Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0143/01432.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 37KB | 614 lines

$Unique_ID{COW01432}
$Pretitle{353}
$Title{Ghana
Chapter 7A.   Education, Information, and the Arts and Sciences}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{school
schools
education
secondary
year
middle
primary
students
courses
number}
$Date{1970}
$Log{Table 4.*0143201.tab
}
Country:     Ghana
Book:        Area Handbook for Ghana
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1970

Chapter 7A.   Education, Information, and the Arts and Sciences

     At the start of 1971 the country had a steadily widening educational
base, although illiteracy still remained a serious problem. This base was
capped by a growing intellectual community that was already much larger in
relation to the size of the population than in other black African nations. It
also had an active press that, in contrast to the period of constraint during
much of the 1960s, enjoyed a freedom greater than those in most other parts of
Africa. Constitutional safeguards existed to protect the independence of the
mass media.

     Education was compulsory beginning at the age of six years and, except
for a charge for textbooks, was free through the secondary level, including
the teacher-training colleges. The educational system was based on the British
model. In Ghana, however, a four-year middle school was interposed between
primary school and the ordinary secondary school. A further two-year period of
advanced secondary studies beyond ordinary secondary school was a general
prerequisite to university work.

     Enrollment increased substantially between 1960 and 1970. The number of
students in primary school more than doubled, and an even greater growth
occurred in middle and secondary schools. Although large numbers completing
primary school continued on to middle school, only about 10 percent of the
students leaving middle school went to secondary school, in part because of
the competitive nature of entrance examinations for a limited number of
secondary school places. Expansion of secondary school facilities was a
government priority in 1971.

     In the late 1960s a large number of students were entering the labor
market without adequate training. Efforts were underway to introduce more
practical and vocational courses, but this was expected to take some time.

     In part because of a relatively long history of university training in
the Gold Coast, Ghana had a number of scholars of international reputation,
particularly in history and the social sciences. Various scholarly societies
regularly published the results of historical, economic, political, and
sociological research, much of it by Ghanaians.

     Group participation in music, dancing, and song was characteristic. In
urban areas in particular, and to an increasing extent in rural communities,
modern dance music was highly popular. Much of this was composed locally and
bore the imprint of Ghanaian rhythmic styles. The most developed of the visual
arts was sculpture, both traditional and modern.

     An extensive oral folk literature existed, much of it characterized by
poetic form. Poetry was also important in the country's modern literature.
Modern formal drama was in an early stage of development in the late 1960s. An
extremely popular form of drama was the comic plays put on by itinerant
troupes throughout the country, which to some extent resembled the vaudeville
of the United States in the early twentieth century.

     The government was very directly involved in the mass media through
state-owned or controlled broadcasting, television, film production, and news
agency enterprises and through the publication of newspapers and periodicals.
Freedom of expression as of early 1971 appeared to be generally adhered to. An
indication of this atmosphere was the intention, announced in late 1970 by the
editor of Transition magazine, formerly published in Kampala, Uganda, to
restart publication in Ghana; his reason was largely based upon the
government's commitment to freedom of expression.

     The principal newspapers were government owned, but a small number of
privately run newspapers were published, one of which-the Pioneer-had a long
history of independence. All major newspapers were in English. Radio programs
of the government net were broadcast in English and several indigenous
languages (see ch. 4, Ethnic Groups and Languages). Listeners were estimated
to number about half the population. A television net of five stations covered
the main population centers. The number of receivers in use at the beginning
of 1971 was small but increasing. There were no apparent restrictions on
access to information from foreign sources.

     Motion picture theaters in all major towns and mobile units afforded an
opportunity for many to see films. Annual attendance was estimated at about
12 million in the latter 1960s. Many of the films screened were American or
British.

     Public libraries were found in the larger towns and in some smaller
communities. Mobile library units also provided some services. This combined
national public library system had an estimated 800,000 volumes in 1970. A
number of excellent specialized libraries were available to research workers
and some other persons. Library facilities were largely nonexistent in the
elementary school system but were found in varying degrees of adequacy at the
secondary level of education. The University of Ghana's main library had
250,000 volumes in 1970 and excellent reader facilities.

Education

     Education along Western lines was first introduced into the Gold Coast by
missionaries as early as 1765. During the first half of the 1800s mission
schools were established at various places, chiefly in the south in what was
to become the Gold Coast Colony. In 1852 the British colonial government
instituted a poll tax to help support public schools, but the measure was
unpopular and was abrogated in 1861. Mission schools continued to spread,
however, and by 1881 numbered 139, with about 5,000 students.

     Beginning in 1882 the government took a more active part in the
development of education. A board of education was set up to inspect schools
and standardize their management. Grants were also established for private
schools that met government standards, and regulations for recognition by the
government of new schools were drawn up. The main emphasis was on primary
education until the early 1900s, when limited secondary education was
introduced as a result of the colonial government's decision to create a
small, educated African elite.

     After World War I the development of education was given additional
impetus under policies formulated by the British governor, Sir Frederick
Gordon Guggisberg. These stressed the need for improved teacher training,
equal opportunities for girls, a greater emphasis on vocational education, and
the establishment of secondary schools with higher standards. The policies,
however, were not fully implemented, particularly those concerned with
secondary and vocational education. During this period, in 1927, the Achimota
School was established, a first-class secondary school designed to train
Ghanaians for the lower levels of the civil service. Although English remained
the principal language of instruction in the school system, during this period
vernacular languages were also made media of instruction in the primary
schools, and the publication of textbooks in these languages was started in
earnest.

     Popular demand for education began increasing during the 1930s. It
reached such proportions in the 1940s, stimulated by the political and
economic development that occurred during and after World War II, that the
combined efforts of both the government and the missions could not keep up
with it. One result was the opening of hundreds of schools by local groups
and individuals without proper staff and equipment. The Convention Peoples
Party (CPP) promised free primary education in the 1951 election campaign
for the country's first legislative as