This research is based on work conducted during the preparatory phase of the UK Government's support to the Government of Ghana's basic education sector programme. It draws on visits to the Schooling Improvement Fund (SIF) Project and analyses other community education projects as well as interviews with the members of the SIF facilitating Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), CEDEP (Centre for the Development of People). The SIF is currently being implemented in the following districts: Savelugu Nanton, Tano and Sefwi Wiawso.
The paper makes three main points. The first refers to the SIF's focus on community participation. Despite some early signs of progress in increasing community commitment to school ownership, there are design shortcomings in the scope of participatory activities undertaken and in an appreciation of the practical and institutional barriers to achieving more extensive community empowerment. Secondly, it is argued that increasing community participation in education is not a sufficient condition for improving the quality of teaching and learning; the teachers themselves must be involved as key players in attempts to improve teaching methods and techniques. Thirdly, although increasing community participation and improving the quality of teaching and learning may ultimately impact on access, the relationship is not a given. In some regions of Ghana, education can be made more accessible through improving the quality of teaching and learning but in others a focus on poverty reduction will be an essential requirement.
The paper concludes by synthesising the main practical, technical and institutional proposals reviewed to increase community participation in education, improve the quality of teaching and learning, and to ensure that both the former have an impact on improving access to education in Ghana.
At the time of writing, the SIF has only just completed a first phase, so it is still in an experimental stage. The approach adopted in this paper has therefore been to enter into the details of the SIF case study, but at the same time to draw upon the broad social development and education literature, with the aim of making practical recommendations for how community participation in Ghana can more successfully contribute to improving quality of education and increasing access.
