Nobody Speaks English

One of the first things I noticed in the village was how many kids there were running around all the time. At least 3 kids per adult. But what stuck with me most was why they weren’t in school. It didn’t take long for the community to answer this question for me. The biggest barrier to education right now is distance. The nearest primary school is a 45min walk away. This may not seem far but it is the number one reason why enrolment is so late in this village. No child goes to school before the age of nine, which is when they are old enough to walk there on their own.

The repercussions of this were everywhere. Upon being introduced to the village by the local agriculture extension agent, he singled out the English speaking farmers so that I would know who I could communicate with. Five men, ages 19-26 were the privileged few. English is a good indicator of one’s education level because from primary school, children are taught English (Ghana was a British colony).

Distance was the first barrier, but it went further. As expected, money was also a barrier because as children get older, school fees increase. Junior secondary school and senior secondary school are more expensive. Also if a farmer ever gets hit by any shock, children are pulled out. The example I was given was if someone were to get sick or die, money would be needed and school was an expense worth redirecting. If the rains fail or more help is needed in the field many children are pulled out.

This accounts for most of the low enrolment, but the gender correlation was particularly interesting. There is a fundamental belief among male farmers that is a barrier to female education. Why send a girl to school if when she gets married she will leave the family? Sending a girl to school doesn’t lead to your investment staying in the family. I don’t know the answer to this. I know that ideologically educating a female is good because that knowledge will be transferred to her children and will have a greater impact; but I cannot think of an answer to the question posed above.

Because these types of questions need to be answered before we will see equal enrolment for both boys and girls, getting girls in school goes much further than address the surface causes.

Distance was also tied into gender disparities. Because of the distance, parents were more inclined to send their sons to school instead of their daughters. When girls start hitting the pubic stage in their lives, boys start pursuing them and as a result teen pregnancies occur. Keeping children at home allowed parents to monitor them and more importantly, be their moral compass rather than allowing peer pressure. It makes me think of a similar phenomenon that we are witnessing in Canadian societies, where children are following their peers more and more, as opposed to the teachings of their parents.