A Study of Socio-economic Factors and Role of Extended Family in Children’s Basic Education in Rural Ghana: The Case of Effutu Municipality

Abstract

The decentralized system of education delivery in Ghana through the Central government or the Ministry of Education has created space for understanding of how schools and communities should operate and how communities should assume an important role in schools but less on how informal bodies should be backed with the requisite support to be actively involved in their children’s education. This creates a policy and practice gap which is more pronounced in poor rural communities and Effutu Municipality is no exception. In recognition of this, the study sought to explore the role of the extended family in resource constraint communities from the perspectives of individual parents in two schools in a rural Ghana. The case study adopted a qualitative method of interviews with twelve parents to gain understanding of their involvement in children’s education including the socio-economic challenges within such context. Additional data were collected through interviews with teachers. The data were analysed through coding to identify themes. The study findings reveal that in rural communities, the notion of parents goes beyond the biological parent to wider family and community networks in part as a result of seasonal migration. It identified grandparents, mothers in particular as playing a vital role in children’s education. Consequently, the study recommends that policies on education decentralization should reflect the local factors which impact on extended family’s role in children’s education.

Keywords: Extended family role, socio-economic challenges, community networks, and individual parents