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Article
Publication date: 30 April 2024

Kwabena Boateng, Michelle Asomaniwaa Owusu and Anthony Baah

The government of Ghana since independence has undertaken steps to develop educational infrastructure setup. This notwithstanding, the educational sector is beset with challenges…

Abstract

Purpose

The government of Ghana since independence has undertaken steps to develop educational infrastructure setup. This notwithstanding, the educational sector is beset with challenges such as low-quality education and low enrolment rates in Senior High Schools (SHS) of children from large households, among others. Given the myriad of challenges bedevilling the education sector, there have been calls for collaboration among public leaders to promote education. The paper, therefore, examines traditional leaders' roles in promoting quality education in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a desk review approach, the study examines the role of traditional leaders in promoting quality education in Ghana. This approach was adopted due to its flexible nature.

Findings

The study found that traditional leaders have provided educational materials and resources to deprived schools. They have established scholarship schemes for needy but brilliant students, promoted gender parity in education, constructed educational facilities and promoted a healthy teaching environment.

Practical implications

The paper provides stakeholders in Ghana’s educational sector with the opportunity to review educational policies and include traditional leaders to influence educational policies. The recommendations call for support from the GETFUND and Scholarship Secretariat of Ghana to assist community-initiated projects and scholarship schemes established by traditional leaders.

Originality/value

The paper provides evidence to support the importance of traditional leadership, which has come under criticism from a democratisation perspective in contemporary times.

Details

International Journal of Public Leadership, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4929

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Laban P. Ayiro, Samuel Muriithi and Josephine Munyao

The primary goal of university education globally is to promote research, knowledge, and innovations instrumental for national development and societal transformation. In line…

Abstract

The primary goal of university education globally is to promote research, knowledge, and innovations instrumental for national development and societal transformation. In line with this goal, East African countries, namely Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania have invested heavily in university education in the last 60 years since independence. The evidence of this is the increasing number of both private and public universities, and the number of students joining the institutions. While the expansion of university education is to be celebrated, it should not be taken for granted that this expansion indicates development. The purpose of this research was to assess the impact of university education on regional development in the three East African countries, that is, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Data were collected through historical analyses, database searches on electronic and printed sources, and interviews. The study found out that the three African countries have formulated the goals of education toward the achievement of development and that large budgets have been committed to educational expansion in the university in recent years. However, the impact of the universities in the development of the region expected through research and innovation is minimal because of major challenges that include expansion of access without adequate government funding; compromises quality; graduate unemployability and political interference; students’ unrest and strikes; weaknesses in earlier levels of education; regional, gender, and class inequalities; and misalignment of education, development, and contextual strengths. Proposed future strategies included the calls for governments to enhance regional consultations on development and education, the need for specialization in programs rather than duplication, enhancement of international collaborations and networking, rethinking the role of education in development within given contextual and environmental realities, and good governance and adequate funding of education.

Details

Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2022
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-738-9

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 January 2024

Gurpinder Lalli, Kim Smith, Jayne Woodside, Greta Defeyter, Valeria Skafida, Kelly Morgan and Christopher Martin

The purpose of this paper is to provide a snapshot of secondary school food policy (SSFP) across the devolved nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) to offer…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a snapshot of secondary school food policy (SSFP) across the devolved nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) to offer insights into a growing area of policy concern. The selected context of research is school food policy (SFP), an area of research which has received little attention in terms of policy approaches. The review is focused on 2010 to 2022.

Design/methodology/approach

This work combines interdisciplinary perspectives spanning across food policy, public health, psychology, education and sociology. This combination has merit as it offers different perspectives in terms of understanding SFP. The study was conducted between August 2021 and March 2022, using a desk-based review, analysing policies on food in secondary schools. Data collection was conducted through the Web using key search terms. The READ (Read, Extract, Analyse, Distil) approach was used as a systematic procedure to analyse policy and evaluation documents.

Findings

To all levels of government, it is recommended that a coherent policymaking approach be used to tackle SSFP improvements, to progress a whole school approach to food, supported by long-term dedicated resources while engaging children in SSFP development. For education departments, it is recommended that a food curriculum review, connected to school meals alongside a refocus on school food standards monitoring and reporting is crucial in serving the future generations. The current economic crisis has had an impact on public spending. Universal Free School Meals has been said to make an enormous difference to well-being.

Originality/value

The current findings suggest that researching SFP across nations has merit. There is a relative lack of focus on secondary schools, in light of England’s focus on the National Food Strategy (focus on children), post-pandemic, economic crisis – together this makes school food and food policy a topic of real urgency and importance. Lessons can both be learned, particularly in promoting healthier and more educationally inclusive school food practices. Research in this area can inform curriculum design and school food environment and system changes from the perspective of learnings around taking a whole school food approach to education.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science , vol. 54 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 March 2024

Phebe Hassana Obaka, Seyi Julian Adelegan and Leonard Shaibu

The level of deterioration of educational facilities, such as leaking classroom roofs, inadequate good seats, obsolete offices, broken shutters and doors, outdated school…

Abstract

Purpose

The level of deterioration of educational facilities, such as leaking classroom roofs, inadequate good seats, obsolete offices, broken shutters and doors, outdated school buildings, power plants and office equipment like ICT media, laboratories, offices and workshops, despite the involvement of Alumni association in the maintenance of educational facilities for the effective actualization of school objectives was a worrisome nightmare in Kogi state. This, therefore, prompted the researchers to explore the Alumni’s participation in plant maintenance for effective implementation of the universal basic education (UBE) programme in public junior secondary schools in Kogi state. The purpose of this study was guided by the research question which stated that to what extent does the Alumni Association participate in plant maintenance for effective implementation of the UBE programme in public junior secondary schools in Kogi state?

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research approach using a descriptive survey was adopted for the study. The sample was drawn using a proportionate stratified sampling technique comprising 387 participants which consisted of 191 (49%) urban junior secondary school principals and 196 (51%) rural principals in selected UBE junior secondary schools. Alumni’s Participation in Plant Maintenance Questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. The data were analysed with the aid of mean and standard deviation for the research question and z-test statistics at 0.05 level of significance and the value of z-crit. of 1.96 was used to determine the rejection or otherwise of the hypotheses.

Findings

The descriptive analysis revealed that the average mean set of 2.64 pointed to the fact that the respondents averagely agreed that there was a high extent to which Alumni participate in plant maintenance in urban than rural areas for effective implementation of the UBE programme in public junior secondary schools in Kogi state. This indicates that Alumni contribute to the management of UBE schools in Kogi state, especially in the areas of funding, infrastructural facilities, discipline, politics and quality control. This finding also shows that the contributions of the alumni to educational institutions are still unclear if they have made contributions to education in some areas and none in other areas making their relevance to plant maintenance unclear.

Research limitations/implications

In terms of practical implications, the study has contributed to knowledge in that it is the first of this form of a study carried out in Kogi state, and as such the findings of the research will make contributions to the physique of information on plant maintenance for the profitable implementation of the UBE programme in Kogi state. Besides, the degree of plant preservation for the implementation of the UBE programme among applicable stakeholders in Kogi state is nevertheless at a low extent.

Originality/value

Researchers have conducted studies that show how non-state Alumni members contribute to the administration of education across different states. Some of these studies revealed that Alumni members have assisted schools in the provision of teaching and learning materials at the senior secondary or tertiary education level. There are no sufficient studies to show how these Alumni members have contributed to the implementation of the free education programme, especially in public junior secondary schools in Kogi state and this is the gap this study intends to fill.

Details

Facilities , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 29 June 2023

Abstract

Details

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Special and Inclusive Education in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex & Ambiguous (Vuca) World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-529-8

Book part
Publication date: 25 October 2023

Andrea Óhidy

In this chapter, Andrea Óhidy discusses some pivotal issues of the book. Firstly, she shows the common challenges for current and future EU-member states to increase the…

Abstract

In this chapter, Andrea Óhidy discusses some pivotal issues of the book. Firstly, she shows the common challenges for current and future EU-member states to increase the participation and success of Roma people in education and lifelong learning. Then she discusses policy strategies and measures for Roma Inclusion in the Western Balkan states Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia. They try to improve the social situation of Roma people but also to promote minority languages and cultures. She found the main cause of the similarities concerning the strategies and concrete projects for possible solutions in the adaptation of the EU Roma inclusion policy in the Western Balkan states as part of their negotiations for EU membership. She considers the implementation of these policy measures and also the educational attainment and success of Roma in the Western Balkans unsatisfactory.

Details

Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in the Western Balkans
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-522-9

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Quantum Governance: Rewiring the Foundation of Public Policy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-778-5

Book part
Publication date: 29 June 2023

Pennee Narot and Narong Kiettikunwong

The educational systems of countries around the world have attempted to move towards a more inclusive approach. While the passage to inclusive schools can be justified from…

Abstract

The educational systems of countries around the world have attempted to move towards a more inclusive approach. While the passage to inclusive schools can be justified from various viewpoints, as enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the most important one emerges from the 1994 Salamanca Statement. However, the future world will require different human characteristics and capabilities for economic development. This chapter gives particular attention to how the educational principles and values that were underlined in the original Salamanca Statement clash with the contemporary ones in the peculiar future world.

Details

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Special and Inclusive Education in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex & Ambiguous (Vuca) World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-529-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 20 March 2024

Rosie MacLachlan

For researchers and sector agencies around the world, poor academic integrity is seen as a significant risk to universities (Bretag & Harper, 2017; QAA, 2020; TEQSA, 2019). Given…

Abstract

For researchers and sector agencies around the world, poor academic integrity is seen as a significant risk to universities (Bretag & Harper, 2017; QAA, 2020; TEQSA, 2019). Given the existential threat that acts of academic misconduct are deemed to pose to higher education, interest in ways of developing academic integrity is correspondingly high and often invokes the concept of values (Macfarlane et al., 2014; Morris, 2018). However, to ascribe to academic integrity, the status of a self-evident, perhaps universal, value of contemporary higher education is contentious on many levels. This chapter takes in turn three of the most common ways in which students and scholars infringe on the principles of academic integrity – plagiarism, collusion, and contract cheating – and explores what the prohibiting of each of these acts reveals about the values of contemporary higher education. It argues that, far from neutral or universal, the values of academic integrity appear both normative and culturally specific, promoting a particular conception of higher education which risks excluding large sections of the global population. To counter this, the notion of threshold values – borrowing from Meyer and Land's (2005) notion of the “threshold concept” – is proposed, identifying the development of shared values as crucial to ensuring that contemporary, globalized universities are inclusive and accessible spaces.

Details

Worldviews and Values in Higher Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-898-2

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 4 December 2023

Abstract

Details

Fostering Sustainable Businesses in Emerging Economies
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-640-5

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