Bursting at the limits: education struggles amid population growth
Population policy aims to transform infants into a skilled workforce capable of driving national development, and quality education is essential to this transformation.
While this article does not aim to evaluate the quality of Ghana’s education system, it is evident that the country benefits from both traditional and formal curriculum-based education.
Education equips individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary to contribute to society, making it the foundation for national progress.
Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” An educated population leads to improved health outcomes, increased incomes, and enhanced civic engagement. Conversely, lack of access to education is frequently cited as a fundamental cause of poverty.
This article, the fourth in the series “Human Resource to Human Capital: The Essence of Population Management”, examines the effects of inadequate population management on Ghana’s education system.
Educational Gains and Challenges
Ghana has made significant progress in expanding educational access. The process commenced with the 1945 Ten-Year Plan and subsequent policies aimed at achieving universal primary education.
By 1970, Ghana was recognised as having one of Africa’s most developed education systems. However, economic challenges in the late 1970s and ’80s led to reduced government funding, resulting in setbacks that necessitated the 1987 Education Reform Programme.
Despite these challenges, over the years, enrolment from primary to tertiary levels has continued to grow, with the adult literacy rate rising from over 57 per cent in 2010 to over 80 per cent in 2020.
In recent years, a shift from an objective-based to a standard-based curriculum also aims to prepare students for contemporary challenges.
However, the effectiveness of this new curriculum depends on several factors, including the availability of teaching materials, class sizes, and the adoption of new pedagogical methods. Nevertheless, class sizes, sometimes exceeding 50 or 100 students, pose a significant obstacle to providing quality education and could impede human capital development.
Addressing Root Causes
The strain on Ghana’s education system cannot be addressed solely through infrastructure expansion. Overcrowded schools are driven in part by rapid population growth, exacerbated by factors such as teen pregnancies, child marriage, and limited access to family planning.
Reducing class sizes enables teachers to focus on individual students, particularly those who may be experiencing difficulties. Such an environment facilitates improved learning outcomes and enhanced working conditions for educators.
Policymakers must reconsider their approach to improving educational outcomes despite these constraints. As every child born today is expected to progress through education from kindergarten to higher levels, without effective population management, this expectation may become increasingly challenging to fulfil.
Carter G. Woodson’s words resonate in this context: “The mere impartation of information is not education. Above all things, the effort must result in making a man think and do for himself just as the Jews have done in spite of universal persecution.”
His quote emphasises the necessity of meaningful education that empowers individuals, something that remains at risk without addressing the root causes of population pressures on the system.
Population Management and Education
The timing and spacing of births have profound implications for both family well-being and national development. Ensuring optimal birth outcomes is essential for improving population health, including educational outcomes.
Currently, Ghana faces challenges such as dilapidated school buildings; about 5,400; and a substantial number of schools operating under trees and makeshift structures.
These issues raise the question of whether the root cause lies in poor national strategy or inadequate population management.
Addressing the root causes of population growth is critical to improving human capital development. For example, between 2016 and 2020, over 500,000 girls aged 15-19 and 13,000 girls aged 10-14 became pregnant.
Teen pregnancies, in particular, deprive young women of the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to national development, forcing them out of the classroom and into caregiving roles when they should be receiving care and nurturing themselves.
Therefore, teen pregnancies not only limit educational attainment but also undermine long-term human capital development.
Conclusion
Ghana’s rapid population growth is exerting significant pressure on its education system, particularly in light of the nation’s constrained resources. While education remains a shared responsibility, the onus on families and the state increases with each additional child.
To ensure sustainable development, it is imperative to address the fundamental causes of school overcrowding by aligning population management strategies with educational policies.
Mitigating teen pregnancies, eradicating child marriages, and promoting family planning initiatives are proactive measures that can fundamentally shift the trajectory of a nation’s human capital development.
In developed countries where these initiatives have been successfully implemented, the results have been noticeable; lower dependency rates, healthier populations, and improved education outcomes.
For Ghana, these strategies hold the key to transforming its large, youthful population into a healthier, more educated and economically independent force capable of driving sustainable development..
Isaac is a Researcher and Consultant