Education as a Limited Resource: How Real Freedoms Are Limited in Ghana—A Reflective Paper

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: The Global Social Contexts of Education, Stratification, and Adaptation

Abstract

Education For All has long been a priority in the sub-Saharan country of Ghana. However, in spite of good intentions and a constitutional guarantee to a free and compulsory education, many Ghanaian children do not attend school. This paper provides a situational analysis of the current challenges with access to quality education in Ghana. Using correspondence theory and the capabilities approach, I argue that challenges of access to quality education has resulted in competition for limited resources leading to education rationing and stripping children in poverty of real freedoms to make choices about the direction of their own lives. I conclude with recommendations that may expand those freedoms in the spirit of access to quality education for all.

Author

• Brian Robinson, New York University