Blog 1 - Education in Ghana

http://www.educationnews.org/international-uk/public-education-in-ghana-failing-nations-children/

Education is a very important social issue – I personally believe that when you provide people with a basic education, you are giving them the skills to solve all sorts of problems down the road. This article details the current state of education in Ghana, where it is said that the “money supposed to enable education to succeed is being mismanaged to the detriment of the poor and needy” (Lawrence, 2012). Ghana’s public schools are the particular issue, with underqualified teachers and lack of current materials being some of the biggest concerns. The Institute for Fiscal Policy recently met with several leaders in Ghana and discussed the country’s educational concerns. Issues in public education were at the top of the list, and a representative from the Ghana Education Service “said the government was actively working on problems such as budgeting, poorly-targeted spending, and inspection issues…[and] promised to introduce school report cards” (Lawrence, 2012). Ghana is currently failing to meet the goals set in 2010 by the Education Sector Strategic Plan - they are supposed to be met in 2015 and thus far none of them have been met  (Lawrence, 2012). 

I wondered if part of the issue with the mismanagement of money for public education had anything to do with the differing interests of the government in Ghana – an example of the zero-sum game that we learned about this week. It seems that if people would put education first and understand the impact that it could have on society, they would be a bit more cautious and critical about spending their money elsewhere. I know that this may be a bit of an ethnocentric view, but I feel like so many of today’s social problems could be solved if we increased and bettered the levels of education worldwide. As people’s knowledge increases, their ability to prevent the spread of disease increases, they are more likely to get a job, and they are more likely to take steps to remove themselves from poverty. Ghana could be that much closer to meeting the goals set by the ESSP if they would continue to invest in education.

Lawrence, S. D.. "Public Education in Ghana Failing Nation's Children | Education News." Education News. N.p., 31 Aug. 2012. Web. 31 Aug. 2012. <http://www.educationnews.org/international-uk/public-education-in-ghana-failing-nations-children/>.