quinn & Hanks, 1977, p.11)

In this study arts education and aesthetic educa­ tion are considered synonymous and used interchangeably; both terms being applied to the concept of art in the broadest sense as a means and a quality of expression which involves experience, the creative process, design, 246 imagination and-emotion, knowledge and skill, selectivity, appreciation and enjoyment.

Art is a creative force and many educators believe that creative education through the arts can satisfy the student's need for expression and make his own contri­ bution to the progress of civilization. Art is both a developmental and constructive activity.

Never in the history of the world, perhaps, has there been a greater need for fully-developed, constructive human beings with a keen sensitivity to the terror of our times. Creativity should produce within an individual a kind of mental elasticity and emotional balance which enables a person to adapt quickly to changing conditions.

In this sense alone, art may well attain an important place in the curriculum as the urgent need for such flexibility becomes more widely recognized. Creativeness, functioning at its best in the life of an individual, tends to serve as a revelation of one's potentialities. It develops within some a kind of super sight or vision which makes them forerunners of the age in which they live and, sometimes, prophetic of things to come.

(Art and Youth Bulletin, 1955, p.5) The life of

Michael Angelo typifies this last statement.

It is now being accepted in most countries that art is not "for its own sake" but rather an important 247 part of the totality of living and cannot be separated

from any important aspect of it. In traditional Africa,

art and life are closely integrated. "Art and music

touch the spirit and soul of the child, and African

art and music form the focus of African culture."

(Fafunwa, 1968, p.75) Education through the arts can

help the Ghanaian to understand and appreciate the

cultural heritage, and to be able to contribute to

its development in our quest for "cultural renaissance."

Through aesthetic education, the youth in Ghana, can acquire some knowledge and skills needed to foster and

to celebrate the down of the "African dream." i African art and music are more than aesthetic and artistic expressions; they express in most cases, African philosophical and religious views and systems. . . . Part of African hisotry is recorded in wood, music and poetry. To neglect these vital aspects of a truly meaningful and extremely pertinent educational pro­ cess, is to kill the very soul of African education. (Fafunwa, 1967, p.75)

Art is the spearhead of every cultural advance, because it is the opening of the "inward eye"; the record of life from the deep unconsciousness drive in the highest intensity of emotion and awareness. (Kaufman,

1966, p.331)

Connant and Randall affirm that "Art is an integral part of education and life . . . and without it no 248 school curriculum is complete." (1959, p. 24)

The visual arts contain a record of the achievements

of our people. A critical examination of these forms

can lead to a better understanding of our past cultures

and can also serve to maintain and extend existing ones.

For example, the rich stool regalia of our chiefs, and

the sculptures, such as the "Fertility Doll," and the

stylized and proverbial gold weights "sculpturettes"

do provide us with much knowledge about our traditional

culture.

The growing national concern for the quality life

and the obligation which confronts the educational system, make it imperative that art play a more dominant role in

the education of the students.

The rationale for the teaching of art in the school is based on the relation­ ship between art and the individual, art and the community, and art and the culture. (Art Education: Middle/Junior High School, 1977, p.3)

In Ghana, education in the arts should be viewed as a dynamic force for equipping our youth and adults more effectively to appreciate their artistic culture, to participate in it, enjoy it, and help to transform it to suit contemporary needs and demands.

In our quest for modernity education through the arts will help the people to become more sensitive to 249 the aesthetic needs of the society and to contribute to its satisfaction.

The growing complexity of our contemporary culture, including its visual aspects, also requires every indi­ vidual a capacity for visual discrimination and judgement which the art program provides.

Through education in the arts, we can improve or transform our environments. Through the ages, man has used the arts to build and enrich one's environment.

Art experiences should help students to understand the visual qualities of environments and lead to the desire and the ability to improve them.

Artistically gifted students will experience satis­ fying and valuable means to explore and develop their com­ posite talents and abilities. Through the arts back­ ground their basic education provides, they are impelled to discover and pursue the arts as a life time commitment, an area of service or career.

Some of these will become art teachers in the schools and colleges. Others will become specialists in various media or art forms.

In contemporary Ghana, there has arisen the need for professional artists in many areas of social and economic life. The building of new townships and inno­ vations taking place in urban centers, require education 250 through the arts to produce professional artists such as architects, town planners and environmental de­ signers to help contribute to making our communities more beautiful.

Through art programs in our higher institutions of learning we can produce industrial designers who will contribute immensely to our manufacturing indus­ tries. Our textile industries, have already been pro­ ducing some beautiful and exotic designs in their fabrics made by Ghanaian artists. Other manufacturing industries need industrial and commercial designers.

The ceramic industries will need designers to pro­ duce designs for various shapes and decorations for their tea cups, bowls, and plates.

Ghanaian women have become "fashion crazy" and to some extent faddists. Therefore, the role of fashion designers in dresses has become very important. Beau­ ticians are making a lot of money for their services.

Tailors and seamstresses are also making use of dress patterns produced by artists. These show that there is need for strong art programs in Ghana's education.

So much for the plastic and industrial arts. Let us now discuss the place of the performing arts. Edu­ cation through the arts can help to produce great performers — poets or literary writers, musicians and 251 dancers, as well as other professional artists in drama and theatre. Concert Party Theatre is popular in

Ghana and attract many of these artists. These well known concert party groups have not had difficulty attracting audiences. They play anywhere: in night clubs, cinema halls, even in the compound of a house.

The Ghana Dance Ensemble, a national dance company attached to the Institute of African Studies, Legon attracts a lot of young dramatists and musicians. This group has made extensive tours of Ghana as well as of

Europe, the United States, Mexico, and some other

African countries.

The Arts Council Folkloric Company and other newly established performing groups demand the talent and skill of various types of performing artists.

Art as a therapeutic science for helping the handi­ capped, including the blind and the deaf will be of much helf to augment the learning experiences of many children and adults in Ghana. The more severely handicapped often have unique and special needs which may be effectively served through art activities.

Areas in which the art program can make significant contributions to the total education of these children include: - communication - expression of feelings and emotions improved observation and awareness 252

- sensory stimulation improved motor skills. (Newby (ed.), 1976, p.2)

Realizing the points raised in support of what education through art can offer to Ghana's development, we can fully affirm Professor Whitehead's claim that art is an indispensable element in education. He writes;

If the aim of education is the development of the whole personality, and if art is the supreme and mature subject which fosters this development, one cannot arbi­ trarily refuse its urgent demands. Further­ more, history shows us that an efflorescence of art is the first activity of nations on the road to civilization. 253 A Conceptualized Model for Curriculum Development - Using .art as a vital force in creating a syncretic frame of reference between the traditional and modem cultural elements.

With these words of wisdom in mind, let us now con­

sider how best education in the arts could be effectively

carried out as basis for making education more responsive

to the cultural realities of modern Ghana and to contri­

bute more efficiently to their development.

Contemporary Ghanaian culture is apparently found in

the throes of change and conflict. Colonialism, imperial­

ism and cultural oppression together with religious educa­

tion (Islam and Christianity) have disrupted the cultural

harmony which was enjoyed in the pre-colonial era. It is an indisputable fact that the ultimate effect of European

exploitation and cultural dominance have weakened the tra­ ditional, political, social and religious life of the peo­ ple of Ghana and have left them culturally paralized. The

effect of western education has created social enstrangement,

spiritual anxiety over values and a loss of cultural iden­

tity. What is worse, the cultural arts which served as the

soul force of African culture ceased to enjoy their prominence in modern Ghanaian society because western Chris­

tian education brushed it into a state of oblivion.

Modern education in Ghana, as a foreign model has had no

relevant cultural base to functionally serve the cultural

needs of the African. 254 In recent years this situation has raised her problem of the need to make education more relevant to the modern cultural context. According to Johnson (1968) educational programs or curriculum needs be designed to meet the needs of the youth, serve the purpose of the society and to pre­ serve the cultural heritage (1968 p.68). But not only should we preserve but also transform the cultural heritage.

"These cultural phenomena have awakened us from cultural sleep and now we are seeking and demanding of ourselves answers about the ends to which the young in our society ought to be educated." (Buford, 1969 p.415). This is the task facing Ghanaian educators. The development of an endogenous educational system seems close- ly connected with the search for really relevant models of development, adapted to the needs and aspirations of many countries including Ghana.

In this study we have proposed a reconstructionist phylosophy as a guiding light to creating an innovative educational system for national development. "By construction is meant a radical rebuilding of the culture constructed on values hammered out using the best tools and information from the social and natural sciences" (Buford, 1968 p.421) .

This calls for an integrated research by social sci­ entist into the understanding of man in society. The basic issue here to be resolved is how best to restructure and 255 and re-organize the present educational system to make it correspond more favourably to the country's needs.

We shall attempt this by applying a "projective tech­ nique" to carve a new society for the people of Ghana.

New values, patterns of behaviors, orientations and in­ stitutions of society could be evolved which may better serve the needs of Ghanaians.

The most cultural problem in creating a new culture for a transitional society such as Ghana must deal with how effectively this can be achieved realizing the forces of traditional and modern cultural vectors affecting the lives qf the people. "Thus, behind the desire for industriali­ zation looms the question of what will happen to African cultures as the countries of Africa become industrialized in order to raise the national incomes and standards of living" (Busia 1962 pp. 130)

With the rapid rate of change taking place in the country the question is raised, 'Is it possible in the face of all this to contend that Ghanaian cultures can continue to have valid identities of their own?1 And we can answer it in the affirmative, 'Yes'! A new culture can be created out of a combination of traditional and modern elements.

The Ghanaian society is sensitive to exogenous cultural in­ fluences. It has an inbuilt capacity which is always pre­ pared for cultural borrowing. It has shown "an amazing ca­ pacity for survival and continuity". 256 Busia (1962) points out that there are different possible combinations of cultural complexes, and the choices made reflect a people’s own culture... Culture is a selective process. Earlier ways can be dropped, or adapted and retained in changed forms; new ways can be accepted and fitted into old ones. (p.126)

The Ghanaian societies have not existed in a vacuum.

"Thus, we see that the culture of present day Ghana is not only an aggregate of diverse traditional forms but also a composite of old and new,indigenous and foreign. In all her long history, Ghana has not hesitated to absorb some of what has come from other lands and other people...."

(Unesco 1975 p.16)

Writing on . Social Change in Ghana, Kaplan and others remark: The modern or national society has been largely the outgrowth of western institutional forms and modern technology. It is however grafted to traditional roots, and traditional structures endure, although they have often been partially transformed to fit the needs of the modern society. (Kaplan (ed), 1972 p.111.)

Why has it become necessary for Africans to seek mod­ ernity while maintaining their cultural identity?

The search by Africans for greater knowledge of their own traditional cultures, their languages, history, customs, arts and crafts, folklore, music religious systems, beliefs, 257 and values stem from the assumptions that each knowledge will help them the better to deal with their own problems of cultural selection and retention, with their problems of culture change. It arises from the awakened national consciousness that it is through an enlightened devotion to their own ways of life that they will make their own contribution to the emergent world community into which they seek admission and acceptance on terms of equality.

(Busia, 1972 p.138).

We can clearly distinguish the cultural differences between traditional Africa and modernized societies in the context of art and science. While traditional Africa is noted for its rich artistic heritage and its humanism; we see modern societies as more scientifically and techno­ logically developed to the extent of some of them sending people to the moon and other planets by means of space ships.

Busia points out: In a sense, the distinct and unique aspects of African cultures give proof of the gen­ ius and dignity of the African... But the quest both for

African cultures and for industrialization demands a great knowledge of social processes and of the degree to which human choice and control may be exercised on the processes of social change. Planning is based on the assumption that some choice and control is possible for industrialization 258 as well as for the culture as a whole. (Busia 1962 p.138) .

The writer sees the need for synthesizing the

'artistic' and 'scientific' cultural elements that are considered sound as materials for creating a new and mod­ ern society which is built on a 'humane culture'.

To reflect this new culture in the new educational system proposed for Ghana, the writer attempts to evolve a curriculum model which takes into account the cultural symbiosis of traditional and modern postures. In this we shall use the model to develop a curriculum foundation for

Education in the Arts.

Education in the arts has been chosen particularly because of its potential strength in penetrating all spheres of life, social, political, economic, and techno­ logical. Aesthetic education embraces many disciplines in the school curriculum.

Arts or "Aesthetic education is concerned with the power of man to infuse life with meanings by the very media and forms he se­ lects to convey these meanings". (Barkan, 1970 pp. 3) .

Aesthetic education within this context of general education must be concerned with the INDIVIDUAL (encour­ aging personal development), the ARTS (transmitting the cultural heritage), and the ENVIRONMENT (maintaining and transforming the society). (Barkan, 1970 p.9). 259 It is difficult to understand the blindness of most educational planners in Ghana in turning towards acade­ mism "when it may be observed that devitalized subjects are now seeking to infuse new life into their content by including constructional art activities in their cur­ ricula. The academician in many developed countries are beginning to recognize and to covet the toning-up of art participation^ (Strickler 1941, p.31). .

Strickler claims:

"Art finds its educational strength in synthesis... Art is building, a putting or fitting of things together.... Its educational worth is best demonstrated through the development of its unique char- cter." (1941 p. 31)

He contends that artistry cannot be separated from the play of intellect upon the subjective and objective materials at its command. The right combinations of thought, tools, processes, and materials results in those masterpieces of art and science that are transforming civ­ ilizations.

"Art and Science meet in the same individual in such men as Leonardo and Einstein". (Strickler 1941 p . 33). In the life of Dr. Oku Ampofo, of Ghana we find such combi­ nation of art and science. His scientific works are as far reaching as his art of sculpture. 260 Einstein is reported to have said: "In scientific thinking there is always a poetic element. The applica­ tion of good science and appreciation of good music demand in part similar mental processes". Art, like science, is a method of intelligent productive behavior which changes as a result of thoughtful practice rather than a ready for­ mula to be applied generally.

After acknowledging the potential force of art as a

'synthesizer of apposites' let us see how we can demon­ strate in a curriculum the strengths that can be derived from traditional and modern cultural elements. The fol­ lowing diagram shows how a syncretic model for art educa­ tion can be developed drawing on traditional and modern cultural materials. (Please see diagram on following page.) TABLE 16

A CONCEPTUALIZED SYNCRETIC MODEL OF CURRICULUM FOR EDUCATION IN THE ARTS

CULTURAL VECTORS TRADITIONAL SOURCES OUTCOME AS REFLECTED MODERN SOURCES IN ARTS EDUCATION

Philosophical African Traditional Philosophy of Art Ancient and Modern World View: Meta­ Art and Culture Philosophy: Idealism physics — methology Art and Religion Rationalism and Em­ legends, symbolism, Theory of Art piricism, Existen­ religion words of Art and Politics tialism, phenomeno­ wisdom or proverbs. Art criticism logy, metaphysics Aestheticism, meta­ physics in art, Symbolism in Art Unity of Theory and Practice

The Sciences Symbolism: Cosmolo­ Relation between Art Physical Science gy, Astronomical and Science. Natural Science Science, Useful The birth of science Social Science Magic, Pharmaco­ from art (Behavioral Science) poeia — tradi­ The impact of science tional medicine) on art Revelation and The technology as the Vision, Intuition merger of art and science. Modern media, art materials Experimentalism in art Psychology and Art therapy to a\ Color, h TABLE 16 Continued

CULTURAL VECTORS TRADITIONAL SOURCES OUTCOME AS REFLECTED MODERN SOURCES IN ARTS EDUCATION

Art and Human Anatomy Computerized art Automobiles. Art and machines. Industrial arts. Communication Oral Literature Communicative Arts Art and Communi­ Traditional Lan­ English, French,Verna- cation guages, folktales, culars, audio visuals, Satelite communi­ proverbs, music and fine art, applied art, cation, the press, dance, drumming, T.V. and other forms of telecommunication, symbolism, dirges, media, performing arts - pictures, movies, folksongs. dance, music, drama, films, books, and theatrical etc., visual all printed matter. arts, oral and written Music and dance literature, proverbs. Literature — poetry, drama etc. English and French Society and his Cultural Activities Art and Society "Art for Art's Sake" (Community) Involving the Arts. Cultural arts, cul­ Museums, leisure Ceremonies, conven­ tural centers, galleries Law governing the tional arts, festi­ museum studies, his­ arts, connoiseur- vals and special tory of art - African ship, freedom of occasions, rituals, and non-African, the artistic expres­ cultural dance, role of traditional sion. religion, state­ artists, traditional craft (linguistics) symbols in art, con­ to Daily activities, temporary art forms. cn songs, gestures tv) Local Industries - traditional crafts TABLE 16 Continued CULTURAL VECTORS TRADITIONAL SOURCES OUTSOME AS REFLECTED MODERN SOURCES IN ARTS EDUCATION

Conventional art Ancient and modern Movements in Art - forms, taboos, and architecture; formal expressionism, social norms about and informal education cubism, art. in the arts. Innovations in Art Apprenticeship — Institutional art Artists and their formal and non-for­ Airport Art work mal education in Environmental Literature on Art the arts design Architecture Interior decoration - Art and Politics carricatures Town and City Plan­ ning 263 264

On art and society/ June McFee writes:

If we consider art as a phenomenon of human behavior to be found wherever form/ line, color are used to create symbols for com­ munication and to quantitatively change the nature of experience, then art is re­ lated in some degree to all of society. If we accept this definition we, as art edu­ cators, become involved in problems of society and social change; we recognize art as one of the major communication systems of social interaction and of society in transition.

This model can be utilized to develop full fledged curriculum designs in many disciplines. For our purpose in this study, we shall try to demonstrate how the model would serve as a-source for curriculum development and innovation for aesthetic education. The model serves as a framework to guide curriculum developers, de­ signers or writers. It provides a much broader area from which programs for aesthetic education could be drawn.

It presupposes a jusaposition of several arts which can be used to build units of instruction to demonstrate that all the arts are potential sources of aesthetic education. The range of art forms, styles, and periods of artistic development, theories of art, (if you like) criticism in art, the creative process, and the aesthetic response will be among the themes from which concepts could be derived to prepare units of instruction.

In the context of our study, on education and national developmentf three goals of art education 265 which can be reached through the use of this model can be expressed thus:

1. Awareness of the artistic heritage

2. Personal responses and expression in art

3. Awareness of the role of art in society.

Bankan (1970) provides six types of goals for aesthetic education. The first three are expressed thus:

Students should have significant aesthetic encounters through:

- Responding to aesthetic qualities in one of the

arts (dance, literature, music, theatre, visual

arts).

- Producing (composing, performing) aesthetic

qualities in one of the arts.

- Responding to or arranging aesthetic qualities

in the general environment, (p.18)

Efland stresses that goals for art education should have three principal characteristics.

1. They should be consistent with those of the general education.

2. They should reflect the theoretical and philo­ sophical structure of art education.

3. They should provide adequate directions in the practical problems in the teaching situation. (1970, p.21) 266

The relationships among the goals and these cha­ racteristics will help in the planning of art programs to bring about more desirable results in Ghana's edu­ cational system. To improve education in the arts in

Ghana we will need fresh ideas about art; to widen the scope of art in the traditional school setting to include various forms of traditional and modern indus­ trialized forms of art.

Art has varying functions in the lives of mankind which need to be considered as we develop curricula in art for students from various subcultures as they in turn are affected by social change. Some degrees and combinations of these func­ tions of art are found in all cultures past and present, [traditional and modern] (Lappas, 1970, p.73)

From the model we can see the diverse ways in which art is and can be used in traditional and modern cultures. Art is used to maintain the values, attitudes, and sense of reality from one generation to another.

Politica systems use non-verbal symbols to encourage recall of the values upheld in traditional as well as in modern societies. The syncretic model clearly shows this.

June McFee writes:

Specifically contemporary society art is used in the full range from the continental to the profund, the superficial to the intrinsic, the common place to the unique, the repetitions to the divergent, the 267 tawdry to the refined. Examples from each state of these continum can be found in all of the major visual communications system:

those traditionally called the fine arts, in all product design including the handicrafted to the mass produced, in all advertizing, display and packaging in archi­ tecture, city planning and urban renewal, in television, publication, and moving pictures in interiors and custom design. (Pappas, 1970, p.73)

Here we find that from the syncretic models many ideas and activities in art can be generated to provide grounds for aesthetic education. Many artistic resources exist in Ghana which could be tapped on for the con­ struction of aesthetic curriculum. Traditional festivals such as Adae kese3 "Deer Hunt", Homowo, and other cultural activities such as story telling and drama, offer avenues for responding, producing and expressing one through the arts.

As a practical means to effect innovation in the present education's curriculum and instruction of the arts, we intend to set up an experimental program in one of the education districts in Ashanti. By using the principles of Research and Development (R&D) and Taba's invented models, we shall develop an overall innovative curriculum design based on the conceptualized syncretic model which will be considered a demonstration model. 268 The characteristics and ideas about the model as well as its values as pertaining to the personal and societal benefits will be discussed with representatives of a large segment of the community. It will be initiated and organized by a curriculum developer who is outside the system in collaboration with the administrators, teachers, parents and students.

There are several advantages associated with this model. Smith, Stanley and Shores (1957, p.435-6) express some of these advantages. It must be noted that this model follows democratic principles and

consequently, an important component of it is the provision for open lines of communication between experimental teachers and the regulated faculty. The primary goal being the prevention of resentment. . . . (Zais, 1976, p.451)

Taba's eight step sequence for engineering curri­ culum change with some minor modification can contribute to this experimental design.

The eight step sequence is prescribed for pilot unit production (Taba, 1962, p.347-379)

1. Diagnosing needs

2. Formulating specific objectives

3. Selecting contents

4. Organizing content

5. Selecting learning experiences (activities) 269 6. Organizing learning experience (activities)

7. Evaluating

8. Checking for balance and sequence (Zaiz, 1976, p.455)

The modification in this sequence will affect the evaluation. Rather than placing the evaluation at the point seven, we shall evaluate at the end of every decision and activity to make sure of its effectiveness.

If the pilot scheme succeeds in one locality we shall extend it to cover a wider area until a whole district becomes receptive to the innovation. The criteria for judging the success or failure of this demonstration or experimental model, may be stated thus:

1. The need for change.

2. To what degree are the participating personnel knowledgeable about the objectives of the model.

3. How enthusiastic are the students with the new program?

4. The observable changes that take place in the life of the students, teachers, and the administrators?

5. Under what atmosphere is the program func­ tioning?

In a nutshell what empirical data can be produced as evidence of improvement upon past performances in education through arts. 270

Crosby, 1970, p.385 has pointed out that

"curriculum change is people change," therefore, anyone using the model must make sure that the test for success in this innovative process in arts education could be efficiently accessed by many psychological, practical, personal and intellectual factors.

These and other criteria could serve as standards to measure success or failure. When success is achieved in a district the idea can be popularized throughout the region later on to become accepted nationwide. This calls for much determination, hardwork and tactfulness in dealing with people.

After the initial success has been scored, the de­ veloper should begin to seek public funds for expansion.

He must be able to use all available means considered just and fair to appeal for financial support. He must continually seek to enrich the programs and be pre­ pared to accept constructive criticisms from colleagues.

Use must be made of both traditional and modern artists who are specialists in their fields.

The programs must always be adapted to suit local conditions for Ghana, be culturally diversified and those in charge of education through the arts must diversify their art programs, to make them relevant to the needs of the local people and the nation at large. 271

The officials of the Ministry of Education must become aware of the success being achieved. There will be a need for the dessemination of information on the achievements through publications, public lectures, and exhibition of works. The mass media including the National Television Service should be used to pro­ pagate the message that art has for mankind.

The blending of traditional arts which is humanistic with industrial arts can help promote harmony and beauty in this ugly and disintegrated world. 272

Summary

The content of this chapter has directed attention

to finding an alternative educational system to the

present one in Ghana. We have discussed in detail what

is entailed in educational development, geared to

national development. It discussed ideas about education

and change in social, economic, cultural and political

life of a nation. The paradoxical question of who changes

the other, society or education has been the central issue here. It led to the conclusion that cultural change

through education must take seriously into consideration

the social, economic, and political aspects of the cul­

ture. Education in the arts was recognized as a poten­

tial force in human development, and that when well

directed it can contribute greatly to national develop­ ment. A revolutionary educational system which is development-oriented was proposed as a means by which

the country can harness the potentials of its physical

and human resources to bring about development in Ghana. CHAPTER SIX

SUMMARY REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS

There can be little doubt that the interest in, and the willingness to support the development of education that has been shown by the people of Africa, especially Ghana, is due "to the acceptance of the idea that education is the key to our peoples' progress.

Through this study, we have attempted to inquire into the extent to which modern education could be directed to lending support to the overall strategy of national development in Ghana.

We have been acquainted with the views of the

Ghanaian as well as African leadership regarding the efficacy of modern education as a dynamic agent or one of the keys for fulfilling the goals of social, economic political and cultural development of their country.

"The Gold Coast (Ghana) Revolution was as much an educational as a political one." We have shown a close link between African education and African nationalism.

With the belief that it is the rapid quantitative expansion of formal educational opportunities which holds the basic keys to modernization, the first African 274 leadership began in 1951, through its Accelerated

Development Plan for Education to invest between twenty and forty percent of the national budget to educational development, making Ghana one of the leading countries which spend the highest on their education. But despite this, and the unprecedented increased output of the educational system, especially in the number of elementary school leavers, that followed the strategy of linear expansion which the system has been pursuing for almost three decades, "has now run its course and ended in crisis." The uncontrolled expansion has indeed given rise to "many perplexing problems and revealed many unexpected consequences."

Ayisi has remarked:

Although Ghana's provision compares favorourably with those of other developing countries in Africa the fact remains that the criterion of sound educational provision is how well a nation's educational output measures to the needs generated by its own aspirations and its drive for development. (West African Journal of Education, 1973, p.89)

Viewed from this angle, it is evident that much remains to be done before educational needs in the country could be said to be efficiently met. For example, the crucial problem of unemployment among school leavers is said to be the result of a mismatch between the educational 275 system aiming mainly at qualitative expansion of the academic streams and an economic strategy which, until recently, focused on expansion of the modern sector which cannot absorb most of the academically trained people searching for jobs. Essentially there is a crisis of maladjustment and their socio-economic and cultural environments.

A lot of problems in education were uncovered.

These included dropouts, the dreadful use of examinations, the shortage of qualified teachers, lack of equipment, the irrelevance of curriculum, the bootlenecks in the structure of the system, the neglect of education in the arts, only to mention a few.

The examination of the basic organization of the educational system and the "philosophical foundation" on which it rests have been an eye-opener in regards to its ineffectiveness to meet present realities. It also showed why the system has continued to perpetuate itself without any major changes.

For some time now the public has been crying for a change in the system. The need for reform was clearly spelled out in the most recently published document

The New Structure and Content of Education for Ghana

(February, 1974). One premise of this study is that the continued development along the colonial model of 276 education can only spell disaster. Therefore, a more dynamic, alternative system must be evolved and directed to the full development of the human and material resources of the nation.

In order to make proposals for change, we have to have foresight due to the radical changes taking place in the country and around the world. But as Lewis puts it, "foresight is impossible without hindsight"; in this context, it was considered pertinent to review the historical aspects. The second and third chapters were therefore devoted to the cultural contact between

Europeans and Africans, and brought out the impact of education on the cultural life in Ghana. Gradually as the demand for estern education increased, the tradi­ tional African education waned and became secondary in the life of the people. Various criticisms of the

"colonial" education were clearly brought out.

The study centered its discussion on varying views about the relations between general education and national development with special emphasis on the arts in edu­ cation.

The national goals for development were discussed and some light was thrown on how to achieve them. Three alternative educational systems were proposed, and 277

the one chosen from among them to be pursued was labelled

"development-oriented."

The author has advocated for an innovated national educational system whose philosophy is "reconstruc­ tionism" and "integration." It involves the learning activities of both the youth and adults. Schooling ceases to become the fountainhead of education. Other centers of learning were explored. The proposed system aims at instilling in the individual, an appre­ ciation for the need of a change directed to the develop­ ment of potentialities within everyone and using the power derived from science and technology to transform one's environment to improve the quality of his life.

The quest for modernization demands the total mobilization of all citizens and adequately equipping them with the skills, and knowledge necessary to foster development and to adapt to change. Its goal is a "learning society" which supports "lifelong education, and whose roots are found in the culture of the Ghanaian people."

In line with contemporary thoughts and directions for African education, the central thesis of the study is that education must form a coordinated totality in which all sectors of society are structually integrated.

It will be universalized and continual. From the point of view of the individual, it will be total and creative. 278 The various forms of learning, informal, formal, and non-formal will be integrated in the educational process. This type of education will be the bulk- wark and the force in the culture to be created out of a synthesis of traditional and modern elements.

We must therefore be reminded this may serve as basis for a cultural revolution of our time leading to

Africa's cultural renaissance.

This "development-oriented" system of education, proposed in this study is meant to serve as a major instrument of social change and national development.

The writer is of the opinion that the present emphasis i upon innovation in education should be understood within its larger societal context. For this educational in­ novation to succeed, therefore, it must be integrated in the overall national planning and development.

The roles of the proposed education for meeting the needs of individuals and society were discussed.

Much emphasis was placed on the role that the institu­ tions of higher learning could play in promoting national development. The contribution of education through the arts towards personal and societal development were also highlighted. The need for understanding, transforming and promoting the essential elements of the arts (both traditional and modern) as contributions to the cultural 279 heritage of the country was stressed. A curriculum model was designed to show how effectively some essential elements of modern and traditional culture could be synthesized and reconstructed if possible and effectively utilized to promote "cultural advancements."

Implications of the Study

The study has raised some important questions about the relationship between education and national develop­ ment. It also brings out the difficulty in dealing with cultural selectivity. After much discussion on educa­ tion, the arts and the need for- cultural change and modernization there remains some issues unresolved. This calls for the need of further research, elucidation, and development which demands an integrated effort on the part of social scientists.

Recommendations

This study concludes with the following recom­ mendations

1. Our emphasis on innovative change in Ghana's edu­ cational system must be viewed and understood within its larger societal context. The "dysfunctionality" of the system in the face of contemporary needs of the nation is a pointer to the fact that it is high time it was changed; it is also time to revamp our thinking and search for new strategies to provide our nation's citizens with the highest quality education which has its roots in African culture.

The changes advocated in this study are based upon a philosophy of cultural integration in which all the sound elements of indigenous culture and borrowed cultural elements are combined and grounded on the special exigencies of the country's aspira­ tion in all fields. We are advocating for a recon­ structionist philosophy with a theory of integrated development of man's nature and society which spells harmony. It is imperative that the aims, goals, and objectives of education in Ghana become clearly stated and made known to the political body.

2. Contemporary educators and our future national leaders must concentrate on changing rigid colonial educational standards, such as the "sudden-death examination” systems and restricted entrance require­ ments into institutions of higher learning. Other methods of assessing an overall ability must be de­ vised: based upon a multi-dimensional system of evalua tion.

3. An educational extension unit under the Ministry of Education dealing with research programs focused on creating alternatives to what now exists in Ghana

and an action program department to prepare change

agents or developers to assist in innovation, dissemi­

nation and integration problems is important to con­

sider. It will serve as a link between the ministry

of education and the universities in matters relating

to Curriculum innovation, Education Research Programs

and staff development. It will be in close liaison

between the ministry of education and all institutions

involved in research and development, training centers,

and be represented on International Conferences on Edu­

cation and Development.

4. Although the consolidation and development of the

past as reflected in the national cultural activities

is of vital importance, the national cultural policy must also be forward looking. It must recognize the

need for appropriate adjustments in organizations of

cultural activities in response to economic and social

changes arising from national development projects,

as well as changes in values introduced through the

educational process. Aspects of traditional cultural

practices must therefore be continually reviewed in

the light of new values.

5. On the same basis the national cultural policy

should not stifle innovation and creative experiments 282 in the arts, but rather promote and highly reward it.

It should encourage new African thoughts on culture, new African literature and new African art, music and all forms of theatrical expression which exploit traditional and modern materials in innovative ways.

6. It is high time the Government of Ghana estab­ lished special Endowment for the promotion of the arts which will provide funds for scholarships and research.

Distinguished traditional as well as contemporary artists who excell in the various arts should be honored by the state every year so as to project the nation's respect for art and artists in line with the Cultural Values of

African Heritage.

Education in the arts at the elementary level should not be limited to classroom activities for drawing and painting but must include in its future programs, unique cultural activities of celebration, play or ritual.

Performances at the local community centers and on recreational grounds should be vital in the context of cultural education.

7. It is imperative that the curriculum development of art education as well as other subjects in the humanities take into deeper consideration "regional and local" differences in the form of human and material resources that can hinder or promote the educational 283 programs. Provisions must be made for utilizing those local and regional resources that are considered sound to enrich the experiences of the students. Excursions or visits to places of interest must be encouraged.

In the arts programs, the skills of local artists must be tapped on — to broader the scope of learning. In a nutshell we want to suggest that the various local communities must be involved in the affairs of the school; the school was created to serve society and should not be isolated from its community.

8. In order to achieve fully national unity, peace and political stability, the proposed educational system should stress in its programs, national consciousness, civil rights and responsibilities, cultural understanding and empathy of the various ethnic groups in the country and the respect for each of them. It should make allownance for individual differences — all these boil down to edu­ cation for democratization.

The essential task of future leaders who will emerge from the present political transition from military to civil rule will be to maximize the creative potential of the country and to do this within the limits of what is politically and administratively feasible in the readily foreseeable future. In many respects, then, the problems caused by linear expansion in the educational system can point to new and varied ways of fostering economic and social development, political stability and equality. After achieving political independence for twenty-one years now, we consider it is high time we also achieved economic and cultural inde­ pendence. As complete independent people we can then play an important role in the interdependence among nations of the world. We will be able to benefit more and at the same time contribute to the commonwealth of nations, with special references to our rich cultural endowments. APPENDIX A

MAPS

285 286

AFRICA SHOWING GHANA

SPANISH ALScma UNITED .SAHARA ARAB REPUBLIC

MALI NIGER

CHAO FRENCH UPPE SOMALILAND PORT. ^ « T 1. VOLTA S u 0 A N G u in ea ° NIGERIA LEONE q^K-TCENTRAC >r i r"ican ETHIOPIA LISERIA I r e p u b l i c OAHOMET p e r n a n o o po o

Rio MUNI A a BON)<&2 ' CONGO (LEOJ fKENYA

TANZANIA ^ °tE sii» i» o rl CABIN OA (Angola) (Tanganyika)(UNITED REPUSLIC I ANGOLA ZAMBIA • N.RdoAJ

BOTSWANA

SOUTH SWAZILANO AFRICA LESOTHO 287 GHANA: ADMINISTRATIVE REGIONS

NORTHERN

BRONG-AHAFO

ASHANTI

WESTERN

CENTRAL

Takoradi 288

GHANA: THE VARIOUS ETHNIC GROUPS

'______t_____ •______-^.'UNKAWSI______3USANGA iI « * * * » vci.rA oumiTHk ga b a and guxense . \ faunas*jK

U d e l e

N T S U B U ir «TWUMURU| I i

sown SB U E M M XP.«FV JSANTKOKOFl H 1 K ? E >*L0L08I ; **NKONTAi<* -LOGBa -T A F l VATIMEI fetTANGBO SWCwawu ^ANOM'BOSO' ^-SUAKWAMtT APPENDIX B

STRUCTURES OP EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

289 290

TABLE 17

GHANA: STRUCTURE OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

REPUBLIC OP GHANA

-a- InHUM 1981 Fonmr syilta - piuslng out by 1989

- 2 4 - 19 - 2 3 - 18 - 22- W 17 2 eL vttL 8/» - 21- 5 i m 18 J{1 Ji 5 JB « - 20- 73 a •> Icon. 13 $ 1 f < Horn.Arts 3 <* Form 6 | Food Sc. Food | i - 1 9 - I 14 TcW. Form} -1 8 - S tan Fora 13 Tr. •ft Fora 4 SECONDARY - 1 7 - 12 * form 4 Fora 3 EDUCATION - 1 8 - II Form 3 Tcftr. Fora 2 - 1 5 - SECONDARY ESUCAIION • T e h . Fora 4 10 Fora 2 Tr. Form 1 - 1 4 - Tr. ForaB 9 F o w l - 1 3 - Fern 2 — m io o u school 8 C l s i l Fora 1 - 12- CI«U 7 7 C tm 6 - 11- ClSI 8 6 C la s s 3 C la s s CtassA OIMNTARY EDUCATION — E1EMENTARY EDUCATION 4 C l* j4 C la s3 3 Clm 3 C ls s 2 2 cim 2 C lH ll I CltUl

— 3- C4*uubwy«kieNloih lOytsrt SdmlyMrtSiptMtar-August Sicondirygndlng: 1008 408 - 308 pmlng (Tor Socondjry C rrtificjtn, i n SECONDARY EDUCATION} 291

TABLE 18

NEW STRUCTURE Q»~ EDUCATION

t(l II 12 IJ 14 li l« 17 18 I* 20 21 22 23 _1_ » t _L_ i i t _L_ _J_

■^OGHEHEHEHEHBG^^ &£1 K KlNORROARTRN P PRIMARY EOURATNIN JS JUNIOR SECONDARY SSL Senior Second*ay Lower TVC TrarmcAWVocAnoNAt/CoMKWOAt E d u c a ti o n T T H T e a c i tea T e a i n i n o —HAN m c R A r r B E T B u s i n e s s E d u c a t i o n T e a c h e r T r a i n i n o I T T e a c h e r T r a i n i n o (Po s t “O" UvttJ T T A T e a c h e r T r a i n i n o (Po s t " A " U r n ) T T S S r e c u l b t T e a c h e r T r a i n i n o SSU Se n i o r S e c o n d a r y Urn* F T Po l y t e c h n i c E d u c a t i o n T T T T e c h n i c a l T e a c h e r T r a i n i n o T T U T e a c h e r T r a i n i n o i n U n i v e r s i t y U U n i v e r s i t y E B I E m p u i v m e n t 292

TABLE 19

r # y

Institutions

ATTC=Advanced Teacher Training College, Winneba STTCsSpeeialist Teacher Training College, Winneba UCC= University of Cepe Coast UG=University of Ghana UST=s University of Science and Technology

3 Few schools offer this course. 3 Classes 1-6 are given in the 6-year primary schools and classes 7 and 8 in the 4-year middle schools. Classes 7 and 8 are also called, respectively, Middle Form I and Middle Form II. 3 Only 7th grade students in selected middle schools may take the C.E.E. * Offered in tha third and fourth years of the 4-year middle schools. -Three and four-year business studies and other courses offered at this level in Technical Institutes not depicted. “ The Technical Institutes admit only students who have taken the C.E.E. after com­ pleting Middle Form IV. • Admission after a 2-year pretechnfeal course at a Technical Institute or after the l-yesr pretechnical course at the institution (Mampong) giving the Handicraft Certlft- eats A cours*. »The UST pre-art course and the UCC Preliminary Science course, which lead, re- spectlvely, to the UST BA (Art) course and the UCC B. Sc. General (Education) course. Three-year university degree courses are the UCC 8.A. General (Education). BA Honours (Education), B. Ed., B. Sc. General (Education); UG B. A. A., B. A. General, B A Honours, B. Sc. (Administration), B. Sc. Economics, B. Sc. General, B. sc. (Home Seience) General, U.B.; and UST BA 19 The UCC B. Sc. Honours (Education) which follows the UCC B. Sc. General (Edu­ cation) and the UG B. Sc. Honours which follows tha UG B. Sc. General. 11 Four-year university degree courses are the UG B. Sc. (Honours) Agriculture and the UST B A (Art), B. Sc., B. Sc. (Agreiulture), B. Sc. (Building Technology), B. Sc. (Design), B. Sc. (Engineering), B. Sc. (Land Economy), B. Sc. (Planning), and B. Pharm. ” M.B., Ch.8. 33 Other courses at this approximate level that are not depicted Include the UG Spe­ cial Diploma in General Agriculture (1 year), which follows the School Certificate and the UST Diploma in Agriculture and the National Diploma in Agriculture (2 years) which follows a 3-year postsecondary course. 34 Other courses at this level that are not shown include the U6 Certificate in Statistics (1 year) followed by the Higher Certificate in Statistics (1 year), the UG Diploma in Hospital Administration (3), the UST Diploma in Tropical Horticulture (2), the Tarkwa School of Mines mining engineering course (3), and the Polytechnics' institutional management (3), business studies (2), accountancy (2 part time), secre­ taryship (2 part time), and other courses. ee*«*M aiw g. tmO*refev«e 13 Holders of the O.T.D. who also have the required G.C.E.-A level passes may also enter degree courses in the Faculty of Architecture of UST. l" in English, geography, history, general science, mathematics. 17 In art, home science, music, physical education. School Certificate holders as well as holders of the Certificate A 4-year may enter one course (home science). APPENDIX C

TIME TABLE FOR A TYPICAL MONITORIAL SCHOOL

293 294

TIME TABLE FOR A TYPICAL MONITORIAL SCHOOL (about 1888)' Morning

Time 1st Class 2nd Class 3rd Class 9.15 a.m. Catechism Collects Lord’s Prayer 9.30 a.m. Reads and Reads and Reads spelling spells to the spells from cards to master lesson to teacher teacher (i.e. monitor) 10.00 a.m. Repeats tables Spells from Reads and cyphers and cards; writes spells to the spells from from copper­ master; goes cards plate cards out to teacher. 10.30 a.m. Reads and Reads and Writes copper­ spells from spells from plate cards lesson to the lesson sitting teacher to master; goes out 11.00 a.m. Spells on the Writes a Writes tables cards to the lesson from and figures; master; the spelling goes out again goes out cards 11.30 a.xn. Writes in Goes out 5 Reads and copybook or mins.; writes spells to if girls, tables; master sew repeats them from cards.

This sets out the “occupations” of the different classes, the length 295

SYLLABUS FOR THE 3 Rs. (1870)

Class Class Class Subject Standard I Standard 2 Standard 3

Reading Narrative in One of the nar­ A short para­ Monosyllables ratives next in graph from an order after elementary monosyllables reading book in an elemen­ used in the tary reading school book in the school

Writing Form on black­ Copy in manu­ A sentence board or slate, script a line from the same from dictation, of print paragraph, letters, capital and slowly and small read once, manuscript and then dic­ tated in single words

Arithmetic Form on black­ A sum in A sum in any board or slate, simple addition simple rule as from dictation, or subtraction, far as short figures up to 20: and the multi­ division (in­ add, subtract plication table clusive) figures up to 10 orally, from ex­ amples on blackboard 296

TYPICAL SYLLABUS IN GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, AND ENGLISH LITERATURE* English Literature Class Geography History Class (as a specific subject) Standard Definitions, Not taken 1st 100 lines of II points of com­ below year poetry, got by pass, form an< Std. IV heart, with motion of the ■ knowledge of earth, the meaning and meaning of a allusions. map Writing a letter on a single subject Standard Outlines of 2nd 200 lines of III Geography of year poetry not be­ Great Britain fore brought up, with special repeated; with knowledge of knowledge of the country meaning and in which the allusions. Writ­ school is ing a paraphrase situated of a passage of early prose Standard Outlines of Outlines of 3rd 300 lines of IV Geography of History of year poetry, not be­ Great Britain, England to fore brought up, Ireland and Norman repeated, with the Colonies Conquest knowledge of meaning and allusions. Writ­ ing a letter or statement the heads of the topics to be given by Inspectors BIBLIOGRAPHY

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