Effects of Increasing Student Enrolment on Teaching and Learning in Senior High Schools in Ghana: The Free Senior High School Policy in Retrospection

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2007658/v1

Download PDF

Research Article

Effects of Increasing Student Enrolment on Teaching and Learning in Senior High Schools in Ghana: The Free Senior High School Policy in Retrospection

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2007658/v1

This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License

Version 1

posted

You are reading this latest preprint version

Senior high school education in Ghana has experienced tremendous growth following the introduction of Free Senior High School (FSHS) policy. The corresponding increase student enrolment presents challenges to teaching and learning and academic performance, in general. In this study, 181 teachers were selected from six senior high schools (SHSs) within Ejisu Municipality using cluster sampling technique in order to examine how changes in student enrolment, following the implementation of the FSHS policy, has affected teaching and learning. The study adopted trend analysis with data analysed using SPSS. The findings showed an impressive steady increase in student enrolment. It was also found that academic performance of students generally dipped in the introductory years of the FSHS policy whiles some improvements were observed from 2019 forward. However, the study revealed that schools experienced challenges of classroom and dining hall congestions; inadequate teaching and learning materials; inadequate hostel infrastructure; and high student-teacher ratio among others. The study, among others, recommends a multi-stakeholder collaboration to salvage the infrastructure deficits and its associated challenges that characterise SHSs in Ghana.

Free Senior High School

student enrolment

teaching and learning

academic performance

Ghana

Education is both a necessary and permissive factor for social change and economic development of all countries. The expenditure of various governments in Sub-Saharan Africa on improving education in recent years makes up a notable percentage of national budgets. This is because of the growing number of students in schools and a push for more people to be enrolled in various schools. The push for this is because of the relevance of education in the attainment of quality life [19, 22]. As part of Government of Ghana’s steps to realising the Sustainable Development Goal 4 by ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all [27], the government introduced the Free Senior High School (FSHS) policy in September 2017. The FSHS policy is expected to give opportunity for many basic school leavers to gain entrance into second cycle education [18]. This is part of Government of Ghana’s effort to ensure that students from low-income communities get access to at least SHS education. In the first term of the 2017/2018 academic year, enrolment into first year of SHS was 424,092 students, representing an increase of approximately 72% compared to 2016/2017 academic year’s 260, 210 student enrolment [18]. Also, it is expedient to indicate that the introduction of FSHS policy is consistent with the provisions of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana particularly Chap. 5 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, Clause 1(b) which states that “secondary education in its different forms, including technical and vocational education shall be made available and accessible to all by every appropriate means, and in particular, by the progressive introduction of free education”.

Secondary education in Ghana has experienced tremendous growth since independence. This growth has even been more significant in recent times due to the introduction of FSHS policy [26]. Ghana’s SHS education equivalent to high schools in most developed world has witnessed significant increase in enrolment since the inception of the FSHS policy in 2017 [9]. The Ministry observed that in the 2018/2019 academic year, SHSs recorded a substantial increase in admission from 362,118 students to 472,000 students which represented an increase of approximately 23% [18]. One feature of the FSHS policy is that, it made it possible for teachers to have more contact hours with students. The longer contact hours provide students with more time for learning and interaction with their instructors. Another key feature of the FSHS policy was the introduction of the double track system. Under the double track system, which is a system introduced by government in order to enable various SHS to take in more students so that the school run more or less a semester type of school by rotating students in tracks due to infrastructural challenges, teaching hours have increased from six hours to eight hours per day. Teaching hours are expected to increase from 1,080 hours per year under single-track system which involved all students attending school in one stream without any form of rotation to 1,134 hours per year under the proposed double-track system and expected to be run in schools with very large class sizes [18].

The Ejisu Municipality is one of the municipalities in the Ashanti region of Ghana that have received increased number of student population because of the FSHS policy. This increase could potentially lead to ineffective learning outcomes. It is reported that when students’ population are less, teachers can select and utilise a variety of instructional methodologies including discussion, role play among others which provide individualised attention and increase student involvement in their own learning [6, 21]. Before the introduction of FSHS policy, the Ejisu municipality had four public SHSs (Ejisuman SHS, Ejisu Secondary Technical SHS, Achinakrom SHS and Bonwire Secondary Technical SHS) and subsequently absorbed two private schools (Onwiman SHS and Church of Christ SHS). Also, prior to the policy, the number of students were approximately 12, 054 with about 120 teachers. Data show that the number of students increased to 24, 212 which represents a little over hundred per cent compared with the previous academic year [18]. However, despite the increase in enrolments, there are still shortfalls in resource availability, provisions of test books, requisite teaching staff and other teaching and learning resources.

Research has revealed that small class sizes lead to active participation among students in the learning process where large class size leads to less involvement of students in the teaching-learning process [4]. The aim of increasing population in SHS education in Ghana is to make education more accessible to all as part of efforts aimed at attaining Goal 4 of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) which is quality education. However, the rapid expansion of secondary education amid inadequate provision of teaching and learning facilities poses serious challenges to effective teaching and learning in the schools which could have far reaching effects on the quality of education offered [12]. The challenges posed or emerging from the introduction of the FSHS policy have not been adequately examined or researched by scholars partly due to short space of time since its introduction and the fluid nature of new policies and programmes being implemented [26]. There is the need for the conduct of systematic empirical research to unpack the consequences produced within the SHSs educational landscape following the FSHS policy implementation in Ghana. It is therefore very important to carry out a study to determine the effect of the increased student population on teaching and learning following the implementation of the FSHS policy. This will help inform policy decisions regarding school administration, supply of teachers and teaching and learning resources to SHSs, and the current bid of the Government of Ghana to improve the infrastructure deficits in schools in Ghana.

The study was conducted in the Ejisu Municipality in the Central part of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Traditionally, the people of Ejisu rely on farming and small and medium scale business activities for living. Subsequently, due to the increased population, there has been an establishment of public-led and private industries to cater for the increasing youthful population in the area. The upsurge in the increasing youthful population coupled with the introduction of the Free SHS policy have also resulted in an increment of student population in the SHSs situated within the Ejisu municipality, hence the basis for the choice of this study area.

The study adopted the explanatory case study design to to understand the relationships that exist between the increment in student enrolment resulting from the FSHS policy and teaching and learning outcomes. In a more objective lens, the present study deals with secondary data to empirically examine the dynamics in the increment of senior high school population from the 2016 to 2020 academic years. The choice of this design allows for a robust statistical analysis technique to determine the relationship among the variables [8]. The accessible population for the study included all teachers of the six Senior High Schools within the municipality. Table 1 summarises the teacher population distribution from the six senior high schools. In all, there were 380 teachers.

Table 1 Teacher population distribution from the six selected schools

School	Teacher Population
	2016	2017	2018	2019
Ejisuman SHS	54	73	94	143
Ejisu Sec Tech	38	42	51	82
Achinakrom SHS	32	41	53	64
Bonwire Sec Tech High SHS	27	38	50	62
Onwiman SHS	05	08	12	13
Church of Christ SHS	7	11	13	16
Total	163	213	273	380

The sample size was determined using Krejcie and Morgan [16] sample size determination from a given population. The Krejcie and Morgan [16] population distribution table was created using the “Small Sample Techniques,” formula put forth by the research division of the National Education Association. With the formula, s = X²NP (1 − P) ÷ d² (N − 1) + X² P (1 – P);

where, s = required sample size,

X² = the table value of chi-square for 1 degree of freedom at the desired confidence level (3.841).

N = the population size.

P = the population proportion (assumed to be .50 since this provides the maximum sample size).

d = the degree of accuracy expressed as a proportion (.05).

Based on the formula above, the corresponding sample size of the given population of 380 SHS teachers in the Ejisu municipality was 181. Hence, the total sample size for the study was 181 teachers. This sample size was proportionally distributed across the six schools that were involved in the study. Table 2 provides a summary of sample proportion estimation.

Table 2 Sample proportion estimation

SHS Category	Total Teacher’s population	Sample Proportion		Sample Size Per school
Ejisuman SHS	143	37.63158	68.11316	68
Ejisu Sec Tech	82	21.57895	39.05789	39
Achinakrom SHS	64	16.84211	30.48421	30
Bonwire Sec Tech. High School	62	16.31579	29.53158	30
Onweman SHS	13	3.421053	6.192105	6
Church of Christ SHS	16	4.210526	7.621053	8
Total	380	100	181	181

Questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data. Questionnaires serve as efficient data collection tools especially when the researcher knows exactly what he or she wants and knows what variables to use [20, 25]. With this in mind, the researchers carefully prepared questionnaires that answered the research objectives. The structured questionnaire consisted of three sections. The first section collected data related to respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics. The second section sought to investigate how teaching and learning is being affected due to increased student population following the introduction of FSHS policy. The items were developed after an extensive literature review. This section consisted of 9 scale items which respondents were asked to show their level of agreement or disagreement on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = Strongly Disagree to 7 = Strongly Agree. The final section of the questionnaire asked participants to show their level of agreement and disagreement on emerging challenges following the introduction of Free SHS policy and increased student population. This section consist of 7 scale items in which respondents were asked to respond to 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = Strongly Disagree to 7 = Strongly Agree. These scale items selected after an extensive literature review.

Data from the questionnaire was coded into the Statistical Product for Service Solutions (SPSS) software version 23 for statistical analysis. The data was processed and cleaned to avoid errors during the data analysis. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, a means, and standard deviations were calculated. Microsoft Excel sheet was used to analyze the trend analysis of the secondary data obtained. The relative importance index (RII) was used to rank the emerging challenges as well as how teaching and learning are affected because of the FSHS policy implementation. The researchers adhered to the four principles of respect, competence, responsibility, and integrity that serve as the foundation for APA codes of conduct regarding ethical issues [7]. Respondents’ privacy, anonymity and confidentiality of data provided were ensured.

This section presents the findings in relations to the research questions. The section first presents the demographic characteristics of respondents followed by findings relating to the three research questions.

3.1 Characteristics of the Sample

Table 3

Demographic Characteristics of the Data Sample
VariableOptions	No. of Teachers	Percentage (%)
Gender
Female	113	62
Male	68	38
Age (in years)
20 to 29	100	55
30 to 39	44	24
40 to 49	27	15
50 +	10	6
Level of Education
Diploma Certificate	109	60
First Degree (Bachelors)	51	28
Masters degree	21	12
Working Experience
Less than 1 year	30	17
1–3 years	54	30
54 − 6 years	40	22
7–9 years	57	31
Total	181	100

Table 3 summarises the characteristics of the sample. The results indicate that the majority of the respondents were female (n=113, 62%). This finding is consistent with Deku & Ackah [10] who established that the majority of teachers in Ghana are women. The results also highlight the age range of teachers in the sample. The results indicate that the majority of the teachers (n=100, 55%) were within the age range of 20 to 29. This finding suggests that most of the teaching populations are younger adults. Similarly, the results indicated that the majority of the teachers (n=109, 60%) were Diploma Certificate holders. This result is indicative of the reality in Ghana as the Diploma Certificate is the minimum requirement for teachers in Ghana. The results indicated that significant number of the respondents have taught for a substantial number of years. For example, ninety-seven (97) of the teachers representing 54% of the sample reported that they have been working as teachers for more than 3 years. This implies that at least a significant number of the respondents have over 3 years teaching experience. Thus, they were better informed to appreciate the challenges experienced by the schools before and after the introduction of the FSHS policy.

3.2 Dynamics of students enrolment due to Free SHS in the Ejisu Municipality

The dynamics of student enrolment from 2014 to 2019 is shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 1 displays the results on the trend analysis of the pre and post FSHS enrolment figures of the sampled schools spanning from 2014 to 2019. It can be observed that the schools reported a 7.83% increase in enrolment in 2014. In 2015, the schools reported a decrease in enrolment figures in comparison with figures reported in 2014 as the enrolment rate dipped to 1.1%. However, in 2016, the schools experienced a 5.53 increase in enrolment figures and in 2017 the enrolment rate increased to 7.65%. In 2018, the schools saw a meteoric rise in enrolment figures as they reported a 19.1% increase in enrolment and this increase in enrolment doubled in 2019 as the schools reported a 36.15 increase in enrolment.

3.3 How Changes in Enrolment of Students Have Affected Teaching and Learning

To establish how enrolment has affected teaching and learning, the study used a six-year performance grades (scores) of students in the West African Senior High School Examinations. For purposes of generalization, performances in four core subjects were used and these included Mathematics, English Language language, Integrated Science and Social Studies. Figure 2 displays the trend in performance in the four subjects over the years under study.

Figure 2 presents the results of students at the sampled schools in the Ejisu Municipality in the four core subjects from 2014 to 2019. It can be observed that in English Language, the schools reported a -0.46% decrease in performance in 2014 but in 2015, the performance saw a 0.19% increase. The schools improved their results in English Language in 2016 with a 1.29% increase in their performance. In 2017, there was a steep decline in performance as the schools reported a -1.27% decrease in the collated results for English Language for that year. However, in 2018, the performance improved as the schools reported a 0.17% increase in performance but in 2019 this performance decreased to -0.72%.

In addition, it can be observed that the performances in core Mathematics have experienced a decline from 2013 to 2018. The schools reported a 0.26% decline in performance in 2015 from 0.3% in 2014, a -0.59% decrease in 2016, a -2.37% decrease in 2017 and a -4.22% decrease in performance in 2018. However, math results improved for the schools as they reported a 3.45% increase in performance for 2019. Interestingly, the schools’ results for Integrated Science and Social Studies follow a similar trend. It can be observed that the schools reported a 0.5% and 0.19% increase in performance for both subjects in 2015. The performances dipped to -0.66% for Integrated Science and − 0.47 for Social Studies in 2016. Furthermore, in 2017, the school performances dipped with results in Integrated Science decreasing at a rate of -1.77 whilst Social Studies decreased to -1.27. Meanwhile in 2018, the performance in Integrated Science slumped to a -2.12% decrease whilst the schools reported a -0.82% decrease for Social Studies. Finally, the school reported improved results for both subjects in 2019, with reported 1.43% in Social Studies and 1.32% increase for Integrated Science.

3. 4 Emerging Challenges To Teaching And Learning After The Introduction Of Free Shs Policy

Table 3 presents the results of the shares of proportion (on agreement = A, uncertainty = U or disagreement = D), importance indices (RII) and ranks (®) of the eleven emerging challenges to teaching and learning after the introduction of Free SHS Policy in the Ejisu Municipality.

Table 3 Emerging challenges to teaching and learning

Emerging Challenges	Responses (%)			RII	Rank
Emerging Challenges	Disagree (≤ 3)	Neutral (4)	Agree (≥ 5)	RII	Rank
Congestion in the dining hall	8	15	77	1.08	1
Inadequate teaching and learning materials	26	8	66	1.04	2
Inadequate hostel infrastructure	8	35	57	1.04	3
Inadequate trained teachers	18	6	76	1.00	4
Infrastructural inadequacies because of increased student population.	25	8	67	0.98	5
Increased student-teacher ratio in the school	9	39	52	0.95	6
Health challenges beyond the school’s capacity	19	39	42	0.87	7
Ineffectiveness in school administration processes due to increased student population	32	30	38	0.84	8
Increased enrolment of students has led to poor learning outcomes such as students’ inability to fully complete home assignments.	32	42	26	0.83	9
Unreliable supply of electricity	31	31	38	0.79	10
Lack of teacher confidence and competence (self-esteem) due to increased class size	54	38	8	0.67	11

The results in Table 3indicate that the highly ranked challenges identified by teachers in the sample SHS are the congestion in the dining hall (A = 77, RII = 1.08, ® = 1); inadequate teaching and learning materials (A= 66, RII = 1.04, ® = 2); inadequate hostel infrastructure (A = 57, RII =1.04, ® = 3) and inadequate trained teachers (A = 76, RII = 1.00, ® = 4).

Equally, the next emerging challenges identified by the teachers include infrastructural inadequacies because of increased student population (A = 67, RII = 0.98, ® = 5); increased student-teacher ratio in the school (A = 52, RII = 0.95, ® = 6); health challenges beyond the school’s capacity (A = 42, RII = 0.87 7, ® = 7); ineffectiveness in school administration processes due to increased student population (A = 38, RII = 0.84, ® = 8); and increased enrolment of students has led to poor learning outcomes such as students’ inability to fully complete home assignments. (D = 32, RII = 0.83, ® = 9). Finally, the poorly ranked challenges experienced by the sample SHS after the introduction of the Free SHS policy are unreliable supply of electricity (A = 38, RII = 0.79, ® = 10) and lack of teacher confidence and competence (self-esteem) due to increased class size (A = 54, RII = 0.67, ® = 11).

Following the introduction of the FSHS policy in Ghana, student enrolment has more than doubled. This study sought to ascertain how the increasing student enrolment is affecting the quality of teaching and learning in SHSs, focusing on schools in Ejisu municipality as a case. The study further examined the general challenges resulting from the implementation of the FSHS policy.

The findings from the analysis established the dynamics of students’ enrolment with the introduction of the FSHS policy. The trend analysis established an impressive growth in student enrolment from 2017 (the first year of the Free SHS policy) for the sampled schools as against the student enrolment reported in the years before the introduction of the policy. This impressive enrolment growth within the sample schools is a replica of the national enrolment figures as the World Bank reports that there was an increase of 69.09% in 2017; 71.32% in 2018 and 74.68% in 2019 for Senior High School enrolment. This finding is in line with earlier studies that advanced that the introduction of the FSHS policy has translated into tripled students’ enrolments in Ghana [3, 26]. The increased enrolment can be attributed to the lessened financial burden for parents and guardians in enrolling their wards in the secondary school. This development is consistent advocates for the Free SHS policy, who argued that the increased enrolment justifies the need to maintain the policy since it has removed the financial barriers to education. In addition, the results indicated that with the introduction of the FSHS policy, the enrolment rate in the sampled schools has increased exponentially, with a gradual increase from 2017 to 2019. The gradual increase from 2017 can be attributed to the initial skepticism about the success and viability of the program but with government’s continuous sensitization this has translated into the subsequent increase in enrolment for the sample schools. These findings support previous research on the impact of funding on student enrolment. For example, in some areas of South Africa, free education allowed disadvantaged parents to enroll their children in school [11, 14, 17]. In a further study, Olwande et al. [23] examined the impact of free primary education in rural Kenya using panel data from roughly 1500 families between 2000 and 2007 in order to examine enrolment trends. Their study concluded that because of the adoption of Free Primary Education by the Kenyan government, more parents could enroll their children in school.

The second objective of the study sought to establish how the changes in student enrolment have affected teaching and learning. This study focused on students’ performance in the four core subjects in the West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE). The results indicated that introduction of FSHS has translated into mixed performance for the sampled schools. In the introductory years of the policy (2017 to 2018), it was observed that results (except for English Language) dipped resulting in poor performances in the subjects in comparison with the earlier years (2016, 2017, and 2018). However, in 2019, the results improved as the schools reported an increase in performance in all the subjects except for English Language. The appreciation in the results in the core subjects presents an objective assessment of the outcome of teaching and learning. The initial performances can be attributed to the challenges encountered with initial unexpected increased student enrolment for the first years. This could have contributed to the overstretching of teachers and other educational resources at the disadvantage of the final years. This trend could have continued into the second year and as such explain the slump in performances. However, introduction of the double track system, with its resultant reduction in student congestion in the schools, increased teachers contact with students, and this translated into the improved performances in the core subjects in 2019. Despite the widely upheld viewpoint that there is a negative relationship between class size and academic performance [5, 13, 15, 28], the peculiar dynamics of Ghana’s FSHS policy seem to deviate from such observed correlation. This may be attributed to the increased contact hours that are associated with the double track system [24].

Finally, the study explored emerging the emerging challenges to teaching and learning after the introduction of FSHS policy. It was found that schools faced significant infrastructural and resource challenges. These challenges are not peculiar to the Ejisu Municipality but a national situation [26]. The challenges expressed as congestion in the dining hall, inadequate teaching and learning materials, inadequate hostel infrastructure, and inadequate trained teachers among others are sourced from the inadequacies in existing resources as the schools are unable to accommodate the increased student population. These challenges pose devastating effects to teaching and learning process as the challenges are instrumental barriers to learning [1, 2]. The reported challenge of inadequate teaching and learning materials translate into learning challenges as teachers would not be able to teach effectively because of unavailable materials [1]. Meanwhile the challenge of inadequate trained teachers does not necessarily suggest the unavailability of trained teachers to effectively match the increasing student population but lack of funding to recruit more teachers for schools. The emerging challenges reflect a failure of the FSHS policymakers in diagnosing the possible shortfalls of increased student enrolment on the inadequate existing resources post the policy. Opponents of the policy have been vocal about the infrastructural and resource deficiency in the majority of the second cycle schools highlighting the schools’ inability to deal with the pressures of the FSHS policy. There is therefore the need for a collaborative effort between the government, private organisations, Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and Old Student Unions to averse the infrastructural deficits that characterise most schools.

This study sought to assess the effects of the increasing student enrolment on teaching and learning in Ejisu municipality in Ghana.. The study established that the sample schools reported impressive increase in enrolment with the introduction of the policy. The reported increased student enrolments to a larger extent have had mixed effects on teaching and learning. The initial poor performances in the core subjects have seen improvements in the subsequent years. The improved performance can be attributed to the government’s effort to address the challenges associated with the increased student population in the schools via the introduction of a double-track system. The introduction of the double track system allowed for more teacher-student contact and this in no small way contributed to improving the academic performance of the students. However, evidence from this empirical data suggest that, SHSs found across the various regions of the country may be faced with different levels of challenges which may revolve around infrastructure, teaching and learning resources, and teaching staff.

Based on the findings, we make the following recommendations promote the effective implementation of the policy. First, government through the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, PTAs, and other stakeholders in education in the Ejisu municipality should speed up the expansion of infrastructural facilities in senior high schools in the municipality. Government needs to increase the teacher population to meet the needs of the increasing student population. The government in collaboration with the Ministry of Education should also ensure that funding to the various schools in the various districts is paid on time and in sufficient amounts so that the schools can meet their expenditure demands. Teaching and learning materials should be readily available and delivered on time to improve teaching and learning activities in the district's schools. Head teachers should also be proactive in forming partnerships with civil society organisations to obtain funding for teaching and learning materials such as laboratory equipment, library books, and computer accessories.

We acknowledge that the current study had some limitations. For instance, the study would have benefitted immensely from using formative assessment results as a measure of individual student progress and performance. Formative assessment will be vital in understanding the trajectory of student performance. Further studies should therefore focus on measuring the academic performance of students using formative assessment conducted by schools and should look at the differential effects of the identified challenges on the different academic programmes offered by SHSs. However, the current study has contributed significantly to the limited literature that examines the affordances and constraints associated with the implementation of FSHS policy in Ghana.

Funding

Not applicable

Conflict of interest

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

Not applicable

Author contributions

This paper was conceptualised by Richard Kwame Duah. Richard Kwame Duah, Kojo Oppong Yeboah Gyabaah, Bismark Mensah, and Adjoa Afriyie Poku contributed to material preparation, data collection, and analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Richard Kwame Duah and initially reviewed by Kojo Oppong Yeboah Gyabaah and Adjoa Afriyie Poku. Kojo Oppong Yeboah Gyabaah, Bismark Mensah, and Adjoa Afriyie Poku reviewed and commented on previous versions of the manuscript. The final draft was prepared by Bismark Mensah and approved by Richard Kwame Duah, Kojo Oppong Yeboah Gyabaah, and Adjoa Afriyie Poku.

Ethical approval

No ethical approval was required by the institutions from whom the study participants were drawn. The protocol for data collection, however, was approved by a research committee made up of the principal supervisor and co-supervisors of the lead author according to the guidelines of the University of Education, Winneba.

Informed consent

Informed consent of both participants and their institutions was sought during data collection. The purpose of the study was explained to all participants. Participants were made to understand that participation in the study was voluntary and they could withdraw from the study at any point in time with or without any reason.

Author et al (2022)
Ababio, B. T., & Dumba, H. (2014). Assessment of the Policy Guidelines for the Teaching and Learning of Geography at the Senior High School Level in Ghana. Review of International Geographical Education Online, 4(1), 40–57.
Abdul-Rahaman, N., Rahaman, A. B. A., Ming, W., Ahmed, A. R., & Salma, A. R. S. (2018). The Free Senior High Policy: An Appropriate Replacement to the Progressive Free Senior High Policy. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 6(2), 26–33.
Bedard, M., Kelly, C., Kuhn, P. (2011). “Where Class Size Really Matters: Class Size and Student Ratings of Instructor Effectiveness.” Economics of Education Review, vol. 27, no. 3, June 2008, pp. 253 – 65.
Cahen, L. S., N. N. Filby, G. McCutcheon & D. W. Kyle. 1983. Class size and instruction. Longman.
Christy, M., Dillon, P., & Saroya, M. (2005). The Effect of Class size on Students Achievement in Higher Educational Institution. State University of New York.
Clarke, V. & Braun, V. (2017) Thematic analysis. Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(3), 297–298. DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2016.1262613
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design- Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Sage.
Deho, O. B. & Agangiba, W. A. (2019). Sentiment Analysis with Word Embedding: The Case of Doubletrack Education System in Ghana. Ghana Journal of Technology, 3(2), 51–57.
Deku, P., & Ackah, F. R. (2012). Teachers’ conceptualization of inclusive education in Ghana. IFE Psychology, 20(1), 152–164.
Dynarski S., & Scott-Clayton J. (2013). Financial aid policy: Lessons from research. In L Barrow, T Brock & C Rouse (eds). Postsecondary education in the United States. The Future of Children, 23(1): 67–9.
Edla, B. (2012). Understanding the importance, impacts and barriers of increasing students population on teaching and Learning in East African countries.. International Journal for e-Learning Security (IJeLS), 2(3), 199–207.
Glass, G. V., L. Cahen and M. L. Smith. (1978). Educational trends. Sage.
Garlick, R., (2013). How price sensitive is Primary and Secondary School Enrolment? Evidence from Nationwide Tuition Fee Reforms in South Africa. [Unpublished]
Kokkelenberg, E.C., Dillonm M., & S. M. Christy. (2005). The effects of class size on student achievement in higher education. CHERI Working Paper No. 67, Cornell University. http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cheri/24/ (accessed 24 May 2022).
Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607–610.
Melguizo, T. S. (2011). The association between financial aid availability and the college dropout rates in Colombia. Higher Education, 62(2), 231–247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-010-9385-8, 231–247.
Ministry of Education (2018). Budget estimates budget estimates of Ministry of Education. Publishing House.
Motala, S. (2000). Education transformation and quality: The South African experience. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society, San Antonio, Texas, March, 2000.
Mugenda, O.M. and Mugenda, A.G. (2003) Research Methods, Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. ACT
Nye, B., Hedges, L. V, & Konstantopoulos, S. (2000). The Effects of Small Classes on Academic Achievement: The Results of the Tennessee Class Size Experiment. In American Educational Research fournal Spring (Vol. 37, Issue 1).
Olu, A. & Kimenyi, M.S. (2011). Higher Education and Economic Development in Africa: Introduction and Overview. Jeune Afrique Economique, 23–46.
Olwande J., Muyanga M., Mueni E., & Wambugu S. (2010). Free Primary Education in Kenya: An Impact Evaluation Using Propensity Score Methods. PMMA Working Paper 2010-08
Osei-Owusu, B. (2021). Retrospective assessment of the successes and challenges of double track system in senior high schools in Sekyere Central District of Ghana. British Journal of Education, 9(9), 18–30. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.37745/bje.2013 18
Sekaran, U. (2003) Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach (4th Ed.). John Wiley & Sons
Tamanja, E., & Pajibo, E. (2019). Ghana’s free senior high school policy: evidence and insight from data. EDULEARN Proceedings, 1, 7837–7846.
United Nations (2018) Youth at the United Nations: country profiles of the situation of youth. Available online at: http://www.esa.un.org/unsd/mi/mi.
West, M. R. and L. Woesmann, L. (2003). Which school systems sort students into smaller classes? Cambridge University.

No competing interests reported.

Download PDF

Version 1

posted

You are reading this latest preprint version

Effects of Increasing Student Enrolment on Teaching and Learning in Senior High Schools in Ghana: The Free Senior High School Policy in Retrospection

Status:

Version 1

Abstract

Figures

1 Introduction

2 Methodology

3 Results

3.1 Characteristics of the Sample

3.2 Dynamics of students enrolment due to Free SHS in the Ejisu Municipality

3.3 How Changes in Enrolment of Students Have Affected Teaching and Learning

3. 4 Emerging Challenges To Teaching And Learning After The Introduction Of Free Shs Policy

4 Discussion

5 Conclusion

Declarations

References

Additional Declarations

Status:

Version 1