Ghanaian Education and the Voucher System

The idea of a universal education system is criticized by many, because the idea of giving everyone a chance to prosper, has a detrimental effect on government resources; and the value placed on a post- secondary education, is somewhat diluted. This is wrong though, as people be judged on their academic skills, character and drive above their economic restrictions. The finances which a young person is born into, should not determine the life and career which they have. It has been shown that a college education increases a person’s earning power, but this education is contingent on money, which dictates your chance of achieving a recognized education. This is against the ‘education gospel’ which supports the idea that schooling should be for everyone, and that the more people who are educated, the less prejudices there will be in society. Education is universal, but post-secondary education, and one which leads people to positions of power and influence, is not. It is for the select few, of whom have the finances and opportunities to prosper that other, more underprivileged people do not, and that needs to change.

This means that the good schools can only take in a few students, the proverbial tip of the ice berg. The rest of the students are relegated to schools in which their parents have no faith at all. This is tantamount to dooming these students to failure and being completely unable to do anything about it. The decline in the level of education in the public school system has prompted a lot of parents to opt for private schooling for their children. The problem with this is, of course, finances. Another problem facing the schooling system is the lack of streamlining of services. A comparison is drawn between the schools in the poor neighborhoods and their equivalents in the rich neighborhoods. The difference is astronomical. There is absolutely no coherency between the levels of services being provided in these institutions. Thus, the education system appears to be skewed. This is a worst case scenario situation for a system that is supposed to provide children with equal opportunities at a better life in the

In the article, Can Vouchers Improve Your Child’s School, written by Merry Gordon, she begins by informing the reader what exactly a voucher is. A voucher is an admissions ticket into any public or private school which the government then pays a fixed sum for each and every child that wants to take part in the voucher system. Gordon goes into detail about the educational voucher system and says how vouchers are just a different way to fund schools by channeling the money towards families instead of school districts. The government is able to fund partial tuition or for the whole thing. The option to use a voucher varies from state to state, some programs only allow low-income students or those who are at failing schools to use vouchers, although some extend the opportunity universally.

School vouchers are a waste of public dollars in private school because “as economist Milton Friedman said”, it divides support for all student. In this essay, it will be explaining three things of why school vouchers shouldn’t continue to go on in private schools. Those three things are one that vouchers pull money meant for public schools to tuition run school instead of improving school that need it. Second, it’s the parents responsibility to pay for their child to stay in school. Third, it takes away from the schools budget to do things for the school as to pay for lunch, trips, and more.

A voice, a choice? Makes great sense, were it not for the more than a dozen

The public has been searching for ways to reform the educational structure that is currently established within the United States. The public school system has been accused of being detrimental to the education of our societies children. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of school vouchers, as a type of educational reform, on all aspects of society. It has already been proven that “family background, economic status and place of residence” all help to determine the amount of success a child has at a particular school (Raywid, 1989, p. 7). Can it consequently be expected that the choice of which particular school to go to will also make a difference in the child’s success?

Nowadays there is a lot of debate going on regarding the use of school vouchers and many people think that Vouchers for private schools being denied. Through this program student is able to select school either public or private to study. Through voucher program, taxpayers have opportunity to pick where their tax money go. In principle, great schools will flourish with cash and awful schools will lose understudies and close its doors. The vast majority feels that taking citizen taxpayer money from government funded schools and utilizing this cash as vouchers for private schools is an infringement of the constitution (Barrow & Rouse, 48-54). In America most private schools at this moment is run through religious associations.

The proportion of children who are enrolled in primary schools has increased from 49% to 77% in the past decade in sub-Saharan Africa. This increase in enrollment is due mostly to the initiative of the governments from these regions to improve universal primary education. However, much remains to be done because even though enrollment has been made a possibility in a lot of these countries, there are a lot of other variables at play that still prevent children from receiving a quality education. Things such as poverty, cultural traditions, gender violence, and the incidence of early marriage are a major reason for disadvantaged groups, particularly poor girls, not making as much progress in enrolling

In the article, “More money for education? Let’s start with tax” the author provides the readers with several valid points that shows education spending should be increased through taxes. The author uses logos, pathos and ethos within the article to appeal to the reader and persuade them towards his point. Increasing education spending through tax dollars is an issue that the author shows he has studied a lot on and he provides a lot of reasoning to make his point stronger. He goes to tell that increasing education spending with taxes will not only help poorer countries but can positively impact education around the world. Within the article the reader will also find that it is hard for poor countries to increase money for education so taxes is the best place for them to turn. The author shows that increasing education spending has a positive effect on the majority rather than just a few. Overall, throughout the article the reader will find several reasons why increasing education spending through taxes will be beneficial for students, countries, and the economy.

While the introduction of vouchers into the education system was supposed to increase consumer choice and allow lower class citizens to have access to the better education often associated with private schools, fact is different than theory. In Martin Carnoy’s article, “National Voucher Plans in Chile and Sweden,” he points out that even when students technically have the same choice of schools, poorer families have limited options because they often lack transportation (Carnoy 311). Subsidized private schools appear most commonly in urban areas of the country, where wealthier families are located. Poorer families tend to live a significant distance away, either on the periphery of the city or in the rural countryside. With limited access to a reliable means of transportation, most low-income families are unable to take their child to a private school many miles away. Wealthier families, however, do not face these same obstacles and tend to place more weight on the quality of a school than on its location. As a result, they are more likely to use their voucher to transfer their child to a better, private institution (Carnoy

School Choice has gained popularity recently and shows potential in beneficial alternative options. The first supporting reason showing this, how vouchers put educational choices for children in the hands of the people who care the most; the parents. (Charlotte, Hays n/a) Evidence showing how the statement is true is the voucher program was developed in the 1980s to give low-income families more choice in where their kids go to school. Upper class families already have this choice. Therefore, the original voucher program got designed specifically for the choice of the parents. Having this option of vouchers, allow parents to be guides with power to where they so

Education in the United States is now declining. Although our universities are top notch, our lower education public schools are struggling more than ever to compete with the international schooling system. Some propose a voucher plan that would allow certain parents a small choice in the school their children are able to attend. This voucher would be used for tuition along with other costs at a school the parent chooses, but public schools would charge tuition and remain competitive with other schools to

According to Nielsen (2013), in the United States, the government has been working hard in the due process of providing education to the children in the country. Despite the efforts that have been initiated by the United States education department, there is a problem of equity in education access around the nation. There are a good number of students who do not have the same opportunities as others when it comes to the education sector. For instance, in most cases, the quality of education that a student will get depends with their social class in the community. Those with a weak living condition are less likely to have the same quality of education as those who belong to the wealthy families. Therefore, the importance of equity, issues with sameness and the strategies suggested by Natalie (2013) and the report by the equity and excellence commission will form the basis of discussion for this paper.

An experience I feel fortunate to have had, is the Nigerian education system. The Nigerian education system is an irregular, knowledge based system that has yielded a score of 0.425 on the Education Index of the UNDP. As a result of my journey through that education system, I have developed many skills at such a young age. I have learned to take initiative in my classes, because, a common tradition in Nigerian schools is for teachers to test students on topics not covered and justify those actions by giving students a scheme of work, which is essentially a list of topics to be covered in the school year. Going through this system, I have learned to befriend older students and ask them for their old notes, to study as the Nigerian school curriculum hasn’t changed in 50 years, much like the stance on corporal punishment in schools. According to my parents I had it easy as in their time both girls and boys were whipped on their butts but currently girls are hit on their palms, fingertips, and thier legs which is progress. However, the instruments of pain have not changed as, students are hit with cables, kobokos,omoroguns and pankeres. I personally have a momentum of a beating gone wrong in the form of a scar. The beating gone wrong happened when I was 4 and a teacher hit me so hard, my head was knocked toward the corner of my desk where an exposed nail ripped the skin of my jaw. Interestingly, this was one of the main motivations behind my wanting to be a pediatrician because

It is a common and well known saying that history repeats itself. This saying has more to it than the literal definition of it, it means we need to study it and learn from it, in order to avoid repetition. Often times we have that opportunity to study and learn from history in a way that can impact the future, in a hopefully positive way. In terms of education, improvement and innovation is always a top priority. If we can properly combine the study of other cultures with the study of history, we can have an extremely effective tool for learning ways to positively impact our own generation and future. In this essay, I will attempt to uncover the differences between current education and traditional African education, with intention of learning how to apply it today. The idea behind studying history is that it is a vital part of learning and adopting successful techniques and a good tool for avoiding the repetition of mistakes. If pre-colonial Africa can have success without the resources and technologies we have today, then it is valuable to invest time and effort in mirroring some of their methods.