Achieving Quality Education in Ghana: The Spotlight on Primary Education within the Kumasi Metropolis

Abstract

Background: Ghana being a member of the United Nations, committed to the Universal Primary Education initiative in 2000 and has since implemented series of educational reforms to meet the target for the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 2. Despite the numerous government interventions to achieve the MDG 2, many children in Ghana have been denied Quality Primary Education by the state. This has resulted in mass illiteracy among children of Primary School age, unacceptable BECE examination results and overwhelming increase in anti-social behaviour nationwide. With the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches, data was collected through the use of questionnaire and rigorous interview. Sample consisted of 8 Head Teachers, 80 Class Teachers and 40 Pupils from four Primary Schools in Kumasi and it's environ.Most respondents expressed the lack of teaching and learning materials, especially textbooks, workbooks and supplementary readers as setbacks for Quality Primary Education.Head Teachers, Teachers and Pupils of Primary Schools argued that textbooks and supplementary readers are the only tools available for most Ghanaian children to acquire knowledge and skills, absence or limited textbooks and supplementary readers in the primary school  will affect the educational foundation of school pupils.

Keywords: Primary Education, Education, Quality, Textbooks, Supplementary Readers