ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Factors affecting public sector agricultural extension agents’ performance under the decentralised system in the Western Region of Ghana

Agricultural extension planning, management, resource-raising and, or allocation in Ghana is executed by the Department Of Agriculture (DA) through local government (LG) for public sector AEAs to be effectively responsive to the contextual needs of farmers under the decentralised system. The study determined public sector AEAs’ performance and factors that affected such performance under the decentralised system in the Western Region. Using a cross-sectional survey, a population of 59 AEAs and randomly selected 334 farmer group representatives were interviewed with questionnaires and structured interview schedules in six districts. The results showed that, public sector AEAs’ performance was good on the indicators used by the study except stakeholder inclusion and participation in extension activities, which had a satisfactory performance. The best predictor variables of AEAs’ performance in the region were individual capacity, organisational capacity and partnership and linkages. The study concluded that there is no statistical significant difference in the AEAs’ performance among the districts. Again, not all the factors considered by the study affected AEAs’ performance in the Western Region. The study recommended among others that, agricultural policy makers and decision takers are to plan, work and develop the identified predicted variables for utilisation when prioritising and sequencing interventions to improve public sector AEAs’ performance under the decentralised system to achieve the SDGs of poverty eradication and food security in the Western Region.

Source: UCC
Factors Affecting Pupils’ Absenteeism at Felicormfort Junior High School (JHS) in Cape Coast, Ghana

This study aimed at finding out factors affecting pupils’ absenteeism at Felicomfort JHS at Amamoma within the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. The total population was 145 covering the JHS1, JHS2, JHS3 pupils and teachers of the school. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 34 respondents. These were made up of 10 out of 15 teachers, 10 parents out of 53 and 14 pupils out of their accessible population of 56. Pretest, posttest, questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from respondents. Case study design was used for the study and data analysis was done, using mean values, frequency and percentage counts with the Predictive Analytical Software (PASW) version 21. Key findings of the study indicated that 71.4 percent of absenteeism was due to teachers’ inability to care and find out from pupils the cause of their absenteeism, while 70 percent of respondents indicated that parental lack of care was the major cause of their absenteeism. However, majority (10) of respondents (71%) disagreed that pupils’ attitudes were part of the contributory factors to their habitual absenteeism. The overall percentage mean (58%) representing 8 of the pupils discounted teacher factor as responsible for their absenteeism. It was recommended that government through the District Assemblies offer some financial assistance to poor and single parents to enable them to adequately cater for their wards at school

Source: UCC
Factors affecting recruitment and retention of basic school teachers in Obuasi Municipality

Education delivery at the basic school level cannot be carried out effectively without the required quality and quantity of teachers. This implies that educational administrators must ensure that at any point in time measures have been instituted to recruit and retain the required number of teachers. In view of this realization, an investigation was conducted into how basic school teachers are recruited and retained in the Obuasi Municipal Education Directorate. A sample of 120 respondents made up of teachers and education officials were selected for data collection but in the end 96 took part in the study. A self-administered questionnaire and interview guide were the instruments used for data collection. Data collected were edited and analysed using the SPSS and descriptive statistical tools such as simple frequency and relative frequency tables and percentages. Results of the study indicated that teachers were recruited from among the graduates of Universities, Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and SHS. It was revealed that teachers were retained through continuous professional training, sponsorship for further studies and teacher incentive packages. Some challenges identified included lack of links between school needs and teacher training institutions, lack of defined standards for teacher development and inadequate teacher remuneration among others. From the foregoing, appropriate recommendations were accordingly made for remediation by educational authorities.

Source: UCC
Factors affecting recruitment and retention of basic school teachers in the Akatsi district of Ghana

Considering the fact that teacher turnover rate is very high in the country, this study sought to fmd out the factors that influence the recruitment and retention of basic school teachers in the Akatsi District of Ghana.Purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were employed to select subjects for the study. A questionnaire which was the main instrument was used to collect the data. A documented data whjch indicated the turnover rates of male and female teachers from 1998/99 to 2002/03 academic years was collected from the Akatsi District Education office and used for the study. Five research questions were formulated to guide the study. These questions were answered based on the data collected. The study therefore revealed that: 1. The institution of District Assembly sponsorship scheme and the availability of amenities as well as accommodation will attract more teachers into and retain them in the district. 2. Direct posting of newly-trained teachers, issuing of assurance letters, reengagement and re-instatement are the recruitment procedures that are adopted to recruit teachers into the district. 3. Teachers who hail from the district stay longer in the district than teachers who do not hail from the district. 4. Job dissatisfaction of teachers in the district is due to lack of support from the district directorate and the individual communities as well as lack of basic infrastructure in the schools located within the rural communities. 5. About 67.6% ofthe teachers in the district are married. 6. The inadequate number of teachers is related to the poor performance of pupils in the district The main recommendations, in effect, are that: 7. The District Assembly in collaboration with the rural communities should identify and sponsor any qualified and interested natives who would like to pursue the three-year teacher training course. 8. All stakeholders in education within the district should assist in making the teachers derive some satisfaction from the job. It is therefore believed that if the aforementioned recommendations are taken into consideration, the rate of teacher turnover and teacher attrition within the district would be minimal.

Source: UCC
Factors affecting retention of health professionals in the Upper West Region of Ghana

The primary objective of this study is to assess the factors influencing retention of health professional in Upper West Region. The multistage sampling procedure was used to select a sample of 126 health professionals. The study employed a cross sectional study design. Primary data were collected using a self administered questionnaire. The study employs both quantitative and qualitative methods. Data were presented using descriptive statistics. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to estimate the relative effects of retention factors on retention decisions of health professional and also Friedman Rank Test was employed to identify the most important strategies to improve retention. The results from the estimations revealed that welfare benefits and working environment were the variables influencing retention of health professionals in Upper West Region. The study recommends provision of good and safe working environment, improve living conditions and welfare benefits in order to make health professionals posts professionally attractive so as to increase attraction and retention of health workers into the region.

Source: UCC
Factors affecting school attendence of JHS students in the Techiman municipality

It is universally accepted that one of the benefits of good education is that it enables individuals to contribute to the development and improvement in the quality of life for themselves, their communities and the nation as a whole. Though the Government of Ghana has initiated policies and interventions to increase enrolment, there are still children of school going age who are found roaming in the Techiman market during school hours. This study sought to investigate the factors that are likely to affect children.s school attendance in the Municipality. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and used questionnaire to collect data from 380 randomly selected respondents; 130 JHS Two students, 130 parents, 100 dropouts, 10 teachers and 10 head teachers. The study found that poor school attendance and dropping out of school in the Techiman Municipality were influenced by low education background of parents, financial problems, teenage pregnancy, peer influence, as well as disobedience on the part of the students. Some parents even perceive their wards dropping out of school as a blessing in disguise, because it lessens their financial burden. Poor school attendance was also attributed to pupil.s difficulty in understanding what is taught, the boring nature of school activities and unfriendly nature of school environment. The study therefore recommends that parents should be educated on the importance of education so that they will show interest in their wards. education. It also recommends regular PTA meetings to discuss issues relating to school attendance and drop out rates.

Source: UCC
Factors affecting students' participation in technical programmes at the Sunyani polytechnic

Participation of students in technical programmes has been on the decline since the inception of the Sunyani Polytechnic in 1991. Enrolment in technical subjects was very high when it was a Technical Institute. The study which was a descriptive survey sought to investigate factors responsible for the low participation of students in technical subjects. It also looked for conditions that will encourage higher participation levels. The study focused on factors affecting enrolment of students for various technical programmes in Sunyani Polytechnic, challenges facing Technical/Vocational Education and Training, effects of the problem and remedies to address the problems. A total number of 200 samples were drawn from Sunyani Polytechnic, Twene-Amanfo Senior High Secondary Technical School, Sacred Heart Junior High School, the Regional Technology Transfer Centre, and the Sunyani Garages. Instruments used in the collection of data were questionnaires, interviews, and analysis of documents. The study revealed that low participation of students in Technical programmes in Sunyani Polytechnic was influenced by lack of interest, disregard for students who pursue technical programmes and lack of attention to technical vocational education in the country. Conclusion drawn was that, technical education requires more attention and must be organised properly to attract more students especially in the polytechnics.

Source: UCC
Factors Affecting Students’ Performance in English at Colleges of Education in Ghana

The role and place of the English language in education in Ghana makes students’ performance in the subject an important issue for stakeholders in education. Following the poor performance of Level 100 students in English in the 2013/2014 second semester examination in some public colleges of education, this study made an exploratory comparative investigation into why students in some colleges of education performed highly and others performed poorly. A qualitative study involving observation of lessons, interviews with 8 tutors, 8 heads of English departments, 8 principals of colleges and a focus group interview with 80 teacher trainees from 8 colleges made up of 4 colleges with high student performance and 4 with poor student performance was undertaken. The findings suggest that students’ weak background in English, under qualified teachers, lack of logistical support and professional development training impacted negatively on teaching and learning, contributing to students’ poor performance in the English examination. It was recommended that colleges screen student entry qualifications, ensure that only qualified professional English teachers teach the subject and that these teachers receive regular professional training and support to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

Source: UCC
Factors Affecting Teaching And Learning Of Social Studies In Junior High Schools At Abura Asebu Kwamankese District, Central Region

Social Studies is the integrated study of the Social Sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. The purpose of the study was to ascertain the factos affecting teaching and learning of Social Studies in Junior High Schools at Abura Asebu Kwamankese District, Central Region. The study employed the descriptive cross-sectional survey design. The study‘s population was all 91 JHS Social Studies teachers and all 2419 JHS 2 pupils in the entire Junior High schools (JHS) in the district. The sample for the study was 546 comprising 91 Social Studies teachers and 455 JHS 2 pupils. Instrument for collecting data was questionnaires. The respondents took 20 -30minutes to answer the questionnaire Data were analysed using frequencies, means, standard deviation and t-test. It was found that both teachers and pupils affirmed that school-related factors such as (a) availability of library references in the schools, (b) adequacy of space in the library for learning, (c) adequacy of textbooks for students to use, (d) adequate facilities for teaching promote learning of Social Studies. There was no statistically significant difference in the scores of teachers and students (492) = 0.56, p = 0.58. Teachers identified that none of the teacher-related factors contributed to academic performance of students. That there was a statistically significant difference in the scores of teachers and students t (147.483) = -2.496, p = 0.014. It was recommended that Ghana Education Service should provide several opportunities to encourage the teachers in the AAK District to enhance their educational qualification. The Ministry of Education with stakeholders in education to provide adequate teaching and learning resources/ materials in the school.

Source: UCC
Factors affecting the academic performance of Students of Dzolo senior high school in the Volta Region of Ghana

This study was undertaken to investigate the factors affecting the academic performance of students of Dzolo Senior High School in the Volta Region of Ghana. The lottery method of simple random technique was used to select students while snowball and purposive sampling techniques were used to select old students and parents/guardians respectively. In all 178 respondents were selected for the research. They were made up of 44 students, 35 parents/guardians and 78 old students drawn from 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 year groups. Also, 20 teachers of the school and the headmistress formed part of the sample. Questionnaires were administered to students, teachers, the headmistress and old students. The analysis of data collected revealed that students’ inability to read and understand the English Language, their low entry aggregates, and indiscipline contributed greatly to their poor performance. Also, the inadequate school infrastructure coupled with students’ negative attitudes to learning added up to the leading causes of students’ poor performance.In order to attain the purpose of education in this school, the school’s administration should organise in-service training for teachers to equip them with skills to help weak students. It was believed that this training would sharpen the helping skills of the teachers to deliver their best. It is further recommended that the school administration should liaise with stakeholders like the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) rather than government to refurbish the school library to meet the needs of students.

Source: UCC
Factors Affecting the Growth of Family Businesses in Tarkwa-Nsueam Municipality, Ghana

Family businesses are widely seen as the backbone of an economy since they create wealth, provide jobs, are locally rooted and connected to their communities and seem to be around for long periods of time. This study assessed the factors affecting the growth of family businesses in Tarkwa-Nsueam Municipality in Ghana. To achieve this objective, the study employed the quantitative research approach, descriptive research design, and cross-sectional study design. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 274 managers of family businesses from a population of 965. In all, 220 managers responded to the study, hence a response rate of 80.29% was attained. The non-response rate was 19.71%. A questionnaire was employed and it was semi-structured, pre-tested, and self-administered. IBM SPSS Statistics for windows, version 24 was employed in analysing the data collected. Mean, standard deviation, and one-sample t-test revealed the existence of countless internal and external factors that affected the growth of family businesses in Tarkwa-Nsueam Municipality. The internal factors included conflict between owners and managers, education and training of entrepreneurs and employees, attitudes to work, resources, and entrepreneurs’ level of financial literacy, entrepreneurial skills, supervisory support to newly established businesses, acquisition of vocational skills, managerial skills and knowledge, and personality traits of the entrepreneur. Among the external factors were gender equality, cultural factors, access to external credit, legal factors/government regulation, work-home conflict, industry characteristics, and regulatory environment. Recommendations have been made to improve on the growth of family businesses in the area.

Source: UCC
Factors Affecting the Implementation of Community– Led Total Sanitation in Central Region, Ghana

Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is critical in communities’ health, survival, and development. The purpose of this study was to find out factors influencing limited achievement of CLTS implementation in the Central Region. The study adopted the qualitative phenomenological survey design with 10 facilitators, 40 household heads and five verification officers. A researcher generated interview guide was used for data collection. Using content analysis, the study revealed a total of 18 themes as: Knowledge about CLTS implementation process and conduct of facilitators during implementation, project time frame being too short, Cultural beliefs and norms, financial challenges, Unfavourable soil conditions and Socio-economic and demographic factors. Furthermore, the interview revealed that, the project communities and facilitators have some appreciable level of knowledge about the importance of the CLTS project and the implementation process. Also, natural leaders want to be paid for organising the community members to eliminate open defecation (OD). The key challenges to the success of the CLTS project were: limitation in project time frame; issues about political parties, beliefs, traditions and norms, recognition and award for open defecation free (ODF) communities, logistical constrained and funds and lack of commitment from the District Assemblies. The limited success of CLTS, challenges the Central Region’s effort at meeting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2. However, appropriate coordination is needed to align the various CLTS projects to the same implementation modalities. In addition, District Assemblies are encouraged to own the CLTS project, invest into the project and equip the Environmental Health Officers to carry out the implementation according to planned

Source: UCC
Factors affecting the implementation of guidance and counselling services in selected colleges of education in Ghana

The purpose of the study was to examine factors that affected implementation of Guidance and Counselling services in three of the Colleges in Ghana. This was necessitated since it appeared that Colleges were not effectively fulfilling their mandate in guiding and counselling students in the colleges in decision making. The study adopted an Action Research design with a sample size of 250 students selected from three colleges of education in the Eastern Region of Ghana using a simple random sampling, stratified sampling and proportional sampling techniques. A self-developed and structured questionnaire was used to collect research data which was subjected to the descriptive statistics of frequency and simple percentages. The findings of the study showed the need for appropriate physical facilities to be established and adequate and professional human resource capacity develop for guidance and counselling services in Colleges of Education in the country. This should be geared towards a total transformation of students and should encompass the entire range of services in the areas of orientation, information, appraisal, placement, consultation, follow-up, evaluation, career guidance. On the basis of the findings, some recommendations were made towards sensitizing and motivating students to avail themselves with the services provided by the Guidance and Counselling Units set up in the Colleges of Education in the country.

Source: UCC
Factors affecting the performance of Islamic Junior high school students in the Tamale Metropolis

Despite the efforts made by various governments in Ghana to expand and improve the quality of education at various stages of our educational institution, there are still a whole lot of students who are not able to make the required grades to enable them further their education at the Senior High School after their Basic Education Certificate Examination. (B.E.C.E). Islamic schools in the Tamale metropolis are among the schools in Ghana that have enjoyed the provision of educational infrastructure by successive governments, but the performance of these schools is not encouraging.The dissertation looks at factors affecting the performance of Islamic Junior High School students in the Tamale metropolis. The study focused on home related factors, teacher related factors, school related factors and cultural beliefs, on educational performance of students in the Tamale metropolis.Simple random sampling and purposive sampling procedures were used to select 130 respondents. These comprise 50 students from six selected Islamic schools, 50 parents from the same schools and 30 teachers. Questionnaires and interviews were the instruments used to gather data. The data were statistically analyzed using descriptive statistics. Percentages were calculated and tables constructed to simplify the analysis.The outcome of the study indicates that, parents’ and guardians’ educational attainment affected their wards academic performance. Again, truancy among students is a major problem.It is recommended that a wider scale study be conducted nationwide in other unit schools, on factors affecting the performance of students in the schools.

Source: UCC