Ghana's colonial past and assessment use means education prioritises passing exams over what students actually learn – this must change
Retrieved on:
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
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Education was only accessible to children of women married to western traders, and it focused on teaching them how to read and write.
Key Points:
- Education was only accessible to children of women married to western traders, and it focused on teaching them how to read and write.
- The primary aim was to create an educated class to support and run colonial activities.
- We observed that assessment has primarily served accountability purposes, obscuring its function of improving students’ learning.
Influence of colonisation
- The West African Examinations Council, responsible for mandated tests in anglophone west African countries, including Ghana, was established by the British in 1950.
- Ghana’s assessment system still relies largely on this framework, as western universities require excellent scores on these tests for undergraduate admissions.
Political accountability
- Student assessments are used as political performance indicators and tools for public policy and political accountabiltiy.
- For example, over the past five years, the government has invested about US$5.8 million to buy past exam questions to assist students.
- As a result, they end up teaching with the primary motive of preparing students for these tests.
Free schooling
- To support inclusive and equitable access to education and increase enrolment rates, Ghana introduced a free senior high school policy in 2017.
- Yet disparities in access to and enrolment in secondary education persist between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
- Critics argue that the policy was hastily implemented for political reasons, lacking proper consideration of its long-term implications and costs.
Influence of high-stakes exam
The high-stakes nature of large-scale assessments in Ghana’s education system fosters disengagement among poor students and teachers. The focus on exams overshadows the intended learning goals of teaching and many other forms of assessment. Evaluation of teachers and schools is linked to student performance in tests. Teachers therefore tend to narrow their curriculum to what’s tested. This means:
Students from low socio-economic backgrounds and those with special learning needs often find themselves marginalised by these assessments. Ultimately, the results of large-scale assessments segregate students into categories of secondary schools, based on limited resources.
Future directions and policy implications
- To meet the country’s equity goals, the system should consider diverse indicators and assessments of student learning.
- Transforming Ghana’s testing culture to one that supports meaningful learning and equitable educational outcomes is a considerable challenge.