Tertiary Institutions in Ghana Curriculum Coverage on Climate Change: Implications for Climate Change Awareness.

Abstract

Global problems such as climate change, which have deeper implications for survival of mankind on this planet, needs to be given wider attention in the quest for knowledge. It is expected that, improved knowledge derived from curriculum coverage may promote greater public awareness of such important global issue. This research aims at examining the extent to which tertiary institutions cover issues related to climate change in their curriculum and to determine the implications of such coverage on climate change awareness in the public domain. The findings revealed that out of a total of 1,478 courses offered in the Sciences in the University of Ghana, only 14 of them treat topics related to climate change. Due to the limited coverage of climate change issues in the curriculum of the institutions, graduates from such institutions may not be knowledgeable in climate change issues. They and members of their communities may, therefore, not be aware of most climate change issues including lifestyle and its influence on climate change, climate change measurements, climate change and its implication on health, and packaging and dissemination of climate change information.

Key words: Climate change, climate change curriculum, knowledge, global warming.