BARRIERS TO ENROLMENT IN THE LOCAL LANGUAGE PROGRAMME OF THE NATIONAL FUNCTIONAL LITERACY PROGRAMME IN THE WEST GONJA DISTRICT, GHANA

Abstract

The high level of illiteracy in Ghana is reflected in the West Gonja District. This condition led to the creation of the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) with the mandate of increasing the level of literacy in both English and Ghanaian languages under the National Functional Literacy Programme (NFLP). Despite the availability of NFLP, fewer people are enrolling in the local language programme. Consequently, this study investigates the barriers to enrolment in the local language programme of the NFLP of NFED. A mixed methods design guided the study. Primary data were collected from 175 participants of the NFLP and key informants from NFED while secondary data were from reports of NFED. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The study found that, generally, enrolment trends from 2005 (65 learners) to 2017 (92 learners) in the Gonja NFLP have been erratic with the trend from 2010 (327 learners) to 2017 (92 learners) showing constant decline. Also, it emerged that the drop in enrolment is mostly accounted for by situational barriers like poor performance in the past, job and home responsibilities as well as dispositional barriers such as low confidence in ability to learn and not knowing what participating would lead to. Furthermore, community entry was found to be the measure used to tackle the barriers to enrolment. The study concludes that situational and dispositional barriers triggered a decline in enrolment in the Gonja NFLP. As such, the study recommends that effective publicity campaign, organising classes for apprentices, NFED reviving income generating activities and flexibility in meeting times of the classes will help address the barriers to enrolment, thereby, increasing learner enrolment.