FACTORS AFFECTING FEMALE EDUCATION IN THE DAFFIAMA - BUSSIE -ISSA DISTRICT IN THE UPPER WEST REGION OF GHANA

Abstract

Education has a profound effect on national development. The lack of education has been linked to poor health, high mortality rates in children, high fertility rates, poor nutrition and low life expectancy in general. However, gender differences in school enrolment continue to widen in rural areas, despite parity in enrolment in urban schools in Ghana, while girls continue to lag -behind boys in academic performance in the rural areas. This thesis is therefore undertaken to determine the factors that affect the performance of girls in basic schools in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District of the Upper West Region. Respondents were purposively selected from the three educational circuits from the district. Data was collected using questionnaires administered to seventy-four respondents. The study employed qualitative research design to research into the factors affecting the female education in the study district. The study found that the socio-economic background of parents including parents income levels and parents socio-economic status, home/community based factors including heavy household chores, parents level of education and harassment, school based factors including learning environment, discrimination, violence/harassment, pedagogy of teaching and learning, availability of teaching aids/materials, class size, language of instructions, supervision at school, provision of in-service training to teachers and availability of trained teachers, socio-cultural factors including early marriages, teenage pregnancy, low level of parents education, the practice of elopement and child betrothal are critical factors that explain the poor education outcomes among girls in the study district. The study recommended among others the need to enforce the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) program, the provision of scholarships for promising female pupils and the provision of adequate teaching and learning materials