Junior high school students’ use of their afterschool hours in Ghana: The role of household assets

Abstract

ABSTRACTStudies have examined a broad range of factors for how students use their time, but few attempts have been made to explore the nuanced link between different types of asset ownership and students' use of study time, particularly in resource-limited countries. This study uses data from junior high school students in Ghana to examine how students spend their time after school hours, the predictive influence of different types of household assets, and the extent to which these trends and relationships vary by gender. Polynomial quantile regression models were fitted across three quantiles (24th, 53rd, and 76th percentiles) to align with one hour, one and half hours, and two hours of study time. Results show that the average student spends well above the recommended 90 minutes on their schoolwork during afterschool hours, regardless of gender. Multivariate results indicate that owning limited assets tends to have a negative relationship with use of study time, but higher levels tend to be positively related to use of study time. Also, the predictive influence of asset ownership varies by asset type, and higher levels of asset ownership favor girls more than boys. Given this study's realtively small sample size, caution must be exercised in generalizing the study findings to the general population of junior high school students in Ghana. In light of the study's limitations, the finding of varying asset effect may have practical implications for asset development programs designed to enhance the well-being of low-income families.