Inequality of education in colonial Ghana: European influences and African responses

Abstract

How and why did African households under colonial rule make the decision to educate their children or not, and how did this microlevel decision making affect the diffusion of education in colonial Ghana? This paper addresses these questions and shows that many households were reluctant to enrol their children in school because the costs of colonial education were prohibitive, and the benefits were limited. Unemployment of school leavers was a major social problem throughout the colonial era and returns to education did not justify investments in education. The demand for education was relatively high in areas where the demand for skilled labour was high, and from the late 1930s when there were growing pay-offs to colonial education. Overall, the paper points to the need to examine interactions between supply and demand factors in order to understand variations in human capital accumulation in sub-Saharan Africa.

Determinants of Academic Performance of Armed Forces Schools: Perceptions of Teachers of Ghana Armed Forces Basic Schools

“…Long before Ghana gained independence in 1957, the British and other European merchants established schools that primarily served the interest of the children of our colonial masters and the elites in the Ghanaian community (Adu-Gyamfi, Donkor & Addo, 2016;Aboagye, 2021). The schools established by the European merchants were not solely intended to promote literacy among the people but also to train people to spread the gospel of the indigenous people (Adu-Gyamfi, Donkor & Addo, 2016;Aboagye, 2021).…”

“…Long before Ghana gained independence in 1957, the British and other European merchants established schools that primarily served the interest of the children of our colonial masters and the elites in the Ghanaian community (Adu-Gyamfi, Donkor & Addo, 2016;Aboagye, 2021). The schools established by the European merchants were not solely intended to promote literacy among the people but also to train people to spread the gospel of the indigenous people (Adu-Gyamfi, Donkor & Addo, 2016;Aboagye, 2021). Basic education in Ghana was established to produce citizens equipped with core skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving; creativity and innovation; and communication and collaboration among others (Ghana Ministry of Education, 2019).…”

China's Education Policies to Solve Regional Educational Inequality

“…After that year, the resources began to tilt to remote areas, which changed the extremely unbalanced education situation among Cambodian regions [3] . Education in the northeast of Ghana lags behind that in the southeast coastal area, which is related to history and infrastructure construction, and the government has paid money to schools in the north with equipment investment and food for students [4]. Under the dual influence of colonial and Confucian culture, Korean education is very similar to that of China, and there are also differences that can be used for reference.…”

Escuelas, maestras y territorios. Capacidades estatales y capital humano en Uruguay, 1877-1910

“…El proceso de expansión educativa fue global, involucró un conjunto de cambios institucionales vinculados, entre otros aspectos, al desarrollo del gasto público social (Boli, Ramírez y Meyer, 1985;Soysal y Strang, 1989;Lindert, 2004;Green 2013). Existieron diferencias en la implementación de reformas, en el rol estatal, en la calidad educativa y en el enrolamiento a nivel mundial (Frankema, 2009;Mitch y Cappelli, 2019;Ladeuix y Schiaffino, 2020a;Aboagye, 2021).…”