Annotated Profile of GhanaRECOUP Research Outputs 2006 -2009

Associates for Change (AfC)[1]

4th March, 2009

Associates for Change (AfC)

P.O. Box 7726 Accra-North

11 Osabukwe Close

Farrar Avenue, Adabraka,

Ghana

Research Consortium on Educational Outcomes and Poverty (RECOUP)

The Research Consortium on Educational Outcomes and Poverty (RECOUP) is a Millennium Development Goal (MDG) inspired project sponsored by the Department for International Development (DfID) to study the impact of education on life outcomes including economic and social outcomes. The core objective of the project is to study the mechanisms that drive the cycle of deprivation, and to identify the policies needed to ensure that educational outcomes benefit the disadvantaged. The five year project is carried out in four developing countries- India, Pakistan, Kenya and Ghana. In Ghana, Associates for Change (AFC) is the lead implementing agency.

The study seeks to explore howsocial and human development outcomes of educationcan be measured; how can economic and market outcomes of education be improved, particularly for the poor; and how are the outcomes of education affected by different partnership arrangements between households, government and aid agencies.

The study adopts multi-disciplinary and participatory approaches combining quantitative and qualitative approaches to forge a balanced presentation of social realities in each country and a comparative cross-country analysis. It employs an array of research expertise including economists, sociologist, anthropologists and educationists, to address questions in each thematic area. There are three main thematic areas:

  • Social and human
  • Market and economics
  • Aid and partnership

Associates for Change (AfC) is a research and consulting firm specializing in social policy analysis, education and international development. AFC works with a range of clients from around the African and Asian regions on issues of education, poverty reduction, public reforms, gender and HIV/AIDS. AfC is the lead research institution conducting RECOUP research in Ghana. The following research profile providesan insight into the research output of the RECOUP project to date.

Social and Human Strand
1. Oduro, A. (2008). An Investigation into Poverty, Educational Attainment and Outcomes in Ghana. Meta Analysis working Paper 2. Associates for Change
The paper provides a preliminary analysis of educational attainment amongGhana’s adult population using the Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ) survey conducted in 2003. It describes the patterns and trends in educational attainment and makes some conclusions to possible associations between educational attainment, outputs and outcomes. The paper contains a brief discussion on Ghana’s education system and educational attainment of the population aged 15 years and above, and a descriptive analysis of educational attainment and some output and outcome indicators. It also examines adult literacy, employment, unemployment and health.
It was found that a significant proportion of the population aged15 and above has never attended school and that in some regions of Ghana the proportion that have never attended school increased between 1998 and 2003. There are also significant gender and location differences. Women are less likely to have attended school and are more likely to drop out of school compared to men, and rural peopleare less likely to have attended school and more likely to drop out of school compared to urban people. The disabled are less likely to attend school and this is one of the greatest differences in their educational attainment profile as compared to the profile of the entire sample. The paper concludes thatoverall educational attainment is positively correlated with the welfare of the household or individual.

2. Este, K. (2008). Academic Performance within the Cycle of Deprivation in Ghana. Meta Analysis Paper 4. Associates for Change.
The purpose of the study is to determine whether a student’s performance is related to the socio-economic background from which they come.The study selected four regions -Greater Accra, Eastern, Northern and Western Regionsand two districts in each region classified either as ruralor urban.The study used data from the Ghana Basic Education Comprehensive Assessment System (BECAS) Project, the National Education Assessment (NEA), and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) conducted by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC).
According to the paper, there are significant differences between the rural/deprived primary schools and urban schools surveyed in the study. There were also differences in performance between boys and girls across the four selected regions.Unfortunately the paper confirms the expectation and generally held view that urban school pupils perform better than rural school pupils, and concluded thatthe cycle of poverty in deprived areaswill continue unless a concertedeffortis made to improve the quality of rural education.

3. Wumbee, J. (2008). The Effect of Household Wealth on Educational Attainment in Ghana,Meta Analysis Paper 5. Associates for Change.
This is an empirical study that assesses the effect of household wealth on educational attainment of children from different socio-economic backgrounds in Ghana using the Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire 2003 (CWIQ, GSS). The study seeks to compare key educational indicators such as enrolment, dropout and attainment to determine whether there is any difference between socio-economic groupings, males and females, and urban and rural children. It also seeks to determine whether there is a relationship between household wealth, level of education of the household head and the household size with the wards' attainment level. Furthermore, it attempts to predict the mean educational level of a child (aged 15 – 19) based on the knowledge of age, sex, locality, household head educational level, region of origin and the household size and wealth status.
The study found that there are two distinct poverty zones in Ghana, the South and the North, with the bias heavily against the North. For the cohort(15 – 19 years of age), the enrolment of children from affluent homes was greater than those from either the average or the poor homes. As they progress in years this gap widens. By the completion of JSS 3, the children from each economic grouping become more distinct, with the poor havinga significantly lower proportion of children reaching higher levels of education compared to the higher wealth quintiles. The educational wealth gap between the poor and the affluent vary from region to region with the southern sector having a relatively smaller wealth gap,with the northern sector having larger wealth gap.

4. Arnot, M., L. Casely-Hayford, D. A. Dovie, F. Chege and P. K. Wainaina (2007). Conceptualising the Relationship between Youth Citizenship and Poverty Alleviation: East and West African approaches to the education of a new generation. Paper presented at the Symposium on Improving Educational Outcomes for Pro-Poor Development: UKFIET conference Going for Growth? School, Community, Economy, Nation, Oxford, 11th-14th September 2007.
The paper explores some of the tensions in Western African and East African settings. It aims to establish the ways in which the participating countries in the RECOUP study (in this case Kenya and Ghana) understand the purposes and intended outcomes of education. The issues discussed are not simple ones, given the complex nature of the concept of citizenship, especially within African settings in which traditional civic roles in communities have been challenged, transformed, relocated and reworked, not just in light of turbulence national histories, but also by international political and economic agendas.
The paper, the first in a planned series on youth citizenship, focuses on the African setting. It has three main sections. The first section, explores the contrasting agendas around educating for citizenship and the critical interpretations offered by a range of contemporary African social scientists. The second section explores, from a Kenyan and a Ghanaian perspective, the task of educating youth to engage with national education goals. The diverse nature of the ‘civic virtues’ which are encouraged in the young as well as the pressures on these two governments to develop more democratic forms of governance immediately indicate just how much work has gone into establishing the education of its citizens as well as the considerable difficulties which Kenya and Ghana have had in defining their own versions of citizenship, away from the pressures associated with the import of the liberal democratic project and the construction of a neo-liberal state in the shape of post welfare European societies.

5.Wumbee, J. and R. Akabzaa (2008). Descriptive Analysis of La Sample Population. Associates for Change
This is an analysis of census data collected from 330 households covering 1284 people in a part of La town, a suburb of Accra, Ghana. The paper has four main sections. The first section analyses demographic data including sex composition, marital status, education attainment, literacy levels, vocational and technical training, occupation, etc of household members. The second section assesses the household assets and amenities such as ownership of dwelling, number of rooms used by households, nature and type of housing, source of drinking water, availability of toilet facilities, fuel for cooking and lighting, among others. The third analyses focuses on the wellbeing of the residents by looking at household expenditure patterns, the households’ ability to meet five basic needs and the households’ perception of poverty.

6.Wumbee, J. and R. Akabzaa (2008).Descriptive Analysis of the Nakpanzoo/Nabogu Sample Population. Associates for Change
This is an analysis of census data collected from 249 households covering 1,828 people in Nakpanzoo and Nabogu communities in the Northern Region. The paper has four main sections. The first section analyses demographic data including sex composition, marital status, education attainment, literacy levels, vocational and technical training, occupation, etc of household members. The second section assesses household assets and amenities such as ownership of dwelling, number of rooms used by households, nature and type of housing, source of drinking water, availability of toilet facilities, fuel for cooking and lighting, among others. The third sectionanalyses the wellbeing of the residents by looking at household expenditure patterns, the households’ ability to meet five basic needs, andthe households’ perception of poverty.

7. Wumbee, J. and R. Akabzaa (2008).Descriptive Analysis of the Obeyeyie Sample Population. Associates for Change.
This is an analysis of census data collected from about 270 households in Obeyeyie community in the Ga West District, Greater Accra Region. The paper has four main sections.The first section presents the analyses of demographic data including sex composition, marital status, education attainment, literacy level, vocational and technical training, occupation, etc of household members. The secondsection assesses household assets and amenities such as ownership of dwelling, number of rooms used by households, nature and type of housing, source of drinking water, availability of toilet facilities, fuel for cooking and lighting, among others. The third sectionanalyses the wellbeing of the residents by looking at the household expenditure patterns, the households’ ability to meet five basic needs, and the households’ perception of poverty.

8. Wumbee, J. and R. Akabzaa (2008). Descriptive Analysis of Savelugu Sample Population. Associates for Change.
This is an analysis of census data collected from 213 households in Savelugu town in the Northern Region. The paper has four main sections.The first section presentsdemographic data including sex composition, marital status, education attainment, literacy levels, vocational and technical training, occupation, etc of household members. The second section of the paper assesses household assets and amenities such as ownership of the dwelling, number of rooms used by households, nature and type of housing, source of drinking water, availability of toilet facilities, fuel for cooking and lighting, among others. The third section of the paper analyses the wellbeing of the residents by looking at household expenditure patterns, the households’ ability to meet five basic needs, and the households’ perception of poverty. The last section is a summary and conclusion

10. Casely-Hayford, L. (2007). Gendered Experiences of Teaching in Poor Rural Areas of Ghana, RECOUP Working PaperNo. 8
This paper investigates the reasons why the majority of female Ghanaian teachers avoid –if they can- posting to rural deprived areas and why girls in particular are not entering the teaching profession. The author used a primarily quanlitative approach to explore the perceptions of key stakeholders involved in basic education, including female teachers living in deprived rural areas, girls at upper primary and secondary levels of education and community members. The study divided the country into three zones- northern, southern and middle zones- and selected two districts with the lowest percentage of female pupil enrolment ratio, and the lowest number of female teachers teaching at basic education level.
The study found that the current status of teachers is low,that several teachers dissuade their children from entering the teachingprofession. The study also found that women are particularly vulnerable to the lowstatus of teaching since they already occupy a low social status in Ghana. Other factors include: low entrance and retention of women in teacher training institutions; low enrolment and high drop out among girls in upper primary and JSS levels; lack of parental interest in female education despite campaigns for girls’ education; and frustration among parents concerning the poor performance of teachers in their schools compared to urban areas. The paper concluded that the supply and retention of female teachers in poor rural areas is dependent on the improvement of the status of teachers in general. Therefore the status of teachers should be enhanced with teachers being oriented and informed about the context and needs of children in rural areas of the country. They should be motivated to serve and make a difference in these areas.

11. Ghana Thematic Bibliography for Social and Human Strand
This is a compilation of some of the most important analytical work identified for the RECOUP project. The bibliography attempts to provide some of the background literature and helps the study teams identify other important studies conducted in the education system in Ghana over the last 30 years from a broader perspective. The bibliography covers:
  • General Education
  • Gender and Education
  • Social Equity, and Social Mobility
  • Health, Fertility and HIV/AIDS
  • Disability
  • Citizenship and Democracy
  • Market and Economic
  • Sector Wide Reform, Aid and Partnerships
.

Market and Economic Strand
1. Korboe, D. (2007). Can Skills Training Help Break The Cycle Of Deprivation For The Poor?: Lessons From Northern Ghana. NORRAG News, 38, Jan 2007. This paper was also presented at the RECOUP Symposium, 'Going for Growth' UKFIET Conference on International Education and Development, 11-13 September 2007, Oxford.
The paper presents a summary of preliminary findings from a first round of field work with vocational training institutes in NorthernGhana. The research seeks a better understanding of the pathways for transitioning from skills to working life among the poor.The research findings suggestthat the majority of people who enter skills training are youth who have been unsuccessful in making the transition from JuniorSecondary School to SeniorSecondary School. The large numbers of students who fail to enter senior secondary is a result of a combination of factors including household poverty and low quality of education particularly in the poverty zones under study.
Though the cost of training can deter the poor from enrolling in skills training, it is not the primary barrier tocompletion of skills training since most training institutions do not prevent defaulting students from completing. Students drop out when they perceive that they are not receiving meaningful training or the opportunity cost is too high. The major barrier for trainees transiting from training to the world of work is inadequate access to start-up capital.

2. Palmer, R., R. Akabzaa and L. Casely-Hayford (2009). Skills Pathways Out of Poverty; Technical and Vocational skills Development: Breaking the cycle of poverty for youth in Ghana?
The paper presents the preliminary findings of research on skills acquisition and utilization in Ghana. The study involved in-depth interviews with artisans (formally and informally trained), training institutions, key informants and policy makers in four RECOUP research sites; Obeyeyie in the Ga West district, La in the Accra Metropolis, Savelugu town and Nakpanzoo/Nabogu in the Northern Region.
The study found that there are three main modes of skills acquisition; traditional apprentices, formal vocational and technical training and NGOs sponsored programmes. Traditional apprenticeship is the most preferred or dominant option for skills acquisitions. The very poor are barred from acquiring skills by many factors including entry requirements, fees and payments, feeding etc. Formal training institutions are poorly resourced and provide inadequate practical training; their access especially by the poor tends to be impeded by academic requirements and relatively inflexible fee payment systems. However, certificates obtained from formal training institutions tend to be highly valued and recognized by employers.