Perspectives of Head Teachers on Girls Exclusion in Education in Northern Ghana

This study explores this issue of exclusion of girls in Ghana, with reference to the problem of low completion rates and high dropout rates among girls in basic education. Education of children most especially the girls is of primary concern in contemporary Ghana, a concern shared among the highest government levels, district-level assemblies, and parents. As a result, significant financial resources are annually allocated for educational development. Reggardless of this, many young girls in the Northern region most especially those from the rural communities drop out due to several reasons. Various studies have approached the problem from the students’ and the parent's perspectives, the point of view of head teachers have been left out from most of the argument put forward and this has pose a challenge to understand why students dropped out. We asked why has the problem of girls exclusion from education persisted despite above interventions by the government?, what roles do head teachers plays in curbing or contributing to the high rate of school dropouts among girls in the Tamale metropolis?, and what are the limits of the government’s policy response in tackling the exclusion of girls in education. These questions were dealt with through the interview session with 16 head teachers from both primary and junior secondary schools, which are the foundation of basic education in Ghana. The findings show that the household factors remain the most dominant followed by the economic, and then societal factors that contributes to girls dropping out of school before completing their education. Nevertheless, these factors do interact with each other because the girls don’t drop out of school because of a single reason; rather they drop out from school as a result of combined effect of multiple factors. It was also revealed that the head teachers are also complicit in pushing the girls out of school as much as they play significant roles in retention rate in school. Unfortunately, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) cash transfer program and Ghana school feeding pro-gram (GSFP) Initiated by Ghana government to attract and retain girls to school has only managed to attract students, but many did not complete their studies.