Child Protection in Boarding Schools in Ghana. Prospera Dzang-Tedam

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       PART FOUR:Understanding Boarding Schools

Chapter 7 Historical & Contemporary Context to Boarding Schools in Ghana

      Formal education for all children across the globe is very important. It ensures the acquisition of all the necessarily skills to be able to lead a meaningful and sustainable life in adulthood. It teaches and empowers one to read, write and communicate effectively. Without these basic skills, one is bound to find it difficult to cope in many aspects of life. The concept of education has been described as a varied and important one which transcends beyond the interactions between people, to include school and college attendance (Hodgson,1998, p3). Education can be defined broadly as

      ‘all activities by which a human group transmits to its descendants a body of knowledge and skills and a moral code which enable that group to subsist’.

      The absence of education disadvantages individuals in that they are less likely to possess the necessary skills and knowledge to pass on within their families and in society in general.

      Education performs three main functions, which according to Hodgson (1998) include: serving as a prerequisite to individual dignity, as a prerequisite to individual development and finally serves to enhance individual welfare perspective.

      •Education as a prerequisite to individual dignity:

      It has been argued by Hodgson (1998, p19) that ‘education imparts knowledge of essential skills and trains individuals in logical thought and reasoned analysis’ which is likely to form the foundation of individual self-respect, self-worth and dignity.

      •Education as a prerequisite to individual development:

      Several International Human Rights instruments recognise that ‘children should be given an education which will enable them to develop abilities, individual judgment and sense of moral and social responsibility’ (Hodgson 1998 p19).

      •Enhancing an individual’s welfare perspective:

      Education could be viewed as a kind of ‘commodity to which an individual is entitled to both as an end in itself but also as a means to other welfare rights’. (Hodgson 1998, p20).

      Contributing to the definition of education, Dei (2004) purports that ‘Education is broadly conceived to mean the varied options, strategies and ways through which people come to know themselves and the world and how they act in this world.’ (p. 7).

      As a consequence of the above, governments and parents deem it important to ensure that children have the best education available. Several measures have therefore been put in place to ensure that all children obtain the best of education in Ghana and around the world. The fourth (4th) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) requires governments and stakeholders to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ (CAFOD 2015, Online). All nations are therefore encouraged to ensure that all their citizens, particularly children are given the opportunity to receive the best education by ensuring the right policies, systems and processes in place. Formal classroom tuition and education therefore keeps advancing, with increasing use of relevant technology and different teaching aids. This has resulted in many more parents doing their utmost to ensure that their children acquire the best of education.

      Formal education in Ghana can be day or boarding. Day students attend school in the day and return to their homes once lessons have ended (8:30am till around 3:30pm) while those in boarding provision study, play, and sleep at school in term time (usually 10-12 weeks at a time). Much has been written about the context of boarding schools more generally and across the world and there are competing views about the effectiveness of boarding schools. Holden et al. (2010) propose that boarding school environments offer unique experiences to those who access them as they are able to engage in a wide range of activities and interaction with peers and staff. Scott and Langhorne, (2012) on the other hand posit that whilst some students find boarding schools difficult due to changing the relationship between them and their parents/caregivers, a good proportion of students find boarding environments more nurturing, caring and less hostile than some of the home environments and neighbourhoods they have come from.