The realities of school and home life matter, it says, no less than educational inputs and outputs. An attempt was then made to compare experiences of girls in and out of regular schooling, with those of female schoolteachers who had 'succeeded' in their educational life journeys, even while contending with past eras of economic hardship. Donors and government agencies had recently made efforts to review and improve educational provision for girls. The study also sought, therefore, to refer the impact of these and other policy interventions to the actual experiences of Ghana's women and girls. Worst affected are poor rural families in the north of Ghana that rely on crops that command no cash or export value.
Many children regard the domain of the school as one where little of value is done or learned.
Looking into the culture of the classroom, researchers came across attitudes to knowledge, teaching methods and language policies that tended only to hamper improvement. The life of teachers is hard and their status in the community low. For the child, positive experiences such as being well taught in basic skills of literacy and numeracy, having able women teachers to look up to as role models and being spared from unjust corporal punishment are too often lacking from her school life. Education Research Serial No. 23. Department for International Development, London.