Provisions Made for Curriculum Development in Ghana’s 2007 Educational Policy: Any Lessons for Consideration by Stakeholders of Education in the Upper West Region

Abstract

The issue about curriculum development in the Ghana 2007 educational policy should be of concern to every stakeholder of education in the Wa Municipality. The level of excellence derived from any educational reform rests very much on how well the curriculum satisfies the needs of the pupils and society in general. An evaluation of the curriculum is one of the main approaches to determine whether a curriculum is implemented successfully and its benefits ripped by the pupils and other stakeholders of education whether in the Wa Municipality or the Ghana citizenry. The gap here is that the Wa Municipality has no empirical data to support the extent to which the provisions made for curriculum development has been implemented and achieved. The objective of the current study is to gather the views of stakeholders of education in the Wa Municipality on the subject matter. Analyze the views and arrive at conclusions that will evaluate the provisions listed under curriculum development. Three research questions were set to guide the study. A total sample size of 350 participants was contacted for the study. Purposive sampling strategy alongside the lottery method in simple random sampling and proportional allocation was used to select the sample from the accessible population. The data collection instruments were questionnaires and an interview guide and data were collected by a face-to-face meeting with participants and through correspondence over eight (8) weeks. Data analysis was qualitative with descriptive statistics to support the analysis of close-ended questions. The findings revealed that the provisions made for curriculum development to a large extent were implemented in the schools but, there are little benefits derived from the implementation process because pupils cannot fit into the job market or establish business venture after junior high school which is one of the main goals of the new curriculum under the Ghana 2007 educational policy. The current research has added to knowledge on the implementation of Ghana's 2007 educational policy reforms in the Wa Municipality. The research has revealed the level of success the policy has attained in the Wa Municipality with specific reference to the provisions made for curriculum development. Some members through the research instruments have come to know more about the policy and are ready to implement the provisions made for curriculum development than before.