Transferred and Adapted Models of Secondary Education in Ghana: What Implications for National Development?

Abstract

The secondary-education models implemented in Ghana since colonial times constitute a classic case of "educational transfer and adaptation". Transferred from England, and in recent years the United States of America and Japan, these models have had a significant impact on Ghana's development in diverse ways. Yet educational research on Ghana has under-recognized this important issue of "educational transfer and adaptation", especially the relationship between these transferred models and national development. This study addresses such neglect by first focusing on those institutions that served as prototypes. Second, it appraises the models pointing out their implications for national development. It is contended that the foreign models that were adapted (indigenised) have been significant instruments for the human- resource and socio-political development of Ghana. However, their emphasis on the academic type of education ultimately has tended to create a situation of dependency particularly with respect to techno-scientific and economic development.