TRAMITE PARA EXONERACIÓN EN COMPRAS DE MATERIAS PRIMAS

Most students I interviewed were aged between 17 and 22, which were above the age range of 15-18 years for forms 1-3, which apparently contradicts the national standard for secondary education in Ghana. This is because at age 18, they should have completed Senior High School (SHS) and progressed into universities or other forms of tertiary education if their schooling had progressed uninterrupted. The reasons accountable for this, as the students explained, were late enrolment, repetition and delayed transition to secondary school due to lack of admission, poor results and poverty. The data shows that the majority of the students from low socio-economic backgrounds had large family sizes with parents mainly in low status and low income occupations such as peasant farmers, carpenters, masons, auto-mechanics and petty traders. A few students come from higher socio-economic backgrounds with parents who were teachers, accountants, police and army officers as well as civil servants. Most mothers were involved in non-farm activities such as the brewing of pito, processing of shea-butter, charcoal and ready-made food. This is due to the fact that in the study area, women traditionally have limited control over productive activities like farming. Additionally, due to the patrilineal inheritance system in the research area, where land is passed on from fathers to sons, daughters are excluded from land ownership, though land forms the major source of rural work. Research suggests that women have resorted to a wide range of non-farm income generating activities in order to provide for the economic and welfare needs of their household members (Manuh, Songsore and Mackenzie, 1997; Dunne and King, 2003). However, the incomes derived from such income generating activities are usually low and irregular which often makes it difficult for most parents to meet the economic and educational needs of their children. Interviews conducted reveal that students from lower socio-economic backgrounds

103 faced financial problems and parents were unable to pay, or delayed payment of their school fees, to buy exercise and text books, uniforms and other equipment for them to undertake practical lessons in the Home Economics (HE) and Technical departments. Some students were sometimes sent home for non-payment of the fees and other levies imposed by the school. Several girls indicated that in some instances they had to stay out of school for one or two weeks in order to assist their mothers to generate enough income for their school fees and other educational needs before they could return to school. Such girls therefore missed school and lessons during those periods. Ama1, one of the students commented on her parents‟ inability to pay her school fees:

„Sometimes I don‟t get my money early enough to pay my fees. Right now I‟m still waiting for my school fees to come. My parents informed me that they sent it through somebody but I have not received it yet. Because I stay with my uncle and he has children to take care of, he is not able to get me all my needs. I, being his niece, he is just trying to help so he cannot afford all my needs‟ (Female student, 17 years, 08/11/05).

As indicated earlier, most of the students live in large families with siblings ranging in number from three to fifteen. This can be attributed to the extended family relations and the prestige associated with having more women and children in the study area. Supporting up to 15 children places a high demand on household economic resources. A number of studies in Africa and other developing countries show that the effect of large household size on girls‟ education is that where the income of family is inadequate to provide for the members of the household, girls are denied the opportunity of access to education, thus widening the gender gap in education (Stephen, 2000; Kadzamira and Chibwana, 2000; Rose, and Al-Samarrai, 2001; Colclough et al., 2003).

The low occupational status of most parents in the area also suggests that their level of education is generally low. Most mothers from rural areas have had no opportunity of

104 attending school, due the British colonial government‟s discriminatory educational policies which excluded women from benefiting Western education in the early nineteenth century until the mid twentieth century (Graham, 1971; Quist, 1994). The fact that the area is affected by high levels of poverty has also contributed to the high illiteracy rate in the study area. I found that the educational backgrounds and occupations of parents play important roles in the decision-making process as to which of their children will be allowed to attend school. Also, parents, especially mothers‟ level of education have an impact on children‟s attendance and performance at school (UNESCO 2003; Colclough et al, 2003). For example, educated parents tend to value their children‟s education more, buying learning materials and helping them with homework. Help with studies and homework is a complement of schoolwork and those who receive additional help are likely to do better in school. The low educational background of most parents meant that students would not receive the needed support to perform well in their education.

5.3 Parents’ and students’ perceptions of gender roles and girls’