Nonformal education and rural development in Ghana

Abstract

This article describes and evaluates a nonformal education rural development project which evolved through a collaborative arrangement between a private voluntary organization in Ghana and a North American university. After extensive discussions a relationship developed between the University of Massachusetts' Center for International Education and Ghana's Peoples' Educational Association, a national adult education organization with links to the University of Ghana's Institute of Adult Education. The two organizations agreed to cooperate in the development and evaluation of several village facilitator models in which a much wider cross-section of the community would participate in a variety of development projects and educational activities. The models were to emphasize a shift from a leader-dominated perspective to more group participation with villagers taking responsibility for their actions, both in meetings and in development projects.