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1*

EDUCATION IN WEST AFRICA:
THE DAILY GRAPHIC (GHANA) AND THE
DAILY TIMES (NIGERIA) AS MIRRORS OF CONCERN

By

Philip Mark McDonald

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Administration
and Curriculum

1983

© Copyright by
PHILIP MARK MCDONALD
1983

ABSTRACT

EDUCATION IN WEST AFRICA:
THE DAILY GRAPHIC (GHANA) AND THE
DAILY TIMES (NIGERIA) AS MIRRORS OF CONCERN

 

By
Philip Mark McDonald

The critical link in informing the public of
governmental policy and practice is the news media, and
in particular the role the press plays in informing
its readers. The press provides an arena of communica-
tion for the struggle that exists between the public's
demand for education and the government's ability to
deliver proper educational services.

The dissertation research analyzed the press cov-
erage of education in two national daily newspapers of
independent Ghana and Nigeria. The Daily Graphic of

Accra and the Dailerimes of Lagos were selected on the

 

basis of longevity, circulation, and availability for
research.

The newspapers were analyzed in four twelve-month
periods. Each daily was examined immediately after in-
dependence and again after each country's most recent

return to civilian rule.

Philip Mark McDonald

A content analysis of the database examined the
quantitative and qualitative components of educational
news reporting. A space scan sample, based on the con-
structed time period method, produced a content profile
of the newspapers. A general content sample (GCS) an-
alyzed educational news according to form and educational
category.

A thematic analysis qualitatively sampled the edu-

 

cational issues recorded in the general content sample.
The criteria for selecting the major themes depended on
whether an issue was a national policy concern and whether
it received a major portion of issue-oriented coverage.
Educational news reporting in Ghana and Nigeria
reflected deep linkages that existed between education
and other sectors of the society. Political stability
or instability, along with changes in the economy, directly
affected the quantity and quality of educational services
in both countries.
The press recorded the massive rate of expansion
of the education sector in Ghana and Nigeria along with
the particular problems accompanying growth. In addition,
the press mirrored the degree of status each kind of
education possessed. In both countries, the press con-
sistently gave more coverage to the traditional academic
institutions of grammar schools and universities than

to vocational schools or teacher training colleges.

Philip Mark McDonald

Finally, the press reflected changes in societal attitudes
toward education across time. As political and economic
realities changed over the years after independence, educa-

tional concerns of society changed also.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank John Hanson, Ph.D., my advisor, for
his friendship, encouragement and helpful suggestions on
the manuscript. I wish to express my appreciation to Jack
Bain, Ph.D., Ben Bohnhorst, Ed.D., Gene deBenko, Ph.D., and
Ken Neff, Ph.D. who graciously served on the guidance com-
mittee. A special word of gratitude is due Yaw Twumasi,
Ph.D. of the University of Ghana, for his advice on the
African press.

I wish to thank my father, Cleveland McDonald, Ph.D.,
for his support and proofreading assistance, and my father-
in-law, Donn Ketcham, M.D., for his encouragement. Also,

I wish to thank Dale Andrus, Vice-President of Kindel
Furniture Company, for his support in generously granting
me a flexible schedule while completing this degree.

I want to express my appreciation to my wife, Rebecca,
for her love, understanding, and valuable assistance in

helping me pursue this program.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter

Io

II.

III.

IV.

VI.

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Significance and Description of the Study
Historical Background

METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Overview
Space Scan Sample
General Content Sample

BLACK AFRICA'S FIRST INDEPENDENT NATION . . . 49

The Setting

Data Analysis
Thematic Analysis
Summary

THE INDEPENDENCE OF NIGERIA. . . . . . . . . 76

The Setting

Data Analysis
Thematic Analysis
Summary

CHAOS AND CORRUPTION IN GHANA . . . . . . . 100

The Setting

Data Analysis
Thematic Analysis
Summary

OIL WEALTH AND NATIONAL PRIORITIES IN
NIGERIA o o I o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 133

The Setting

Data Analysis
Thematic Analysis
Summary

iv

VII. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

\0 on \I 0‘ U1 4‘ b.) NH
O 0 O O O O O O

11.

12.
13.
15.
16.

17.
18.

19.

LIST OF TABLES

Space Scan Sample Days and Dates .
Space Scan Newshole Categories and

Descriptors . . . .
Reliability Result of Professors and
Researcher . . . .

Reliability Result of Graduate Students
and Researcher . . . .
Reliability Results of Professors, Graduate

Students and Researcher . .
Space Scan Sample of the Daily Graphic,
1957-1958- 0 O O O O O O O 0

Total GCS Educational News by Form,
1957-1958

Comparative Data of GCS with National Budget .

and Enrollments for Ghana, 1957- 1958 . .
Space Scan Sample of the Daily Times,

1960- 1961 . . . . .
Total GCS Educational News by Form,

1960-1961 . .
Comparative Data of GCS with National Budget

 

and Enrollments for Nigeria . .
Space Scan Sample of the Daily Graphic,
1979-1980 . . . . . . .

 

Educational News by Form (Ghana) . . .
Comparative GCS Data (Ghana) . . . .
Space Scan Sample of the Daily Times,

 

1979- 1980 . . . . . . . .
Educational News by Form (Nigeria) . . . .
Comparative GCS Data (Nigeria) . . . .

Comparative GCS Data of Educational News
Coverage in Secondary & Higher Education .

Comparison of Educational Press Themes in
Ghana and Nigeria . .

vi

34
35
45
45
46
55
56
57
82
84
85

. 109

111

. 112

143

. 145

146

. 170
. 171

\J 0‘ U1 bUONH
O O O I O 0

LIST OF FIGURES

Political History of Ghana . . . . .

Political History of Independent Nigeria .

Issue- oriented Classification Scheme .
Frequency of Educational News Reporting
by Month, 1957-1958 . . . . .

Frequency of Educational News Reporting

by Month, 1960-1961 . . . .

Frequency of Educational News Reporting

by Month, 1979- 1980 . . .

Frequency of Educational News Reporting.

by Month, 1979-1890 . . .

vii

12
43
58
86

. 113
. 147

INTRODUCTION

Significance and Description of the Study

There exists in Africa, as in other areas of the de-
veloping world, a strong public interest in formal education
and the rewards its attainment can bring. The high level
of private and social demand for education makes education
an important social and political issue. The critical link
in informing the public of governmental policy and practice
is the news media, and in particular the role the press
plays in informing its readers. However, the press also
informs the government of public opinion, as it often mir-
rors the public's perspectives and attitudes towards the
educational system. The press provides an arena of commun-
ication for the struggle that exists between the public's
demand for education and the government's ability to deliver
proper educational services.

The press is often caught in the middle of this strug-
gle and more often than not creates it by the kind of report-
ing it does. But, regardless of the origin of the struggle,
it remains that the press is an avenue of communication and
reflects the concerns of both the government and the public.
Hachten points out that, "A mass media system is also a kind
of mirror image of a nation's political and economic

l

2

1 It also

structure. Each is sensitive to the other."
seems feasible that a media system would be a mirror of
the education sector as well.

There is very little scholarly literature available
that deals specifically with the relationship between the
African news media and African educational systems. While
there is sufficient literature covering African education,
recent scholarship on the African press is scarce. Barton
sadly states, "There has not been a book from Britain about
the press in Africa for ten years. There have been only

two in that time from the United States."2

As far as spe-
cific studies of newspaper content are concerned, Twumasi
comments that, "Few detailed studies of the newspaper press
exist, and the few studies on the subject are general."3
The apparent lack of research has prompted this re-
searcher to explore the relationship between the press and
education in West Africa's largest Anglophone countries--
Ghana and Nigeria. These coastal countries have perhaps

the best post-independence education systems in West Africa,

and both have a long tradition of an indigenous press as well.

 

1WilliamA. Hachten, MUffled’DrUms: The News Media in
Africa. (Ames, Iowa: The Iowa StatewUniversity Press, 1971),
p. xv.

2Frank Barton, The Press in Africa: Persecution and
Perseverance (London: ThelMaéMiIlan Press, Ltd., 1979), p. x.

 

3Yaw Twumasi, "The Newspaper Press and Political
Leadership in Developing Nations: The Case of Ghana 1964
to 1978," GaZette 26 (1980), p. 11.

3
The dissertation research analyzed the press coverage
of education in two national daily newspapers of indepen-

dent Ghana and Nigeria. The Daily Graphic of Accra and the

 

Daily Times of Lagos have been selected on the basis of

 

longevity, circulation, and availability for research (either
on newsprint or on microfilm). National papers were se-
lected because they reflected national policy issues. Re-
gional papers tended to be less national in sc0pe and were
often dominated by political parties.

The newspapers were analyzed in four twelve-month
periods. A twelve month period was selected in order to
cover the full cycle of a school year. Each daily was
examined right after independence and again after each
country's most recent return to civilian rule. The dates
for the four one-year periods are as follows:

‘Ghana
March 6, 1957 through March 5, 1958.

 

September 24, 1979 through September 23, 1980.
Nigeria
October 1, 1960 through September 30, 1961.
October 1, 1979 through September 30, 1980.
The data from these four one-year periods will be compared
both cross-nationally and cross-temporally with an attempt

to discover possible similarities and differences.

Historical Background

 

Ghana and Nigeria have similar backgrounds in the
areas of history, education, politics and the press.
Flint states:

Both countries at first glance appear to have
passed through similar historic phasesz. . .

a similar subjection to the European slave
trade; a strong Islamic influence on the north-
ern parts of both countries; a modern period
of colonial subjection to the same power,
Britain, and nationalistic movements which have
secured independence.

The formal education systems of Ghana and Nigeria
trace their origin back to the time of British colonialism.
The African nationalist believed British colonial educa-
tional objectives were clearly designed to perpetuate
British rule, not necessarily to aid the African's welfare.
One Nigerian scholar has summarized the end result of
British colonial policy: "Promising as the educational pol-
icies might have been, the ultimate attitude of imperial
rule in Nigeria vetoed any possibility of giving priority to
Nigeria's welfare. The ultimate objective, whether expressed
or implicit, was the welfare of the British people."5

While education for the African may have been biased

in favor of the colonial regime's own aspirations, it did

 

AJohn E. Flint, Ni eria and Ghana (Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey: Prentice-Ha , nc., , p. l.

5Okechukwu Ikejiani, ed., Nigerian Education (Ikeja:
Longmans of Nigeria, Ltd., 1964), p. 122

5

serve finally to liberate him from the British. The rise
in African nationalism was a direct result of the African
receiving a formal education from the government and
mission schools.

Rebellious reactions of some sort were never come

pletely absent. But they took forms which did

not directly challenge the white man in his own

institutions and in his own terms. It was this

challenge that African political nationalism

brought. . . . The coming of people who could

lead this challenge was above all a consequence

of education.

With the rise of nationalism came a strong social
demand for education. Education was seen not only as help-
ful for political liberation but for economic and social
liberation as well. "Nowhere else in the world possibly
had people seen so clearly the transformation that education
could bring about in a man's way of life and standard of
living. They wanted such betterment for their children and

7 Regardless

made great sacrifices to make it possible."
of the motivation, British education transported the African
into the modern age. This period of expansion actually got
started after the Second World War but, "The really great

decade of expansion was between 1950 and 1960."8 The 1960's

 

6Francis X. Sutton, "Education in Changing Africa,"
in Education and Nation-Buildingin Africa, eds. L. Gray
Cowan, James O'Connell, and David G. Scanlon (New York:
Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, 1965), p. 194.

7James O'Connell, "Education, Economics, and Politics,"
in Education and Nation-Building, pp. 187-188.

81bid., p. 188.

 

 

6
and 1970's were decades of continued expansion as well,
and expansion continues to the present time.

The expansion of the education systems not only
brought about rapid change but also created numerous prob-
lems.' One problem was the increased financial burden that
it placed on the poor countries' economies. "The money so
spent is being withheld from industrial and agricultural
investment that might provide an increased national income

9 In the early years after independence,

and more jobs."
many African policy-makers and expatriate consultants be-
lieved that education was an investment and that by allo-
cating a large portion of a national budget to education,

it would lead to economic growth. Perhaps in the long run
it would, but in the short run the education system overran
the capacity of the economy to provide full employment.
Clignet and Foster wrote, ". . .the socio-economic structure
of these countries cannot fulfill the aspirations and expec-

"10 The over-

tations of succeeding waves of school graduates.
supply of school leavers led to a migration from the rural
areas to the urban centers as students either came looking

for a job or attempted to get into a school higher up in the

 

9O'Connell, "Education, Economics, and Politics,"
p. 188.

10Remi P. Clignet and Philip J. Foster, "Education
and National Unification in Africa: Historical Backgrounds,"
in Education and the Development of Nations, eds. John W.
Hanson and Céle S. Brembeck (NewFYorkk'HOIt, Rinehart and
Winston, 1966), p. 258.

 

7
education hierarchy. As O'Connell notes, "The most evi-
dently dismaying fact is that primary school leavers are
piling up in towns where not enough employment opportuni—
ties exist for them, and where they are straining housing
and water supply facilities, burdening ill-paid relatives

and turning to delinquency.“11

Primary school leavers piled
up in the rural areas, and rural unemployment was also a
major problem. This lack of balance between the economic
and education sectors pointed to an inherent inefficiency.
Hanson wrote, "Obviously, serious inefficiency exists when-
ever school leavers cannot be absorbed by the economy or
when they are employed in positions that fail to utilize

"12

their training. Unemployment was not just a result

of a lack of jobs but also a result of a lack of properly
trained school leavers. In the case of Nigeria, for in-
stance, primary training was not enough.

. . .the emphasis on and money devoted to pri-
mary education. . .diverted attention and money
from developing more fully secondary schools
(especially with science streams) and technical
schools. This deficiency injured the providing
of the intermediate skillg that are badly needed
by a developing country.

The bottleneck created by the secondary school shortage

perpetuated a shortage of technically skilled manpower.

 

11
p. 188.

12Engyclopedia of Educational Research, 4th ed., s.v.
"Education in Developing Nations," by JOhn W. Hanson.

13
p. 188.

O'Connell, "Education, Economics, and Politics,"

 

O'Connell, "Education, Economics, and Politics,"

Lewis states:
Absence of secondary schools, however, is an enor-
mous handicap. These schools supply the persons
who with one or more years of training (in insti-
tutions or on the job) become technologists, secre-
taries, nurses, school teachers, bookkeepers,
clerks, civil servants, agricultural assistants,
and supervisory workers of various kinds.14

Part of the reason for a lack of intermediate man-
power lay in the fact that the secondary curriculum.was
heavily oriented toward the liberal arts. This, again,
was a legacy of the British style of education, but also
a reflection that limited facilities were available for
technical training.

After independence, the African did little to change
the existing European-oriented system of education.
Clignet and Foster claim, "To be sure, there has been a
great deal of talk about Africanization, but very little
attempt has been made to transform the curricula or the
educational structure."15 The need for curriculum reform
was overshadowed by the expansion that started in the 1950's.
"The priority given to educational expansion in earlier

. . 16
years has prevented serious work on curriculum reform."

 

1"W. Arthur Lewis, "Education and Economic Develop-
ment," in Education and Nation-Building, p. 205.

15Clignet and Foster, "Education and National Uni-
fication," p. 258.

16David B. Abernethy, The Political Dilemma of Popu-
lar Education: An African Case (Stanford: Stanford University
Press, 1969), p. 284.

 

9

The lack of curriculum reform provided a sterility that did
little to help spur economic growth. The heavy emphasis on
examinations, British curriculum materials, and certifi-
cates retarded much of the economic return from educational
expansion. Hanson states:

Educational expansion is difficult in countries

with limited economic resources and qualified per-

sonnel; educational rethinking is difficult every-

where. The tragedy in African education in our

time is not, as is so often stated, that there

is too little schooling; the tragedy is that what

there is of it is inappropriate, partakes too much

of the superficial attributes of schooling every-

where and too little of the qualities of education

which makes a difference.17
The failure of Nigeria and Ghana to adjust their educational
systems to meet the needs of develOpment was costly. How-
ever, both systems were better off than many of the surround-
ing countries, both Anglophone and Francophone. The growth
pains and learning experiences of the new countries were to
be expected. It was their chance at managing their own
educational affairs. Abernethy contends that, "One of the
major accomplishments of self-government was to permit a
synthesis of views that were in fact complementary rather
than contradictory, giving the new elite an insight into
both the opportunities and the dangers of rapid educational

n18

expansion. Nigeria and Ghana were leaders at independence

 

17John W. Hanson, Imagination and Hallucination in
African Education (East Lansing: Michigan State’University,
1965). p. 3.

18

 

 

Abernethy, The Political Dilemma, p. 281.

 

10
and are in many ways still leading the way in African
education.

In the realm of politics and government, Nigeria
and Ghana have also been the leaders in Black Africa.
"Nigeria and Ghana are probably the two most important
states of tropical Africa, both because of their present
and prospective internal development and because of their
roles in the politics and economy of the African conti-
nent."19 While they both inherited a parliamentary style
of government from the British, after independence their
political structures adjusted to fit the political reali-
ties of their people. Thus, geography and religion have
been critical factors in shaping their political destinies:

Geography thus goes a long way in explaining one
of the main contrasts between Ghana and Nigeria,
for Ghana is a unitary state ruled by southern
non-Muslim groups, while Nigeria since indepen-
dence has been involved in attempting to work
out a political system which will give northern
Muslims and southern non-Muslims a share in
government. 0

The military or one-party state that developed in
Ghana was a direct result of its first leader's policies.
"Between 1957 and 1960, Nkrumah completed his work of con—

verting the former colonial possession into a single nation

state totally dominated by his personality and his party."21

 

19Flint, Nigeria and Ghana, 0. l.

L

 

201bid., p. 7.

21J. D. Page, A Histogy of West Africa (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1969), p. 214.

 

11

Without any significant political opposition, his Conven-
tion Peoples Party (CPP) was, ". . . consistently winning
70 percent of the seats in the Assembly at general elec-
tions. . ."22

Without any significant political opposition to
keep check on Nkrumah's policies, the CPP government's
bad fiscal policies finally turned the nation against him.
"Nkrumah's reckless financial administration had turned
the richest nation in West Africa into its greatest debtor,
and it had been a major factor in bringing about his re-

."23 Nkrumah's downfall in 1966

jection by the people. .
ushered in a series of military governments that, except
for two brief civilian governments, have continued to the
present. A sketch of Ghana's post-independence political
history is given in Figure 1. Since independence, Ghana's
political environment has grown increasingly hostile and
dramatically autocratic. The precedent started by Nkrumah's
authoritarianism has been duplicated in almost every regime
since independence.

The political story in Nigeria has been similar.
Nigeria has also had to cope with severe ethnic and reli-
gious cleavages. The political environment has reflected

these competing groups' cleavages as each region developed

its own political party.

 

22
23

Page, A History of West Africa, p. 214.

 

Ibid., p. 219.

Fig. l.

CIVILIAN

MILITARY

CIVILIAN

MILITARY

MILITARY

MILITARY

CIVILIAN

MILITARY

12

Political History of Ghana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1957, March - Independence — lst Republic
Nkrumah

1960, New Constitution

1966, Coup - National Liberation Council
(NLC) Ankrah and Afrifa in Power

1969, January - New Constitution

1969, October - 2nd Republic - Busia

1972, Coup - National Redemption Council
(NRC) Acheampong in Power

1978, Coup - Akuffo in Power

1979, June - Coup - Armed Forces Revolution-
ary Council (AFRC) - J.J. Rawlings
in Power - Executions

1979, June - Elections

1979, September - 3rd Republic - Limann

1981, December - Coup - Provisional National

 

Defense Council (PNDC) - J.J. Rawlings
in Power

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13

Nigeria is dominated by three main cultural group-
ings, Hausa-Fulani, Ibo, and Yoruba, which corres-
pond closely to the main geographical zones and to
the regional structure of the federation. These
three groups also express themselvgz in the three
main political parties of Nigeria.

In an attempt to hold these competing political

forces together, .the 'founding fathers' of Nigeria

adopted federalism as a pragmatic instrument for holding

"25

together the entity called Nigeria. The thinking

behind the founding fathers was, ". . .through federalism,
they will maintain 'unity in diversity,‘ that within the
federal structure the diverse ethnic groups can be welded

"26 The "unity in diversity" lasted

into a modern nation.
from 1960 to 1966. Then, as was in the case of Ghana, the
military took over. Nigeria's post-independence political
history is presented in Figure 2. Nigeria finally re-
turned to a civilian government (just one week after Ghana)
in 1979 to make another attempt at federalism.
The essential similarities underlying Ghanaian and

Nigerian politics seem to result from geography, ethnicity,

and religion. These political formations since independence

have had profound effects on the press. Before discussing

 

24

25Uma O. Eleazu, Federalism and Nation-Building: The

Nigerian Experience, 1954:1964 (Elms Court: Arthur H.
tOC e , t 09 9 p' '

26Ibid.

Flint, Nigeria and Ghana, p. 9.

 

Fig. 2.

CIVILIAN

MILITARY

MILITARY

MILITARY

MILITARY

CIVILIAN

14

Political History of Independent Nigeria.

 

 

1960,

1963,
1964,
1965,

October - Independence - lst
Republic - Azikiwe & Balewa

Census controversy
Federal Elections

Elections - Violence

 

 

 

1966,
1966,

January - Coup - Ironsi in Power

May - Federal System Abolished

 

 

 

July - Coup - Gowon Restores Federal
System

August - Ibo Massacre in North

Biafra Secedes

Civil War Ends

Census

 

 

 

1975,

Coup - Muhammed is Head of State

 

 

 

1976,

Attempted Coup - Muhammed Assassinated
- Obansanjo in Power

 

 

 

1979,

October - 2nd Republic - President
Shagari

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15
the issue of press freedom, it would be beneficial to
briefly trace the historical development of the press
and in particular the two daily newspapers that have been
selected as the database for this study.

The history of the newspaper press in British West
Africa goes back to the early part of the nineteenth
century. "The history of the Ghanaian press dates from
1822 when Sir Charles McCarthy, the British Governor.

founded an official paper, The Royal Gold Coast Gazette."27

 

H

The paper folded in two years and, .no newspaper was

published until the first African-run newspaper started
publication in 1857."28 Two years later, Nigeria began
its long tradition of newspaper publishing:

Nigeria's first newspaper had been started by
missionaries in 1859. It began as a vernacular
in the Yoruba language, Iwe Thorin, (sic) but
soon became Africa's firstgbi-lingual news-
paper when English was addeg It sold for
thirty cowrie shells. . . . 9

 

The press in Nigeria came about as Nigerians sought to ex-
press themselves. "The history of the press in Nigeria. . .
arose to meet the needs of the citizenry of Lagos which

had become a crown colony in 1861, to express their opinions

 

27Yaw Twumasi, "Media of Mass Communication and the
Third Republican Constitution of Ghana," African Affairs
80 (January, 1981), p. 14.

28

29Frank Barton, The Press of Africa: Persecution
and Perseverance (London:*The MacMillan Press, Ltd., 1979),
p.*18T

 

Ibid.

 

16

"30 During these formative years, the

on Lagos Affairs.
production of newpapers was from the start an indigenous
operation. "In English-speaking west Africa. . .apart
from official publications, and a very few missionary
papers, it has from the beginning been almost exclusively
in African hands."31
During the colonial era, the press became a voice

for African nationalism. This illustrates the important
linkage that has existed between the press and politics.
"The most celebrated African leaders in the region were

all newspaper editors of note, men such as Azikwe, who

founded the West African Pilot, and Nkrumah of the Accra
"32

 

Evening News. Barton notes that, "For more than a cen-

 

tury and a half this press played an important part in the
H33

struggle against colonialism.

In Nigeria, "The appearance of the Daily Times was a
landmark in African journalism. From its first issue on 1
June 1926, it towered above all the others in West Africa

"34

in professionalism. The quality of the industry began

to improve in the favorable environment provided by the

 

3OEleazu, Federalism, p. 178.

31Rosalynde Ainslie, The Press in Africa (London:
Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1966), p. 21.

32Sydney W. Head, "Trends in TrOpical African Socie-
ties," in Mass Media Policies in Changing Cultures, ed.
George Gerbner (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1977), p. 87.

33
34

 

Barton, The Press in Africa, p. 5.

 

Ibid., p. 22.

17
British colonizers as, "The British tradition of press
freedom was generally sustained in colonial West Africa."35
During the late colonial rule, a new dimension en-
tered the indigenous African press scene. Hachten states:

A major development of the 1940's was the entry of
foreign newpaper capital into West African journal-
ism. The London Daily Mirror group, then headed by
Cecil H. King, used'its financial and technical
resources to establish three West Coast dailies --
the Daily Times in Nigeria, the Daily Graphic in
Ghana, and the Daily Mail in SierreFLeone. From the
beginning the pdlity of these papers was vigorous
neutrality between the competing parties, objective
reporting of news by African reporters and editors,
constructive criticism, volume production, and
territory-wide distribution, using air transport
for remoter areas. . . . The papers were staffed
editorially by Africans and wegg never identified
with the colonial governments.

 

Twumasi agrees with Hachten by stating that in the case of

Ghana:

. . . major development was entry of British
newspaper capital into Ghana journalism in 1950-
1951. Cecil King, the British newspaper magnate
of the London Mirror Group, established the Dail
Graphic, a daily, and the Sunday Mirror, a wee y.
Well-endowed with money, plant and machinery, these
two papers were not only the best produced, tech-

nically speaking, but also they had the largest
circulation.

 

The Daily Times and DailyAGraphic were basically in-

 

dependent of government control at the time of independence

when this research study used them as part of the journalistic

 

35Hachten, Muffled Drums, p. 148.
36

37

Ibid., p. 147.

Twumasi, "Media of Mass," p. 16.

18
database. Although they were owned by expatriates, yet
run by Africans, the press freedom of the colonial era
continued early into the independent years until the trans-
fer in press ownership took place. This freedom was en—
croached upon as the new African governments began taking
over much of the privately-owned media. "The 1960's were
a time for shedding European influences, the good as well
as the bad, and for increasing government involvement in

"38 The free press, once

all aspects of mass communications.
a beacon of nationalist hope during colonialism, began to
appear as a detriment to national development rather than a
help. Barton claims:

When the struggle was won, the press of Black

nationalism withered away or, in a few cases

where it survived, was surpressed by Black

leaders who saw in it the same threat to their

own rule as it had been to White rule.39

The case of Ghana stands to illustrate the change in

the political attitude of the government. Nkrumah's social-
istic but totalitarian philosophy embraced the notion of
press censorship rather than press freedom. The Daily
Graphic did not escape Nkrumah's all-encompassing attack on
privately-owned newspapers. "Seeing the handwriting on the

wall, Cecil King in 1963 sold the paper to the Nkrumah

government, which placed it under a government trust and

 

38WilliamA. Hachten, "Newspapers in Africa: Change
or Decay?," African Report vol. 15 (December, 1970): 25.

39

 

Barton, The Press in Africa, p. 6.

 

l9
appointed a new board of directors favorable to the govern—

ment. The Daily Times of Nigeria also was affected as

 

the political turbulence of the 1960's began to blow. "With
the abolition of political parties and of civilian rule in

1966, the press-government relationships changed drasti-

"41

cally. While there was no overt suppressive government

.all knew how far
"42

control of the press, the editors,
they could go under the federal military government.
The insecurity caused by political instability was not the
only reason for the decline in newspapers after independence.
There have been social and economic reasons as well. "Pov-
erty, illiteracy, lack of private capital, linguistic diver-
sity, and political conditions have combined to inhibit
such development."z'3
Whatever the barriers have been since independence,
the political one stands out. The dilemma of the govern-
ment revolves around whether or not to trust a free press
system. "African leaders would like their press to speak
with the authority of the autonomous Western press, but not

at the price of losing control of what the press says."44

 

4O
41
42
43

44
p. 99.

Hachten, Muffled Drums, p. 168.

Ibid., p. 164.

Ibid., p. 165.

Hachten, "Newspapers in Africa," p. 28.

Head, "Trends in Tropical African Societies,"

20
Ghana, more so than Nigeria, has had a precedent of squelch-
ing the press, starting with Nkrumah. Twumasi states, "Au-
thoritarian structures had been effectively established.
It is these structures of social and political control that

have been bequeathed to successive governments."45

The per-
petuation of one-party control in Ghanaian politics had hin-
dered the quality and freedom of the press. This includes

the research year of 1979 as the Dailinraphic was 100 per-

 

cent government owned. The situation with the Daily Times

 

of Nigeria was somewhat different for the year 1979. The
press in Nigeria had experienced a great deal of freedom
compared to Ghana or any other west African state. Some,
such as Barton,"6 believe this freedom was a result of the
strong capitalistic orientation of the Nigerian economy.

47

Others, such as Twumasi and Hachten, tend to think the

answer lay in Nigerian federalism. Hachten claims, "
at the federal level, because of the uneasy balance between
the three regions, the political atmosphere permitted a

degree of press freedom and diversity of expression that was

"48

unusual in post-independence Africa. Perhaps the expla-

nation is found in both the economic and political structures,

 

45
46

47Interview with Yaw Twumasi, Michigan State Univer-
sity, East Lansing, Michigan, 4 May 1982.

48

Twumasi, "Media of Mass," p. 18.

Barton, The Press in Africa, p. 7.

 

Hachten, Muffled Drums, p. 151.

 

21
but the fact is the Nigerian press appears to have been

more free. The Dailijimes was still operated as a com-

 

mercial enterprise in 1979 although the Federal government
by this time owned partial interest in the newspaper.

Therefore, in the 1979 years under study, the Daily Graphic

 

and Daily Times were different from each other in terms of

 

press freedom and both papers in 1979 were definitely dif-
ferent from the 1957 and 1960 years, both in content and the
degree of freedom.

There is one other issue involving the press that
we should consider before concluding with the "mirror" effect
of the press, and that relates to the concept of elitism.
From the start, as the historical sketch has shown, news-
papers were targeted to an elite audience that was urban-
centered, educated and aware of national issues. However,
the majority of the population in Africa live in the rural
areas. Although urban news eventually filtered back to the
hinterlands, the press has never bridged the rural-urban
gap. Head states, "But the most intractable dilemma for
the news media is how to deal with the rural-urban gap. . . .
Some African journalists go so far as to say the gap can-

d."49 Here the problem seems to be that poor

not be bridge
logistics and high costs prevent the papers from reaching the
rural population. However, Twumasi intimates that even the

govenment-owned newspapers have not tried to reach out but

 

49Head, Trends in Tropical African SocieEies, p. 94.

 

22

have instead become more elitist in trying to shore up their
own interests as the power elite. He states:

In content, these papers are used by the well-

educated in underwriting the privileged status

of urban-based elites. No serious attempts are

made by governments to use the newspapers to

bring the mass of the people within the main-

stream of economic activity.
A basic question this research will seek to answer is, "Does
educational news reporting reflect the interests of the
educated elite and if so, to what extent?"

It was mentioned earlier that the press mirrors or
reflects the economic, political, and educational concerns
of society. Analyzing the mirror concept from a systems
approach, the press works as an integral function among
these other societal functions. The linkages between the
political, economic, and educational functions affect the
media function as well. On this basis, the various inter-
relationships would be affected if disequilibrium occurred
in one or more functions. For example, if the educational
function were to deteriorate, it would affect the economic
and political functions by not being able to produce the
qualified manpower needed to keep a steady state in those
sections.

In summary, this introductory chapter has attempted

to outline the significance of the research and provide a

brief description of the project at hand. It has also tried

 

SOTWumasi, "The Newspaper Press," p. 14.

23
to trace briefly the historical development of education,
politics and the press and in particular address some of
the salient concerns affecting both countries. Finally,
elitism in the press and the effects of societal sectors
that are directly or indirectly connected to the media sys-

tem have been discussed.

CHAPTER II
METHODOLOGY

Overview

The methodology employed in this research project
involves a dual approach. A content analysis is used
with the comparative method. Of the two methods, the con-
tent analysis is used more rigorously and precisely. The
comparative approach is helpful in cross-nationally an-
alyzing data that has been generated by the content analysis.

Content analyses have been used for analyzing var-
ious kinds of communication, ranging from propaganda to
political speeches. Borg and Call claim that, "The raw
material for the research worker using the content analysis
technique may be any form of communication, usually written
materials, but other forms of communication such as music,
pictures, or gestures should not be excluded."1

Content analysis is basically a systematic analysis

 

of some form of content. "Content analysis is a systematic
technique for analyzing message content and message handling

-- it is a tool for observing and analyzing the overt

 

1Walter R. Borg and Meredith D. Gall, Educational
Research, 3rd ed. (New York: Longman Inc., 1979), p. 360.

24

 

25
communication behavior of selected communicators."2 Holsti

defines content analysis as, .a multipurpose research
method developed specifically for investigating any problem
in which the content of communication serves as the basis
of inference."3
It should be kept in mind that content analysis, like
any research method, is only a tool or a means to an end.
The important fact is that the key to significant research
lies in the area of research design.
. . .It should be apparent that the value of a
content analysis will depend upon the quality of
the apriori conceptualization. It will depend,
also, upon the adequacy with which this concep-
tualization gets translated into the variables
of the analysis outline.
Unfortunately, many researchers who have used content analy-
sis in the past seem to have been more impressed with it as
a technique than as a means to an end. Cartwright states,

"In reviewing the work in this field, one is struck by the

number of studies which apparently have been guided by a

 

2Richard W. Budd, Robert K. Thorpe, and Lewis
Donohew, Content Analysis of Communications (New York: The
MacMillan Co., 1967), p. 2?

3Ole R. Holsti, Content Analysis for the Social
Sciences and Humanities (Menlo Park, California:’Addison-
wesley PublishingfiCo., 1969), p. 2.

 

 

4Dorwin P. Cartwright, "Analysis of Qualitative
‘Material," in Research Methods in the Behavior Sciences,
eds. Leon Festinger andeanieI Katz (New—YOER: The Dryden
Press, 1953), p. 448.

26

sheer fascination with counting."5

Kaplan also reminds us
of the importance of having proper research priorities when
he says, ”Too often, we ask how to measure something without
raising the question of what we would do with the measure-

ment if we had it. We want to know how without thinking of

1,213.6

Most research projects ask "why" by stating hypoth-
eses or predicting outcomes. However, some research topics
are not always suited to making hypothesis statements, espec-
ially if the research invades an unexplored field or is in-
volved in comparative studies. Davis and Parker claim, "Some
tepics are not amenable to hypothesis statements. For example,
conceptual development and comparative analysis are not usually

7

amenable to hypothesis statements." Although the purpose

of the study at hand is not theory building or concept devel-
opment, it does invade relatively unexplored territory and
uses comparison as a part of the methodology. Instead of
developing hypotheses, Parker and Davis write, ". . . the re-
search methodology can be clarified and defined by restating

the topic in terms of a set of objectives for the research. . . ."8

 

5Cartwright, "Analysis of Qualitative Material," p. 477.

6Abraham Kaplan, The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology
for Behavioral Science (San FranEISCO: Chandler PUblishing
Co., 1964), p.‘214.

7Gordon B. Davis and Clyde A. Parker, Writing the
Doctoral Dissertation (Woodbury, New York: Barron‘s ucational
Series, Ific.,71979), p. 69.

8

 

 

Ibid., p. 70.

27
The research at hand asks a basic but general ques-
tion. "What was the relationship that existed between the
press and the education sector concerning national educa-
tional policy in Ghana and Nigeria?" Following Parker and
Davis' suggestion that a set of objectives be determined,
the above general question was broken down into four research
objectives:
1. Determine what pgrcentage of the newshole
was given over to education in comparison with
other subject matter.
2. Of the educational news coverage, find out
what proportion was given over to a particular

educational catggogy (ie. primary, higher,

 

teacher training, etc.) in comparison with some
other educational data.

3. Discover what the issuesi problems; and concerns
of national education policy were as reflected
in the press.

4. Compare the educational news coverage in Ghana
with that in Nigeria.

These four objectives determined the research design
of this project. The first two objectives were handled by
using the conventional quantitative form of content analysis.
By counting the column inches, the percentage of the newshole
given to education was determined. This was accomplished by

using a space scan sample. For the second objective, a

28
frequency count determined the distribution of educational
news among categories.

The traditional quantitative content analysis is
not appropriate for determining the issues and concerns de-
manded by the third objective. This called for a qualita-
tive content analysis. In the past, there has been a great
deal of argument between the proponents of the quantitative
and qualitative approaches. The quantitative group argued
that the qualitative approach was not scientific. The
qualitative proponents believed that precise measurement
was too restricting and allowed little freedom to see the
whole picture. Berelson summarized the two approaches by
stating:

Quantitative analysis tends to break complex

materials down into their components so that

they can be reliably measured. 'Qualitative'

analysis is more likely to take them in the

large on the assumption that meanings preside

in the totality of impression, the Gestalt,

and not in ths atomistic combination of meas-

urable units.

After some years of debate, many scholars came to
believe that quantitative and qualitative methods were not
antithetical to each other but mutally helpful in achieving
a balanced and wholistic perspective. Holsti reminds us,
". . .the content analysis should use qualitative and quan-

titative methods to supplement each other. It is by moving

back and forth between these approaches the investigator is

 

9Bernard Berelson, Content Analysis in Communication
Research (Glencol, Illinois; The Free"Press, 1952), p. 126.

 

29

more likely to gain insight into the meaning of his data."10
The third objective of discovering national policy

issues was accomplished using a thematic analysis that pre-

cluded beginning with a group of standardized and rigid cat-

egories. The themes were selected in an aposteriori fash-

 

ion, after all the data on the subject had been collected.

In a sense, quantitative methods report a different
kind of information than do qualitative methods. For in-
stance, a weather report may state that the temperature was
32' F, humidity 65% and precipitation measured .2 of an inch.
A qualitative weather report may not be precise but still con-
vey a certain kind of information. In this case, the fore-
cast would state that the weather was cold, damp, and gloomy.
How does one measure gloominess? Yet, the information is
descriptive. Axinn distinguishes between these two kinds of
information by terming the quantitative aspects as indicators
and the qualitative aspects as descriptors. In discussing
these concepts in the context of rural sociology, he states:

The indicators will involve measurement and

comparison with other rural social systems --

as well as comparison with the same system

over time.

The descriptors will tend to illustrate the

setting and the epYironment in which the in-
dicators operate.

 

 

 

10

11George H. Axinn, New Strategies for Rural Develop-
'ment (East Lansing, Michigan: Rural‘Life Associates,*1978),
p. 37.

Holsti, Content Analysis, p. 11.

 

 

30

This research utilizes both indicators and descrip-
tors in an effort to achieve a wholistic balance. The for-
mat of the subsequent chapters uses both to accomplish this.
Each chapter begins with a section entitled the "setting."
This uses political, economic and educational descriptors
(and some indicators) and provides for the reader the
societal background. It is within this context that educa-
tional news was reported. The second section, "data analy-
sis," contains mainly indices of the educational news re-

' concludes

porting. The third section, "thematic analysis,‘
the chapter by presenting certain descriptors or themes that
reflect the major policy as reported in the press.

The fourth objective of cross-national comparisons
is accomplished by implementing the comparative method.
However, the comparative method is also confronted with the
problem of the quantitative versus the qualitative. The de—
gree of precision should determine how rigorous the compari-
sons should be. It would not be systematic to compare quan-
titative data from Ghana with qualitative data from Nigeria.
In other words, indices should only be compared with indices
of the other country and descriptors with descriptors. Be-
cause of this, the French scholar Maurice Duverger has
classified the comparative method into two levels -- close
and distant. Close comparisons can be made when the measure-
ments are precise. But, when the data to be compared are

not similar, then the distant method should be used. Duverger

describes the distant comparative approach:

31

Different types of structure or institutions

from different cultural contexts or different

dimensions or of different significance are

compared. They are either historical compari-

sons covering widely separated periods or

ethnographical comparisons.

One is mainly looking for resemblances. . . .

The extent to which they are the same and the

significance of these resemblances are the main

points of interest. The techniques of compari-

son are not rigorous..2
Another way of stating the problem is that as more uncon-
trolled and different variables are entered into the analy—
sis, the more difficult the comparison becomes.

Within the context of close-distant comparisons,
the scope of the current project is to make comparisons in
three categories -- area studies, the press, and educational
policies.

In the first category, since two different countries
are being analyzed, the societal backgrounds are taken into
account. An area study approach seems best suited for doing
that. Duverger reminds us that, ". . .the main point is
that the interdisciplinary character is basic to the method.
The analysis of an area by a single discipline is not an

'13 Unlike much of educational research, cross—

area study.‘
national educational research involves comparing entire educa-
tional systems with other national systems. When operating on

such a large scale, the societal context of each nation must

 

12Maurice Duverger, An Introduction to the Social
Sciences, trans. Malcolm Anderson (New York: Frederick A.
Praeger, 1964), pp. 266-267.

13Duverger, Social Sciences, p. 271.

 

32
be taken into account. Such "macro" research studies require
analyzing education systems as they are linked to the nation's
economic, political, religious and social systems. At this
broad level, educational planners are operating in a complex
network of linkages. Education does not involved just build-
ings, teachers, curricula and students. Education on a na-
tional level also becomes a social and political concern. At
this level then, cross-nationally the comparisons are by
nature more distant, as concerns in one country may not be
the same as concerns in another country.

The second category deals with comparing the press
in each country. The comparisons can be closer than in the
area studies since comparisons can be based on indices rather
than descriptors. It should be pointed out that a basic
limitation of this study is that only one major daily is
analyzed in each country. Therefore, generalizations about
either country's journalism and press realities are kept
to a minimum.

The third category, educational policy, is a cru—
cial one. Here, close comparisons can be made of statistics
generated from the data analysis. The thematic analysis re-
quire more distant comparisons. Although themes in both
countries are sometimes similar, broad generalizations have

been limited.

33

Space Scan Sample

 

The space scan sample is designed to produce a

"content profile" of the Daily Times and the Daily Graphic.

 

 

The sample design was based on the constructed time period
method:

One approach to sampling dates, which has

been tested for validity is the constructed

time period. This method of sampling was

devised by Carter and Jones. . . in a study

devoted to procedures for determining the

size of a newspaper's newshole. They created

an artificial week consisting of six days,

Monday through Saturday, by drawing calendar

dates randomly from a three-week period (the

defined universe). . . .In other words, the

universe was stratified by both days and weeks

to ensure an equal distribution of both.14
The space scan sample substitutes months in place of weeks
since the universe consists of one year periods. This sample
is a stratified systematic sample of six issues for each an-
nual period. It is stratified in the sense that each of the
six issues convered the six days of the week (Monday through
Saturday). It is systematic in that every other month is
sampled. The procedural formula devised and followed is:

1) Start with the first day of the second month

of the annual period.
2) Proceed with each consecutive day of every
other month.

Following this procedural formula, the sample days and dates

are selected from each annual period (see TABLE 1).

 

1['Budd, Content Analysis, pp. 26-27.

 

34

TABLE I
SPACE SCAN SAMPLE DAYS AND DATES

MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT

 

 

Ghana: Period I

Wed. 3/6/57 --
Wed. 3/5/58. Ap l Jn 4 Au 7 Oct 3 Dec 6 Feb 1

 

Period II

Mon. 9/24/79 --

Tues. 9/23/80. Oct 1 Dec 4 Feb 6 Ap 3 Jn 6 Aug 2

 

Nigeria: Period I

 

Sat. 10/1/60 -- --- Nov 1 Jan 4 Mar 2 May 5 Jul 1
Sat. 9/30/61. Sep 4

Period 11

Mon. 10/1/79 —- ------------------ Nov 1 Jan 4 Mar 1
Tue. 9/30/80. May 5 Jul 1 Sep 3

 

 

The newspaper content is divided into two general
categories. These general categories, newshole and advertise-
ments, are broken down into further categories. The advertise-
ments are categorized as either classified, non-classified, or
paid announcements. The newshole is broken down into five cate-
gories. Each newshole category is made up of several descrip-

tors related to the category (see TABLE 2).

35

TABLE 2

SPACE SCAN NEWSHOLE CATEGORIES AND DESCRIPTORS

 

 

CATEGORY

Regular

Domestic-Foreign

Government

Social

Economic
Deve10pment

DESCRIPTORS

Children's news, comics, horoscope,
obituaries, puzzles, radio, sports,
‘women's news, cinema, weddings,
horse races, stock exchange, reli-
gious commentaries.

Accidents, disasters, celebrations,
entertainment, corruption, crime,
foreign news, political parties,
unions, strikes, elections, riots,
civil unrest, security, honors.

Finance, budget, foreign relations,
information, military, parliament,
local government, state government,
national government (general), civil
service, ministries, foreign aid,
delegations, bureaucracy, judiciary,
national guard.

Arts, education, ethnic groups, lan-
guage,7hea1thj law, media, racism,
religion, science, charities, youth
organizations, volunteer organiza-
tions, social agencies.

 

Agriculture, business, economic
growth, environment, industry,
infrastructure, international

trade, transportation, urban growth,
housing, labor, rural development,
foreign aid, government contracts.

This is not an exhaustive survey, but a simple space

scan following some system of regularity. The purpose is to

inform the reader of the breakdown of the newspaper according

36
to various topics, as in the case of newshole delineation, or
according to categories, as in the case of advertisements.
The actual newshole topics or advertising categories are meas-
ured in terms of column inches and are reported in terms of

percentages.

General Content Sample

 

The scope of the General Content Sample (GCS) is
limited to the formal education system. It does not analyze
nonformal education. Formal education is defined as that
sector of traditional academic public and private institu-
tions that are credential-based, preparatory, graded and
hierarchical. It does not include adult education or graded
systems within the military or public administration sectors.
It begins at class one in primary school and continues
throughout graduate school. It does not include nursing or
pre-primary schools since very little of the educational re-
porting dealt with these categories. The formal sector is
separated into five categories of primary, secondary, voca-
tional, teacher training, and higher education for Nigeria.
Ghana has six categories as their system also includes middle
schools. Middle schools do not exist in Nigeria. These
categories should not be considered as hierarchical levels
since some categories have more than one level included. In
the case of Ghana for instance, Certificate B teacher train-
ing is at secondary level while Certificate A teacher train-
ing is post-secondary. Yet, both levels of teacher training

are classified as part of the teacher training category.

37
The purpose of the general content sample is not to report
educational news by grade level but to find out what kind
of education is reported.

The general content sample deals with only domestic
educational news and does not include foreign educational
news. However, it does cover news that involves foreign
places as in the case of reporting on Ghanaian and Nigerian
students studying abroad or having study opportunities abroad
(eg. students studying in the United Kingdom or scholarships
awarded by foreign governments). The general content sample
covers every available daily for all four one-year periods.
It does not include Sunday editions or suplements. Four com-
plete one-year periods were selected for two reasons. First,
a.whole year covers an entire school year. Secondly, total
coverage of a whole year guards against missing some informa-
tion that a random sample over the year might not have covered.
Bowers supports this by saying:

For this analyst, any sampling is unwise.

He will do better to narrow the topic of

his research and analyze all materials rele-

vant to that tOpic. By sampling, he will

probably eliminate the very materials that

are most interesting to him: the extremes

that set the outer limits on the range. . . .

Studies concerned with ranges of communi-

cation behavior should treat whole popula-
tions, not samples, of messages.

 

15John Waite Bowers, "Content Analysis" in Methods
of Research in Communication, eds. Philip Emmert an
‘William D. BroOks (Boston: HOughton Mifflin Co., 1970),
p. 294.

38
Rather than random sample a particular form of educational
news reporting (eg. editorial comment on education) over
a period of years, the general content sample seeks to
sample all kinds of educational data for an entire year.

The general content sample is designed to analyze
newspapers both quantitatively and qualitatively. The quan-
titative aspect of the general content sample includes
three components -- a unit of analysis, a system of cate-
gories, and a test for reliability. The unit of analysis
determined wpgp information would be coded, the categories
determined hgw information would be coded, and the relia-
bility test insured that the coding process was valid and
systematic.

A unit of analysis is a measurable coding unit by
which information is classified. "The smallest segment of
content counted and scored in content analysis is the cod-
ing unit. The most common coding units are a word; a theme
or assertion; a paragraph; an item, a character, group,
object, or institution; and space or time."16 The basis
for deciding which coding unit is appropriate depends on
the nature and scope of the research problem. Holsti con-
tends that, "The investigator must determine how fine are
the discriminations he needs in order to satisfy the require-

ments of his problem; generally, the greater the need for

 

16Budd, et. a1., Content Analysis, p. 33.

 

39
precision, the higher will be the costs of the analy-
sis."17 The general content sample needed a coding unit
that would be discrete yet flexible. Since many articles
in the two West African dailies had more than one topic,
event or opinion included in them, the article as a
workable news unit was considered to be too general to
use as a category. At the same time, a theme, phrase, or
paragraph would have been overly specific for the purpose
of this study. The general content sample uses as a work-
able news unit the "item," but not in the sense some con-
tent analysts use it.18 The term "item" is redefined as
any distinguishable amount of educational news that con-
stitutes a complete unit. An item could be a whole article,
paragraph or sentence. It could be an event or opinion.
But the standard that is followed stipulates that an "item"
has to have some semblence of a complete unit of informa-
tion. This approach was experimented with in a preliminary
fashion for some length before a system was established that
was regular and systematic. For example, it was found that
an article often started with an educational event (item),
followed by an expert's opinion of the event (item) and

then finished with a totally unrelated list of scholarship

 

l7

18Holsti in Content Anal sis uses the term."item"
to mean a whole "articIe, fiIm, Book, or radio program. . . ."
(p. 117). Several other sources used the term in the same

manner so there appeared to be a strong consensus on how
the term was used among professional content analysts.

Holsti, Content Analysis, p. 119.

 

40
winners (item). By using the item as a coding unit, it
allowed the coder the flexibility in coding without the
tediousness of excessive counting or the rigidity demanded
by using another unit of analysis. The paragraph could
have been used as the unit of analysis but by using the
item as the unit, a topic which covered three or four para-
graphs could still have been coded as one item. Therefore,
the item became the flexible answer to the "too specific"
paragraph and the "too general" complete article. Overall,
the majority of items often turned out to be either a para-
graph, paragraphs or a complete article as educational news
reporting in both the Timg§_and the Graphic were usually
systematically concise.

Besides the unit of analysis, another important
research question to be considered in content analysis is
the area of category formulation. Categorization is a
strategic concern as it determines the way information is
processed. "Content analysis stands or falls by its cate-
gories. . . .Since the categories contain the substance
of the investigation, a content analysis can be no better
than its system of categories."19

Berelson maintains that there are two types of
categories:

. . .a rough distinction can be made be-
tween the what and the how, i.e., between

 

19Berelson, Content Analysis, p. 146.

 

41

substance and form. Some kinds of categories

(for example, subject matter) deal clearly with

what is said and others (e.§., form of state-

fiEfif) w1th hgfl’lt lS sa1d.2
The form of statement categories in the general content
sample is determined by the nature of the database. News-
papers report information in different forms and these
forms are followed. Therefore, the general content sample
form categories are news articles, letters to the editor,
feature articles, editorials and a miscellaneous category
that included paid announcements, budget reports, and lists
of scholarship recipients, new admissions and graduates.
In addition to these form categories, a category of photo-
graphic coverage was created to record non-print educational
reporting. Pictures are coded as separate items if they are
not accompanied by an article. These are considered com—
plete units of information as they always have a caption
next to the picture explaining what the photograph is about.

While the form categories are determined according
to the journalistic considerations, the subject matter or
substance categories are influenced by educational consider-
ations. In other words, the general content sample is asking
what kipd of educational news was reported in the newspapers.
The educational categories developed in the general content
sample are primary, middle (for Ghana only), vocational,
teacher-training, secondary and higher. These categories

201bid., p. 149.

42

become the backbone of the subject matter categories.

Once an item is coded according to newspaper form
and educational category, it is then classified as either
an event or an issue to designate whether it is a report
of an event or a discussion of an educational issue. If the
item is coded as an issue, a further determination is made
as to the nature of the issue. A classification scheme was
designed to allow the coder to be able to code an "issue-
oriented" item according to three criteria -- positive, nega-
tive, and change. If the item is an opinion calling for
change, the area of change is noted as well. Figure 3 ex-
plains the "issue-oriented" classification scheme.

In an effort to establish a level of reliability
and validity, the criteria used in Figure 3 for issue-oriented
items were developed into a test. Budd, et. a1, explains
that,

For the content analyst, the test-retest

method requires more than one coder using

the same instructions to classify the

same material. Thus, the method tests the

clarity of instructions and definitions and

the ability of the coders F°.f°113Y instruc-

tions and comprehend def1n1tions.
Two groups of evaluators were selected to take the reliability

test.22 A group of five professors and a group of five grad-

uate students in international education.were individually

A;

21Budd, Content Analysis, p. 67.

 

22A sample of the reliability test is included in
the appendix.

43

Fig. 3. Issue-oriented classification scheme.

Positive --

Negative --

Change --

Opinions reflecting full support of
the current system of education in-
cluding statements praising or de-
fending the system.

Opinions reflecting disapproval
of the education system without
offering solutions to problems
or alternative approaches.

Opinions calling for change or reform
of the educational system either by
correcting a problem or adding new
improvements. The change could be

in any of the three areas:

C - 1 = Institutional
(organiZing and managing)

 

government (policies,
planning, evaluation)

administrative structure

time schedule

facilities

cost (budgets, salaries,
fees, scholarships)

C - 2 = Instructional
(aims, content, techniques)

 

philosophy

curriculum

standards (exams, grades,
admissions)

C - 3 = Personnel
(human resources)

students
teachers
headmasters
staff
parents

44
given the test. The results of the ten jurors were then
compared with the results of the researcher. The results
(reported in matrix form) are the levels of paired agree-
ment that existed between all eleven individuals. The
results of a particular group of jurors are an average of
all the combined scores for that group.

The results of the level of paired agreement between
the researcher and the group of professors are given in
TABLE 3. The average level of agreement between the re-
searcher and the five professional jurors is 75 percent. If
the professor with the least amount of agreement between all
others in the group was deleted (professor #3), the average
agreement between the researcher and the remaining four pro-
fessors would increase to 83 percent. The level of agree-
ment between the five professors themselves averaged 72
percent.

The results of the level of paired agreement between
the researcher and the group of graduate students are re-
ported in TABLE 4. The average level of agreement between
the researcher and the five student jurors is 83.3 percent.
If the student with the least amount of agreement between all
others in the group was deleted (student #3), the average
agreement between the researcher and the remaining four stu-
dents would increase to 84.6 percent. The level of agree-
ment among the five students themselves averaged 83 percent.

The results of the level of paired agreement exist-

ing between the professors, graduate students and the

45

TABLE 3
RELIABILITY RESULTS OF PROFESSORS AND RESEARCHER

 

 

 

PROF. PROF. PROF. PROF. PROF.

#1. ,,_,#2 #3 #4 #5
Researcher 85% 90% 60% 90% 80%
Professor 1 75 55 75 75
Professor 2 65 90 90
Professor 3 6O 55
Professor 4 80
Professor 5

TABLE 4

RELIABILITY RESULTS OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AND RESEARCHER

STUD. STUD. STUD. STUD. STUD.
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5

Researcher 90% 85% 75% 85% 85%

Student

Student

Student

1
2

Student 3 85 75
4

Student 5

 

46

researcher are reported in TABLE 5. The average level of
agreement between the researcher and all ten jurors is 77.9
percent. The level of agreement between the five professors
and five students is 76 percent. If the student and pro-
fessor with the least amount of agreement between all others
in both groups were deleted, the average agreement between
the researcher and the remaining eight students and profes-

sors is 83.5 percent.

TABLE 5

RELIABILITY RESULTS OF PROFESSORS, GRADUATE
STUDENT AND RESEARCHER

 

 

R P-1 P-2 P-3 P-4 P-5 Average
R 85% 90% 60% 90% 80% 75%
S-1 90 75 9O 60 100 85 83.3
S-2 85 70 85 55 95 85 79.2
S-3 75 65 80 55 75 80 71.7
S-4 85 80 80 60 75 80 76.7
S-5 85 70 85 55 75 85 75.8

 

Ave. 83.3% 74.2% 85% 57.5% 85% 82.5% 77.9%

 

The second aspect of the general content sample in-
volves the qualitative sampling or thematic analysis. Dur-
ing the coding stage, selected articles and items were either
recorded on note cards or photoc0pied. Later, the cards

and photocopied articles were read again and sorted into

47

broad topics. These topics represented theme that were
further analyzed. Finally, quotations were selected that
best represented a particular side to a major issue. It
should be noted that not all of the issues were themati-
cally analyzed. The ones that were not analyzed are listed
at the beginning of each thematic section in chapters three
through six. The criteria for selecting the major themes
depended on whether an issue was a national policy concern
(vis-a-vis a local or isolated issue), and whether it re-
ceived a major portion of issue-oriented coverage. Also,
themes were selected if they possessed unique or interest-
ing policy concerns, particularly from the perspective of
the African context.

It should be emphasized that the categorization
of themes was not a rigorous exercise compared to the
quantitative segment of the general content sample. This
lack of rigor allowed more flexibility in selecting themes.
Berelson, the dean of content analysts, states:

In "qualitative" analyses the elaboration

of alternatives not only seems to go on

throughout the analysis but also to differ

from point to point depending upon the

H H o o .

context. This ordinarily means less sys-

tematic and less precise analysis though

it may also mean more clever or relevant

analysis because of the lack of a system

of rigid system categories. . . .23

In summary, the methodology described in this

chapter is an attempt to employ a dual approach of

23Berelson, Content Analysig, p. 125.

 

48
quantitatively and qualitatively analyzing a relatively
unexplored area. The basic methodological goal was to
incorporate data from either approach in an effort to
reflect wholistically the major policy concerns of educa-

tion as reported in the press.

CHAPTER III

BLACK AFRICA'S FIRST INDEPENDENT NATION

The Settipg

 

The colonial era actually came to an end in Ghana
before 1957. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's Convention Peoples Party
took control of the new legislative assembly on February
20, 1951. Foster explains that national educational pol-
icy was a result of an educated African elite's aspirations.
"Although formal independence was not granted until 5 May
1957, self-government was achieved long before, and educa-
tional policy in particular reflected the aims of the new
African leadership. 'The Gold Coast Revolution' was as
much an educational as a political one."1 McWilliam.agrees
with this assertion and contends that self-government came
about as a result of education.

The connection between educational development and

political development is one that is often ignored,

but it is the story of education in this country
which underlines the story of how the Gold Coast
became Ghana. In his book, The Approach to Self-

Government, Sir Ivor Jennings Had written: 'The

development of self-government is not one of the
objectives of education, but one of its inevitable

 

 

1Philip Foster, Education and Social Chan e in
Ghana (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, I965), p. I79.

49

50

consequences. We cannot educate the people
of a colony without expecting them to ask
for self-government.'

The transition of power did not alter the political
structure but only continued the existing one. Hargreaves
notes that, "Colonial machinery was taken over, not de-

stroyed; party agents joined the chiefs and the Africanized

administration in the government of rural Ghana."3

The new government inherited from the British a
working institutional base in almost all sectors. However,
in the area of economics and government spending, the eu-
phoric mood of newly independent Ghana caused some unfore-
seen but long range financial problems. Nkrumah's expan-
sionism cost dearly. But the effects were subtle as

Boahen explains:

Indeed, Ghanaians experienced an unprecendented
standard of living during the first three years
of independence. But though there was growth,
there was really no economic development. What
was worse still, expatriate firms and companies
continued to dominate the economy of Ghana to
the advantage not of Ghanaians but of their own
shareholders abroad. The worst feature of this
open door policy was that more capital was taken
out of the country than was brought in. Indeed
in 1958, 1959, and 1960, the annua loss was es-
timated at about 7 million pounds.

 

2H. O. A. MdWilliam, The Development of Education
' in Ghana, 2nd ed. (Accra: Longmans, 1962), p. 97}

3John D. Hargreaves, The End of Colonial Rule in West
Africa (London: The MacMillaanress, Ltd., 1979), p. 76.

4Adu Boahen, Ghana: Evolution and Change in the
‘Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London:ILOngman Group
ftd., 1975), p. 200.

51

The free trade policy was sufficient enough in
itself to provide fiscal chaos, but it was compounded by
another factor -- the drop of world cocoa prices. This
inverse economic phenomenon of rising import bills and
reduced cocoa exports developed a balance of trade def-
icit that was to plague the Ghanaian economy for years.

While prices for cocoa, Ghana's dominant

export, fell and cocoa earnings leveled

off, the cost of imports soared because

the Government spent at a high rate for

capital equipment and development projects.

The balance of payments position deter-

iorated. By the end of the Nkrumah regime,

the government had eXhausted the strong

reserves of foreign exchange Ghana had

at independence, had built up a massive

foreign debt, which was to grow to about

one billion dollars, and was in arrears

in payments.5

The lack of a diversified export sector, coupled
by the world cocoa prices fluctuations, left Ghana finan-
cially shaken. All Ghana's economic growth depended on
the success of one basic commodity -- cocoa. When the
cocoa prices fell, the capital had to be raised in other
ways. Big loans and large budget deficits led to a large
national debt.

The education sector had been relatively well

developed during the British Colonial occupation. Foster

notes that, "By 1950, the Gold Coast had developed a more

 

5U.S., Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare, Education in Ghana, by Betty Stein George
(Washington, D.C}: GOvernment Printing Office, 1976),
pp. 10-11.

 

52

extensive system of schooling than any other African ter-
ritory outside the Union of South Africa."6

The education system continued along colonial lines
during the era of autonomy and even after independence it
bore a close resemblance to the British educational system.7
The British had responded to the Africans' popular demand
for education, and their colonial educational policies con-
tributed to a strong and expanding system. Compared to the
French colonial education strategy, which was not as expan-
sionary, education in Ghana was one of the best developed
in all of West Africa. For example, in 1954, secondary
school enrollments in Ghana alone were almost four times the
enrollment in all French West Africa.8 By 1957, Ghana had
increased its secondary enrollments a further 29.5%.9

While Ghana enjoyed a comparatively favorable posi-
tion in relation to its French controlled neighbors in educa-
tional development, access to Ghanaian education varied

greatly by region. The southern coastal region had the

longest and closest relationship with the British empire and

 

6
7

8Based on a comparison of enrollments given in edu-
cational tables in George, Education in Africa, p. 205 and
Elliot J. Berg, "Education and'Manpower in Senegal, Guinea,
and the Ivory Coast," in Mappower and Education, eds.
Frederick Harbison and Charles A. Myers (NewIYork: McGraw—
Hill Book Co., 1965). P. 244.

Foster, Education and Social Changg, p. 171.

 

Ibid., p. 213.

 

 

9George, Education in Ghana, p. 205.

 

53
consequently received more educational benefits than did the
people of the Islamic north. In a comparative study of
social predictors of academic success in Ghana and the Ivory
Coast, Clignet points out that, ". . .some aspects of the
social background of an individual are better predictors of
his academic level in Ghana than they are in the Ivory Coast.
Thus a southern Ghanaian has about seven times a northerner's
chances of entering the highest rung in the academic hier-

"10 A regional disparity between the north and south

archy.
was not unique to Ghana as most coastal countries in West
Africa revealed a similar pattern.

Another problem of unequal access developed due to
the location of the schools in the urban centers. In a
highly rural and agricultural nation, the rural population
is at a disadvantage when it comes to educational opportunities.
"In fact, the population of cities with a size of over 50,000
inhabitants has fourteen times more chance of entering the
fifth form of the secondary schools than the population of

"11 Thus, regional and

villages with under 5,000 inhabitants.
urban—rural disparities existed in Ghana; but on the whole,
the new nation found itself in 1957 well endowed with an ed-
ucational system that, compared to other African countries,

‘was well organized and well developed. The administration's

 

10Remi Clignet, "The Legacy of Assimilation in west
African Educational Systems: Its Meaning and Ambiguities,"
pgpmparative Education Review 12 (February, 1968); 57-67.

11

 

Ibid., p. 62.

54
policies were geared towards substantial educational growth

as it strived to fulfill its manpower requirements.

Data Analysis

 

The space scan sample of six selected issues re-
vealed that the newshole portion of the newspapers measured
47.5 percent while the advertising portion was 52.2%. The
distribution of the five topic categories of the newshole
was fairly equal except for economic development which only
measured 9.5 percent (see TABLE 6).

Education accounted for 6.3 percent of the newshole.
The non-classified section of the advertising portion con-
stituted a large part of the total advertisements (86.0%).
The mean number of pages was 14.7. However, based on the
general content sample, it was observed that the majority of
newspapers for the year were consistently printed in either
a twelve or sixteen page format.

The general content sample coded and analyzed 313
dailies out of 314 possible issues for an effective cover-
age of 99.7%. There were 825 total education items coded
‘with 80.1% being event-oriented items and 19.9% being issue-
oriented. The issue-oriented items were further delineated
by 43.9% calling for change, 40.2% being positive and 15.9%
being negative. Of the 43.9% change items, 66.7% called
for institutional change, 15.3% called for instructional
change, and 18.8% wanted change concerning personnel. 13

should be noted that of_the instructional change classification,

 

55

TABLE 6

SPACE SCAN SAMPLE OF THE
DAILY GRAPHIC, 1957-1958

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

, Mean No. Mean Col- % of
Form of Items umn Inches Col.Inches
Newshole:

Regular 12 129.7 29%
Domestic-Foreign 15 107.8 24
Government 7 89.8 20
Social 9.8 78.7 17.5
Economic Development 4.3 42.5 9.5
Total 48.1 448.0 100%

Advertisements:

Non-Classified 28 425.2 86.0%
Classified 12.3 36.5 7.4
Paid Announcements 3 32.7 6.6
Total 43.3 494.4 100%

 

 

 

 

 

not one item called forgachange in curricular content.

One

would suppose that at a time of independence and rising

nationalism, the Ghanaians would want to indigenize their

heavily British curriculum. The concerns registered by

Ghanaians in the general content sample Were more concerned

with falling standards gag teaching methods than with

change in curriculum cpngent.

56

 

This supports the previously
mentioned assertion by Foster that at the time of indepen—
dence, the Ghanaians wanted their education to remain very

much along the lines of the British system.

The results of the form in which educational news

was reported is given in TABLE 7.

all other forms combined (80.6%).

TABLE 7

The majority of the items

were news items that had a coverage four times greater than

TOTAL GCS EDUCATIONAL NEWS BY FORM, 1957-1958.

 

 

No. of

 

 

Form Items Percentage
News 665 80.6%
Letters 72 8.7
Features 55 6.7
Editorials 16 1.9
Other* 17 2.1
Total 825 100.0%

 

h;—

 

 

fl“;—

 

*Includes paid announcements, budget reports,
and lists of scholarship recipients, new admis-
sions and graduates.

Total reporting of educational news by educational

category is recorded in TABLE 8 along with photographic cov-

TABLE 8 also has two other columns of budgetary and

enrollment figures to provide a basis for comparison.

57

TABLE 8.--Comparative data of GCS with national budget
and enrollments for Ghana, 1957-1958.

 

 

Educational % of En- % of Ed. G C S
Category rollment Budget* % of Writ- % of Photo-
g_ ten Items Agraphicltems

Higher .2 34.6 46.8 51.3

Secondary 1.6 9.4 22.0 27.8

Teacher-

Training .6 11.9 5.6 5.7

Vocational .5 2.8 8.4 5 1

Middle 19.3 8.9 6.3
31.1

Primary 77.8 8.3 3.8

 

 

 

 

 

*Source: George, Education in Ghana, pp. 92, 236.

 

**Sources: Republic of Ghana, Ministry of Education,
Education Re ort 1957, pp. 9, 11, 12, 13, 18; Education
eport - , p. 49.

 

The data of TABLE 8 reveals that higher education,
for its few students, received an inordinately high share of
the education budget. The general content sample Shows that
higher education received almost half of the Graphic's writ-
ten educational news (46.8%) and over half of the Graphic's
photographic coverage (51.3%). George states, "University
education has held favored position within the Ghanaian sys-
tem, consistently receiving, in relation to the number of
students it has served, an extremely high proportion of

"12

Government funds available for education. Not only has

12George, Educatipn in_§hana, p. 243.

 

58
higher education received an abundance of government funds,
it also received much more than its share of educational
news coverage.

A final word on the frequency of educational news
reporting should be given. The number of total items (i.e.
both event and issue-oriented items) reported on a monthly
basis is given in figure 4.

Fig. 4. Frequency of educational news reporting by month*,
1957-1958.

 

140 ~“
120
100
80
60
40
20

0 _
MONTH 'MMAMJJASONDJF

FTUUl—IrIIWTII

 

 

 

*Based on total coded items excluding photo-
graphic coverage.

**Combination of March '57 and March '58.

The reporting is quite regular until the end of the

school year in December. The rise in reporting between

 

November and Janugry is ap outcome of the increased coverage

 

(over and above normal news rgporting) of graduations, award

 

ceremonies and prize daysp and new admissions for the next

 

school year. After the November-January peak, the reporting

 

59

drops off considerably between February and May.

Thematic Analysis

 

In 1957, several concerns were expressed in the
Daily Grgphic involving educational needs and problems.
Some minor concerns included student misbehavior (gam-
bling at school), students' poor writing skills, and lack
of parental support for the educational system. Other
concerns dealt with school fee increases, lack of textbooks,
and scarce textbooks being sold on the black market at ex-
. orbitant rates. A further concern revolved around the basic
problem of what to do with unemployed middle school leavers.
The feasibility of a new program broadcasting secondary
lessons over the radio brought responses as well. But all
of these concerns were overshadowed by five dominant themes
that captured national attention.

Theme 1 - Language Planning
and Primary Schools

The problem of what language should be used as a
national language plagued Ghana just as it did other multi-
lingual societies that received their independence in West
Africa. The problem can be traced to the balkanization
policies of the colonial powers that often divided territor-
ies without respecting the geographic location of ethnic
groups. At any rate, Ghana found itself as a new nation
with several indigenous languages. The speakers of these

languages all would have desired to have their own language

60

as the official national language. Although English was
the official language, the major indigenous languages spoken
were Twi, Fanti, Eve, Ga, Hausa and Moshi—Dagomba. Ethnic
rivalries, being what they are, made the controversy over a
national language quite complicated. The simple solution
seemed to be to retain the use of ethnically neutral English
as India had done a few years earlier. But ethnic pride was
attached to the use of the vernaculars. The national language
issue was reflected in the issue confronting the schools as
to what language should be used as the language of instruction.

The problem of multilingual classrooms in the school
system was illustrated in a feature article written by J. T. N.
Yankah:

A recent investigation into the use of English

as medium of instruction in Primary schools in

this country showed that in many schools a class

contained about four or five language groups;

while the medium of instruction was say, Fanti

and the Class teacher, a Ga.
The Chief Education Officer announced in December that English
would be taught starting at class two in the primary schools

in January, 1959.14

Three major positions were reflected in
the press; one in favor of English, one against English, and
a third espousing a mixture of English and a vernacular. The
following excerpts explain the position of those favoring

English as the dominant means of communication:

 

13J. T. N. Yankah, "A National Language for Ghana?,"
Daily Graphic, 14 June, 1957.

14

 

Daily Graphic, 9 December, 1957.

 

61

I know there is a lot of talk about using
Twi or some other such dialect as our national
language. Maybe the dialect chosen can be de-
veloped, but until it is developed enough to
embrace all the current expressions of the
sciences and the arts, it will be a good idea
if we stuck to one official language -- English
-- using our vernacular fpg after-office talk
and affairs of the heart!

Throughout history, insignificant languages
have always been displaced by more civilized
ones. Some people think one of the vernacular
languages can be developed and used as a common
national language. But Ghana needs a cultivated
and rich language for use now.

The wealth in such a language cannot be trans-
ferred to an uncultivated dialect without the
vocabulary and the flexibility to express the
thoughts and feelings pf the new and growing
civilization in Ghana. 6

The importance of English in Ghana lies in
its being an avenue to western technical knowledge.
It is an adequate lingua franca for the different
peoples collected in Ghana. It is, also a means
of contact with world thought and commerce. . . .
It is, also, difficult to remodel for general
educational purposes languages with an old aris-
tocratic and literary tradition but unfitted for
modern school teaching, just as it is difficult
to prefer one vernacular to others of the same
or even higher political prestige.17

On the other side of the issue were those who did
not support the use of English as the medium of teaching.
Feeling that the standard of English being used in the

15Osenkafo, "Mixing Vernaculars with English,"
Daily Graphic, 6 December, 1957.

16Yankeg, "A National Language," Daily Graphic,
14 June, 1957.

17P.A. Owiredu, "Wanted: A National Language for
Ghana," Daily Graphic, 28 May, 1957.

 

 

 

62

classroom was too low, one writer said:

Needless to say that the standard of English of
the schools is so low that if they are compelled
to use it as their only medium of instruction,
they will teach nothing but 'poison."

Apart from all other arguments, we shall be
running a very serious risk in this country if
we should compel the pupil teachers to teach
our boys and girls in a language in which they
themselves are not very competent.

There were several articles that reflected a

"combined" view including the vernacular especially in early

primary levels, with English used later in upper levels.

In the early years of school life in Africa,
instruction should depend on the vernacular
medium. This will make it easy for pupils to
read and express themselves with freedom, a
prerequisite for efficient expression later in
English. . .

Pride in the African race offers one of the
most effective solutions to the language problem.
And the government should offer adequate induce-
ment to attract production of literature in the
vernacular.

In primary and middle schools one vernacular
Should be chosen as medium of instruction in
certain subjects while reserving English for
others.20

If we accept the English language in Ghana be-
cause it affords access to world history, art,
news, technology, science. . .then we should not
have any headache in choosing it as our
national language. We do not want it, but we
need it. . . .

 

29 May,

18

19P. A. Owiredu, "A Common Language," Daily Graphic,
1957.

20

Daily Graphig, 4 February, 1958.

 

, "National Language: The Case of Officially

Adopting One of the Main Vernaculars, " Daily Graphic, 7
September, 1959.

63
The vernacular (the compulsory second lan-
guage) should be treated as a literary medium
and should be taught in all schools to the
complete exclusion of all other dialects. . . .
If we learn the vernacular well, we are sure
that the indigenous culture and art of our
nation will never wither and die. We must
blend the two things, Ehey are all very essen-
tial to a good nation. 1
Those who espoused the "combined" view, emphasized
two points. First, early primary levels should be taught
in the vernacular and then gruadually adopt English in the
higher primary classes. Second, in the higher grades, En-
glish should be used for technical subjects while the ver-
nacular should be used for literary and cultural Studies.
A significant omission appeared in the writings of the ”com-
bined" view that while all of themlwanted a mixture of

English with the vernacularylthay seldom mentioned what that

vernacular should be.

 

Theme 2 - The Teaching Profession

The controversy concerning the professional status of
teachers began with Orbilus, a regular feature writer, who
wrote an article purporting that Ghanaian teachers were not
professionals. He argued that professionals undergo long
training, set their own fees and belong to professional bodies
for life:

We very often hear teachers speaking of them-

selves as members of a profession and of teaching

as a profession. Can they be right? . . .
The chief characteristics of a profession are

 

21Ohene Saforo, "Let's Adopt English -— and a Ver-
nacular," Daily Graphic, 24 September, 1957.

 

 

64

thus the following: - Learning, long pro-
fessional preparation, permanent membership,
public service, self- discipline.

So many teachers stay in the work only
for a brief period until something better
turns up. .

It is a popular belief that anybody can
teach. . .

The level of intellectuality among teachers
is a pretty sorry affair. . . .All teachers
organizations everywhere work as trade unions.
They cannot quote their fees, they always have
to bargain with their employees for what they
can pay them. Their pay has everywhere been
comparatively low. . . .

As matters now stand, they do not belong to
the professional status and rightly has the Ghana
Labour Ordinance described them as workers.

In response, Kwadzo Paku wrote a feature article
defending the status of teachers as professionals. He

cements :

All who do more than echo others' opinions and
who have read Orbilius' article published in
the 'Gra hic' recently captioned: '13 Teaching
Truly a Profession,‘ would unhesitatingly
classify the article as biased. . . .

What makes a professional? Any calling or
occupation that demands special education and
training be it short or long, is a profession.
Teaching demands special education and is con—
sequently a profession. Orbilius is mistaken
if he thinks that anyone can teach efficiently
. . . .It is not everybody that can teach a
successful lesson. Even inspite of training
not all professional men are successful at their
work. . .

Orbilius made another point that 'the level
of intellectuality among teachers is a pretty
sorry affair' . .

Our professors in the universities. . .in
the estimation of that great sage, Orbilius, are
unfit for their posts. For sound up-to-date
knowledge and professional Skill, the teacher

 

22Orbilius, "Is Teaching Truly a Profession?,"
Daily Graphic, 4 November, 1957.

65
has no equal. Who reads more than the teacher?
Who attends more refresher courses than the
teacher?. . .23

Obviously, both Orbilius and Paku were not above

making sweeping generalizations in an attempt to prove their

point.

But the dialogue was indicative of concern from

both Sides over the standards in the teaching profession.

Paku did admit there were some problems in the field of

teaching:

Conditions of service of the teachers in
Ghana today are so unsatisfactory that the
young ambitious teacher realising this after
his training, quickly changes his mind

and goes after more lucrative work else
where.

In addition to low pay, the teaching profession's

reputation suffered from allegations of corruption. For

example, in a letter to the editor, C. K..Atta of Akanteng

said:

It is being alleged that some teachers in
rural schools compel their pupils to give them
regular supplies of free plaintain and cassava.
This is a very dangerous practice and must be
stopped if this allegation is true. For fear
of being cangg at school, this may lead pupils
to stealing.

In another event concerning the teaching profession,

the government announced a new policy on married women

teachers. It made headlines when the Graphic reported it:

 

23Kwadzo Paku, "Teaching is Truly a Profession and

a Noble One Tool," Daily Graphic, 29 November, 1957.

 

24
25

Daily Graphic, 29 November, 1957.

 

Daily Graphic, 23 December, 1957.

66
The Government has decided to reduce the

number of married women teachers in all pri-

mary and middle schools in the country. This

decision followed a recommendation made by

the Ministry of Education that no more than

one married.woman should be employed in a

middle school apg not more than two in a

primary school.
The government gave two reasons for the new policy. First,
the government wanted a better distribution of certified
teachers throughout the schools in the country. Second, it
wanted to cut down on absenteeism due to maternity leave.
The Ministry of Education released a statement the following
day claiming that the new policy had been misinterpreted.
The statement said:

The Ministry of Education do not intend to

reduce the number of women teachers in the

schools, whether married or not. In order

to achieve a better balance of women teachers

in the schools it is thought that some re-

distribution of theig teachers may be required

as a long term aim.
Although the Graphic printed an apology, the political dam-
age was done. In a time ofleducational expansion, the
public was quite upset at_the_possibility of reduction in
teaching staff. The ministry suspended the new policy and
later terminated it. The Minister of Education, Mr. C. T.
Nylander, gave an explanation to the parliament for all
the confusion that surrounded the aborted policy.

26Anthony Mensah, "Number of Women Teachers to be
Reduced," Daily Graphic, 4 February, 1958.

27DailylGraphic, 5 February, 1958.

 

67

Theme 3 - Women and Education
The possibility of women getting a university de-
gree caused new concern in Ghanaian society. In a regular
feature called, "A Nobody's Diary," Mr. Henry Ofori took
some stabs at University women by quoting from an issue
of a student magazine:

A university education diminishes their fem-
ininity. It unsexes them, like an angel, but
entirely divested of an angel's virtues. . .

She brings home all the evils of delayed mother-
hood. . .As a wife, she is too free with other
men, and calls 5315 eccentricity the mark of

a liberal mind.

Within a couple of weeks, the editor published four letters,
two from men and two from women. One man had this to say:

I have several university friends and none of
them have any intentions of getting married

to women with university education. They
think, as I do, that such women are too sophis-
ticated and have some abstract ideas that make
them unsuitable as housewives.

Man was definitely made to rule this world.
WOman was made to help him in his functions
looking after the offsprings. That's all.

All this talk asgut'woman being equal to
man is balderdash.

The other man's letter followed the same chauvinistic vein:

They are weak and I think this makes them ad-
mirably suited to the kitchen where I sincerely
believe they belong.

Give them higher education and they will
never think of staying in the house to do the

 

28
ust, 1957.
29

Henry Ofori, "Women Only," Daily Graphic, 12 Aug-

 

Daily Graphic, 28 August, 1957.

68

work for which the Creator has very wisely
made them.30

In response, one lady very clearly stated her case:

University education does not unsex a woman,
or make her unfit for married life, but rather
prepares her for it and enables her to under-
stand it better. Delayed motherhood is by

no means caps of the results of university
education.

Another lady's reply took issue over the problem of delayed
motherhood and moral implications in the quoted feature ar-
ticle of Ofori.

Were all the ills of delayed motherhood and

the eccentricities of women to be due only

or even largely, to university education there

would be fewer spinsters since only a small

fraction of our women enter university or

courses of formal study.

He maintains that wives with university ed-

ucation are free with other men. If by that

he means a moral laxity then statistics have

yet to show that moral laxity in women bears

an inverse ratio to the standard of education

attained.32

The other concerns over women for the year involved
marriage and equal opportunity. Articles were written that
warned women of the perils of getting married away from home
in Great Britain. On the other hand, articles were written
that discussed the reasons why educated women marry late or
never at all. In a feature article, Williams noted that the

three main factors which contributed to such an attitude

 

30
31
32

Daily Graphic, 28 August, 1957.

 

Ibid.

Daily Graphlg, 27 August, 1957.

 

69

toward the education of women were outright prejudice,
the subtle belief that women were inferior to men, and
the need for them in the home. On the last factor,
Williams said:

But it is doubtful whether her education as

such would materially reduce her services

in the home. Moreover, being educated she

could apply all that she had learnt (sicg
about child care when she has a family.3

Theme 4 - Teacher Training and
Trained Teachers

The Ghanaian system in 1957 had two levels of
teacher training schools. The "certificate B" was a secon-
dary level course which a middle school graduate could apply
for if he or she had a middle school certificate and one
year of teaching experience. The "certificate A” was a
post-secondary level course that students could apply for
if they were either certificate B teachers with two years
teaching experience or secondary grammar school graduates.
In a system where promotions were primarily based on cre-
dentials, great concern was raised over whether it was
proper to promote a B level teacher with more experience
over an A level teacher with less experience. The concern
surfaced when Nai Nsankie of Labodi wrote a letter to the
editor stating:

In some Catholic schools, certificate B
teachers with little teaching experience are

33J. Kwesi Williams, "Factors Which Contribute to

the Drawback in our Girl's Education," Daily Graphic, 9
August, 1957.

 

70

appointed Head teachers over certificate A
teachers who teach in the same school.

In a certain Catholic Primary school for
example, there are qualified certificate A
lady teachers serving under a headteacher
holding certificate B.

These lady teachers have had more teaching
experience than this certificate B teacher.

I feel that apart from disrespect to the
certificate A teachers, these certificate B
head teachers will never by urged to do the
certificate A course to enhance theBBrogress
of better teaching in this country.

Twelve days later another letter by Kofie Baonim of Accra

refuted

the allegation:

In the 'Graphic' (Sic) of July 18, Mr. Nai
Nsakie made allegation to the effect that in
some Roman Catholic schools, certificate B
teachers are made headmasters of the schools
though there are some certificate A teachers
on the staff.

I can hardly believe this allegation for it
is the sort of thing that can never happen in
a school controlled by the Roman Catholic mis—
Sion.

If on the other hand it is true, then I
believe it must be only in the area where Mr.
Nsakie is, and I would advise him to report
the matter to his district education office
as soon as possible.35

About a week later, another letter was printed written by

Jacob A.

Tata of Ho who claimed the allegation was true:

In the Graphic of July 30, Mr. Kofi Boanin
refuted the a egation that in some Roman
Catholic controlled schools, Certificate B
teachers are made head teachers over Certificate
A teachers. I wish to emphasize this allegation
is true.

Even Post-Secondary Certificate A teachers
with higher salarie (Sic) scales are made to

34Daily Graphlg, 18 July, 1957.

35

 

Daily Graphlg, 30 July, 1957.

 

71

serve under their juniors. There is no respect
for academic qualifications and ability. No
Roman Catholic Education unit in Ghana can re-
fute the allegation. The Ministry of Educatioa
should be blamed for allowing such an anomaly. 6

B. A. K. Griffin of Kokoso gave the last word when
he wrote a letter to the editor that gave a possible ex-
planation to the certificate B teachers being promoted over

certificate A teachers:

Some readers have in this paper on several
occasions criticised the practice in some Roman
Catholic elementary schools where certificate
B teachers are appointed headmasters over cer—
tificate A teachers.

I am sure that wherever such an arrangement
occurs, there is a very good reason for it.

A teacher may be certificate A man or woman,
but may be fresh from the training college
whereas the certificate B teacher may have
about eight years teaching experience.

In such a case, I think it wise that the
certificate B man with more teaching experience
should be made to act as headmaster until a
certificate A teacher with enough experience
can be appointed to the post.37

Teacher training received national attention on an-
other occasion when the government announced that the teacher
training program, along with some other specialized courses
of Study, at Kumasi College of Technology would be disasso-

ciated from the college. The Graphic's roving educational re-

 

porter, Henry Ofori, wrote an excellent three part series

38

covering the new policy. He outlined the following problems.

 

36
37

38Daily Graphic, 20, 23, 26 April, 1957.

Daily Graphic, 7 August, 1957.

 

Daily Graphic, 21 August, 1957.

 

72
First, the teacher training unit was unique in that for all
practical purposes, it functioned as an A—level course ex—
cept that students received an undergraduate degree. When
the government announced that it would become a regular
post-secondary A-level institution, the students were
upset because the program lost undergraduate status. The
professors connected with it were also upset because not
only did they lose their status as undergraduate level
instructors but were forced to take a pay decrease as well.
Then the question arose as to what other A-level teacher
training institution would absorb the school since all the
rest in the country were denominationally affiliated. Ofori
claimed that some students had chosen Kumasi College be-
cause it was nondenominational and now they had to either
change programs within the college or transfer down to a
denominational A-level school.

The government gave no explanation for the action,
but Ofori contended that the motive behind it lay in the
fact that the board of the college thought that the teacher
training institute, which functioned more or less as a post-

secondary school, loweged the standards and prestige of

 

Kumasi College of Teqhnology.

 

73
Theme 5 - Advantages of
Urban Schools

During the year there were complaints from con-
cerned citizens that secondary schools were being favored
in the capital city of Accra. One incident involved the
moving-of a denominational school and another incident
concerned the government's building of a new school.

In a news article, it was revealed that the Pres-
byterian Secondary School at Odremose would be moved to
Accra. The Presbyterian Synod's clerk, Rev. A. L. Quansah,
explained that the decision had been made because the
Synod had realized:

. that students or urban secondary schools
often had more advantage of getting jobs and
admission into the University College than col-
leagues from the rural secondary schools.

Besides, he said that if the Secondary

School were removed to Accra most of the middle

school children who normally gained admission

into the school, would have the opportunity

of a changa from their rural environment to

town life. 9
In this instance, whether the motive (for moving the school)
was right or not, it did illustrate one reason for students
migrating to the urban areas.

In a Similar incident, a reader wrote a letter to
the editor that criticized the government's placing of a

new secondary school in Accra. Joe Edmund of Poano-Denyese

wrote:

 

39Daily Graphig, 13 February, 1958.

74

The establishment of a night secondary school
in Accra by the Minister of Education is a wel-
come news and a boon to all post standard seven
scholars who wish to increase their knowledge.

But the government appears to be always con-
sidering the interests of the people in Accra and
the large towns alone and neglecting the inter-
ests of the small towns.

I am therefore appealing to the government to
consider the scholars in the rural areas by es-
tablishing more of these schools in places like
Ashanti Bekwai, Mampong, Juaso, Sunyani and
Berekum.

Both the examples stated above support the statement

made by Clignet earlier in this chapter that urban schools

 

had an advantage over sphools located in the rural areas.

 

Summary

The first year of independence in Ghana found the
major educational themes, as reported in the press, were
dominated by the teaching profession. Questions arose over
the status of the teaching profession, married teachers on
maternity leave, teachers' level of teaching competence in
the English language; and whether certificate B teachers
should be promoted over less experienced certificate A
teachers. In an expandingledugatipnal system, the teaching

profession struggled for position and_recognition in society.

 

In the area of curriculum, Ghanaian education ap—
peared to not have deviated much from the colonial system
it inherited. There was concern that indigenizing the

curriculum might lead to a lowering of standards. The

 

40Daily Graphic, 13 February, 1958.

 

75

general content sample reflecped more of a concern for
keeping standards hlgh than_for_changing the content
of the British-oriented edugational aystem.

Theme five in the thematic analysis reflected a
growing concern for equal opportunity in rural areas.
The urban-rural educational gap appears to be a reflection
of elitist attitudes in educational planning. At the
same time, it is probable that the development of schools
specifically in the urban areas may have been a result of

natural market forces at work. The city seemed to offer

 

better employment opportunities for students, better ed-
ucational facilities for children of school teachers, and
a standard of living more attractive for all educational
personnel.

In general, as reflected in the press, two recurrent
themes in education were causing concern. Quality in ed-
ucation and equality in education were important concerns.
However, a third theme of curriculum reform was not upper-

most in the minds of the Africans.

CHAPTER IV
THE INDEPENDENCE OF NIGERIA

The Setting

 

The year 1960 was a banner year for freedom as seven-
teen black African colonies received their independence.
Nigeria was the eleventh country that year to achieve nation-

hood when Britain turned over the political reins on October

1, 1960.1 The actual transfer of power had begun several

years before following the same pattern the British had
used in Ghana. Crowder summarizes this period of political
indigenization:

The 1954 constitution marks the effective

end of the nationalist struggle with Britain;
for the next six years, until the achievement
of independence on lst October 1960, Nigerian
leaders were preoccupied not so much with
wrestling power from the colonial government
as dealing with the day-to-day administration
and deve10pment of their country as well as
settling the basis 03 which they would cooper-
ate with each other.

 

1U. S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs,
Basic Data on Sub-Saharan Africa, Special Report No. 61
(Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1976), pp.
2-11.

2Michael Crowder, The Story of Nigeria, 4th ed.
(London: Faber and Faber, 1978), p. 237.

 

76

77
Achieving internal cooperation of the three regions of
Nigeria was not an easy task. The timing of the date of
independence led to a major conflict as the underdeveloped
north was at a disadvantage in terms of having its own
educated manpower.

During the 1950's, some of the wide divergences

of outlook between the north and south emerged:

the Sardauna of Sokoto, for example, argued

that the process of independence should be held

back because the north was not ready for it --

and he had some grounds for this attitude since

at independence in 1960 there were only 41 sec-3

ondary schools to serve the whole of the north.

This shortage of educated manpower made the nor-
therners somewhat dependent upon outside professionals, that
is, foreigners or southern Nigerians. "With eighteen mil-
lion people to govern and only a handful of university
graduates. . . .the formation of a northern administration
would be dependent on expatriates or southerners."4 This
regional disparity in educated government officials slowed
the process of independence and reveals that education was
a critical factor in the political formation of a free
Nigeria.

In the economic sphere, the second World War brought
about significant economic changes as the allies began tap-

ping Nigeria's resources. In the post-war period, the in-

creased demand for raw materials in the world's markets

 

3Guy Arnold, MOdern Nigeria (London: Longman Group
Ltd., 1977), p. ix.

 

4Crowder, Story of Nigeria, p. 241.

 

78
(and changes in commodity prices) continued Nigeria's
sustained pattern of economic growth.

The basis of these post-war economic changes

was agriculture, which on the eve of inde-

pendence still accounted for over 85 percent

of the country's exports. This was the result

not so much of the increase in agricultural

production, which was considerable, but of the

rise in world prices for the export crops

produced by Nigeria.

Although Nigeria's economy was based primarily on the agri-
cultural sector, crop exports were diversified enough to
protect Nigeria from disastrous effects of large changes in
the world market prices.

Nigeria's economic capacity was greater than that of
most West African states but Nigeria was not better off in
respect to per capita income. The British historian J. D.
Page comments on this economic comparison.

At the time of independence in 1960, its

rulers also commanded economic resources

. . .which in total were very much greater

than those of any other West African ter-

ritory. However, in relation to the size

of the population, Nigeria was poorer than

Ghana. . .The larger trade and government

revenues had to be spread over a population

seven times as large. . . .6
While Nigeria was not the richest state in West Africa, it
was not the poorest either. Only Ghana, Senegal, and

Ivory Coast had a higher level of per capita income.7

 

5

6J. D. Page, A History of West Africa, 4th ed.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969), p. 211.

7Page, A History pf West Africa, p. 211.

Crowder, Story_of Nigeria, p. 247.

 

 

79

The political changes that came with self-government
in 1954 also triggered changes in the education system.

A turning point in the development of education

occurred in 1954, when Nigeria became a feder-

ation and attained self-government over internal

affairs including education. Numerous primary

and secondary schools were established, and more

students were enrolled at the two levels between

1954 and 19598than during the whole period of

British rule.
The increased enrollments also brought about increased costs
in financing education. Abernethy notes that, "Education
was the major change on the regional government budgets,
averaging just over 40 percent of recurrent expenditure in
the southern regions for the post-1955 decade."9 When the
West Region introduced Universal Free Primary Education in
1957, ". . .almost 50 percent of the current budget was

devoted to education."10

A comparable percentage of the
budget was devoted to education in the Eastern Region even
without UPE.

Perhaps the most significant government action con-
cerning education during this time was the commissioning of
a group of scholars to investigate the educational needs of

Nigeria between 1960 and 1980. The commission, commonly

known as the Ashby Commission after its chairman, Sir Eric

 

8InternationalAEngyglgpadia of Higher Education,
1977 ed., s.v. "FederaIRepufilic of Nigeria."

9David B. Abernethy, The Political Dilemma of
Popular Education: ApAfrican Case (StanfOrd:Stanford
UniverSity Press, 1969), p. 221.

10

 

Crowder, Story of Nigeria, p. 251.

 

80
Ashby, was made up of three Nigerians, three Americans, and
three British. Professor Harbison of the United States was
not an official member of the committee but was asked by
the commission to do a manpower planning survey that would
outline educational needs for the twenty year period of
1960-1980. His study was included in the Report. At a
time when manpower planning was a popular approach to the
economics of education, the commission accepted as a basic
presupposition that education was an economic investment.
This investment was not just a social cost but brought an
economic return. According to Lewis:

The view that expenditure on education Should

be limited to what could be afforded out of

current resources. . .was therefore replaced

by the view that expenditpre on education was

in fact investment. .

The report, finished a month before independence
and relayed to the minister of education, asserted that,
"The chief deficiencies of the education system are a lack
of balance, both in its structure and in its geographical
distribution, and a tendency for the aspirations of those
who plan education to outrun the money and teachers avail-
The recommendations of the Ashby commission recog-
nized the huge expenditure that would be needed to properly
adjust the Nigerian educational system:

11L. J. Lewis, SocietyJ Schools and Progress in
Nigeria (Oxford: PergamongPress,_1965), pp. 50-51.

12Investment in Education: The Report of the Commis-
sion on Post- SchooI’Certificate and Higher Education in
Nigeria (Lagos: _Fedéral_M1nistry of Education, 1960), p. 4.

 

 

 

81

Our recommendations are massive, unconven-

tional, and expensive; they will be practi-

cable only if Nigerian education seeks out-

side aid and if the Nigerian people them-

selves are prepared to accord education first

priority and to make sacrifices for it.

The commission recommended more expansion in the
education system, particularly at the university level.
Apparently, the recommendations of the commission were
what the federal government wanted to hear. Fafunwa states,
"The federal government enthusiastically accepted the
Harbison and Ashby reports. It did not, however, accept
Harbison's estimates of future manpower needs. It felt that

"14

they were conservative. Instead of accepting the recom-

mendation for four new universities, the government wanted
five universities.15
In summary, the educational setting of Nigeria in
1960 was one of overall expansion, yet without a compre-
hensive strategy that fully equalized regional access and

opportunity or dealt specifically with the rise of unemploy-

ment of school leavers.

Data Analysis

 

The Space scan sample shows the newshole portion of

the Dailleimes measured 47.2 percent. The advertising share

 

 

13

14A. Babs Fafunwa, History of Education in Nigeria
(London: George Allen and UnWin, Ltd., 1974), pp. 1554156.

15Ibid.

Investment in_Educari9n, p. 41.

 

 

82
measured 52.8 percent. These two figures are almost iden-
tical with the figures given for the Graphic in Chapter III.
The breakdown of the newshole shos a difference between
the Graphic and the Iimaa in two topic categories. The gov-
ernment section in the Graphic accounted for 20 percent of

the newshole while the Daily Times of Nigeria registered only

 

6.3 percent. However, where the Graphic only measured 9.5
percent for economic development, the Times had 19.3 per-

cent reported for that category (see TABLE 9).

TABLE 9

SPACE SCAN SAMPLE OF THE
DAILY TIMES, 1960-1961

 

Form Mean No. Mean Col. % of

 

 

 

 

of Items .. Inches Col° Inches

Newshole:

Regular 19.7 217.8 31.6%

Domestic-Foreign 21.7 174.8 25.3

Government 6.3 43.5 6.3

Social 9.8 120.7 17.5

Economic Development 7.5 132.8 19.3
Total 65 689.6 100%
Advertisements:

Non-Classified 32.3 642.5 83.2

Classified 17.5 97.5 12.6

Paid Announcements 4.7 32.8 4.2

Total 54.5 772.8 100%

 

 

83
Education registered 6.0 percent of the newshole. This

is almost identical to the Graphic's 6.3 percent. The

 

mean number of pages per issue was 19.3, yet it was ob-
served in the general content sample that the limaa regu-
larly printed issues in either a sixteen, twenty, or twenty-
four page format.

The general content sample coded and analyzed 315
dailies out of a possible 316 issues. The effective cov-
erage for the year was 99.7 percent. There were 1168 total

education items coded in the Daily Times with 78.6% being

 

event-oriented and 21.4% being issue-oriented items. The
issue-oriented items were broken down into 48% calling for
change, 31.6% being positive and 20.4% being negative about
educational practice. In the change category, 54.2% wanted
institutional change, 30% wanted instructional change, and
15.8% wanted changes in respect to personnel.

It is interesting to note that of 250 items coded
as issue-oriented items, only eight items dealt with the

Ashby Report and all eighr were coded as positive. In every

 

instance, the Ashby Report was praised, not criticized.
This follows the assertion mentioned by Fafunwa that the
government "enthusiastically accepted" the recommendations
of the Ashby Report as most of the eight positive statements
that were reported in the limas were made by government
officials.

The educational news form results are reported in

TABLE 10.

84

TABLE 10
TOTAL GCS EDUCATIONAL NEWS BY FORM, 1960-1961.

 

 

 

 

No. of

Form Items Percentage
News 915 78.3%
Letters 100 8.6
Features 48 4.1
Editorials 9 .8
Other 96 8.2
Total 1168 100.0%

 

 

 

The last category in TABLE 10 (other - 8.2%) was larger
than the same category in the TABLE reporting the Graphic

(2.1%). The Times reported mora_sgholarships and admis-

 

sion lists than were reported in the Graphic in the first

 

year of Ghana's independence.

Data comparing the general content sample with other
indicators of Nigerian education are given in TABLE 11.
The results of TABLE 11 Show, as was in the case of Ghana,
that higher education received the majority of press expo-
sure, both in written and photographic form. The limaa
reported over half of its written items for higher education
(52.6%) and almost three quarters of all photographic cov-
erage (72.7%) went to the same category. Photographic cover-

age of higher education ranged from university students

85

TABLE ll.--Comparative data of GCS with national budget
and enrollments for Nigeria, 1960-1961.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Educational % of En- % of Ed. G C S
Cleategory rollment* Budget** % of Writ- % of Photo-
ten Items raphicltems
Higher .08% 9.5% 52.6¢ 72.2%
$5<econdary 4.2 12.3 26.0 17.5
Teacher-
'I‘xaining .9 11.3 5.5 1.6
‘Jrocational .3 7.0 7.2 3.2
Primary 94.5 55.4 8.7 5.5
RFSSOurce:

Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Education, Digest
of Statistics, 1960, pp. 3, 7..

**Source: A. Galloway and A. Musone,

Financin of Education
in Nigeria (Paris: UNESCO, I968):I3§, taEIe I7.

Studying overseas and getting married overseas to portraits

 

of scholarship recipients, both in Nigeria and studying

ab road. A great many of ‘the written items pertaining to

h‘igher education were simply annoiincements of students re-

giiving scholarships and fellowships. In contrast, in an-

ot‘her category (teacher-training) the written and photogra-
Phic coverage was minimal (5.5% and 1.6% respectively) sug-

gesting that teachers and the teaching profession had little

 

E25331 prestige in relation to oth_e_r educational categgries.

The frequency of educational news reporting is shown

in Figure 5. The data includes all written items for the

Year but excludes photographic items.

86

Fig. 5. Frequency of educational news reporting
by month, 1960-1961.

180 1_111_ -—
160
140
120
100
80
60
4O
20

 

[IIFTIIITrrlTIIII

 

 

 

MONTH O N D J F M A M J J A S

Unlike Ghana, in which the frequency followed the school

year, Nigeria's reporting remained constant even when school

 

was not ip_session (e.g. mid-December through January and

 

the month of May). Many items, such as announcements of
foreign scholarship winners were not directly related to the
Nigerian school calendar and were reported consistently

throughout the year.

87

Thematic Analysia

 

The independence of Nigeria brought about some inter-
esting yet predictable comments from the press on the state
of the education system. AS in the case of the Graphic in
Ghana, the limaa of Nigeria reported on several minor issues
and problems. In one instance, the Government, along with
the 12225 readers, criticized certain voluntary agencies for
not paying their teachers on time. On another occasion,
some discussion went on as to the appropriateness of naming
schools after the tribal names of deities. Unemployment was
not an issue, but the limaa did treat it with a four part
series of articles written by economist Archibald Callaway.
Throughout the year, the iima§_was besieged by readers writ-
ing letters to the editor asking the government to award
more scholarships or build new facilities in their districts.

The theme of expansioaiwaa_pradominant throughout the first

 

yaar of indapendence.

 

Theme 1 - The Ashby Report
As mentioned earlier, the Ashby Report was not an
issue as all who commented on it were in support of it.
Four days after independence, the limaa published in full
the recommendations of the Ashby Report along with four
photographs of the members of the commission. The next
day, a Timas editorial commented on the Ashby report and

supported its anticipated high cost:

88

Throughout the report the Commission laid
emphasis on the participation of the Federal
Government in all the proposals for higher
education in the country. This is how it
should be. And we even go further to sug-
gest that where a Regional Government's finan-
cial resources are unable to meet its educa-
tional project the Federal Government should
come to its aid.

The proposals made by the Commission will be
very expensive. In fact the cost will be
enormous. But it is a worthy cause, for
according to the Report, 'Our recommendations
are massive, unconventional and expensive.'16

Later on that month at the cornerstone ceremony

of the new Ahmadu Bello University, the Premier, Alhaji

Sir Ahmadu Bello commented on the Ashby Report in his

speech:

The Premier then commended the report of the
Ashby Commission on Higher Education in Nigeria.
The report, he said, brought out clearly the
immense need for post-primary education and
laid the right emphasis on the effort required
to expand, evenly, primary and secondary educa-
tion, if the sixit} forms and the university
were to flourish.

The official government white paper that responded to the

Ashby Report was not released until seven months later.

In a news article, the Times published the official state-

ment released by the government and the following excerpt

expresses the federal government's support:

 

16
17

Daily Times, 5 October, 1960.
Daily Times, 18 October, 1960.

 

89

It is also the Federal Government's view
that the implementation of the Ashby
Commission's recommendations as amended
must be given the highest priority.18

Theme 2 - Private Schools

During the month of May, 1961, a letter to the ed—
itor was published that condemned schools that catered
to the children of the wealthy because they created a prob-
lem of class distinction. This letter spawned a series
of feature articles during the following month that gave
proponents and opponents an opportunity to defend their
views. In defending exclusive schools, Rosemary Uwemedimo
claimed:

It seems then that private schools fulfil
a definite need. Are they to be condemned
merely because all parents cannot afford
them? That seems illogical.

No-one would claim that because not every-
body can afford a cement house therefore the
whole population must live in mud huts in
order to avoid class distinction.

The equality of man means that every human
soul is of equal value to God, not that all
be reduced economically, educationally, and
socially to the lowest common denominator.

If properly used, the private schools could
eventually abolish or at least reduce the gap
between the rich and poor by setting a high
Standard for all to aim at. 9

In response to Mrs. Uwemedimo's article, Bola Ige
stated:
We who fight for equality do not want to reduce

18Daily Times, 20 April, 1961.

19Rosemary Uwemedimo, "In Defense of Private Schools,"
Daily Times, 12 May, 1961.

 

9O

anything; we only ask that everyone be

not hindered from achieving everything;
and as soon as any group has an edge of
advantage, inequality begins.

In the following day's issue, Constance Bassir
also criticized the elitism of the private schools run

by expatriates:

There are several ways in which the stan-
dards of primary schools in Nigeria may be
improved, but sending the children of in-
fluential parents to expatriate private
schools is not one of them.

If on the other hand, we made it compul-
sory for every politician and every senior
civil servant to send his children to the
NEAREST primary school, we should see a rapid
improvement in standards. . .

Schools run with the English social and
educational systems in mind, however, satisfac-
tory their material conditions may be, cannot
provide the ideal education fpr a Nigerian
child of primary school age.

The final article gave Mrs. Uwemedimo a chance for a rebut-

tal in which She said:

I heartily endorse the cry that we must all
work to improve the lot of the majority, for
when I protest that those who are up should
not be dragged down, I do NOT imply that those
who are down should not be raised up.

However, the process of elevation is not so
easy as Mr. Ige and Mrs. Bassir gliby state.
Corruption clogs the wheels of progress in
Nigeria, and while the men of influence are
battering their heads against the brick wall

 

20Bola Ige, "Away with 'Private Schools,'" Daily
Times, 17 May, 1961.

1Constance Bassir, "It's a Poor Case for Private
Schools," Daily Times, 18 May, 1961.

91

of bribery, their children, if sent to a
local primary sghool, MAY be receiving
poor education. 2

She concluded by thanking her two critics for their con-

cern and claimed that . . . it is a healthy Sign when

there is controversy about the best type of education;

for apathy brings no progress."23

Theme 3 - Russian Scholarships
Tai Solarin, a regular feature writer on educational
issues, wrote an article which revealed that Nigerian law
discriminated against Nigerians who had studied in Soviet
Universities. He states:

There is a certain Nigerian law which forbids
the intake into our national service any
Nigerian who has been educated in the U.S.
S.R. . . . .

That law of ours is stupid which condemns
a Nigerian graduate from a U.S.S.R. Univer-
sity. That law is anachronistic. It ought
to go, when next tag house meets -- lock,
stock, and barrel.

In a letter to the editor, Basil M. Okon of the University
College Ibadan, supported Solarin in his criticism of the
Nigerian law:

I agree with Tai Solarin that the law which
prohibits the communist-trained graduates
from joining the Civil Service of their
country should be abrogated immediately.

22Rosemary Uwemedimo, "Private Schools are neces-
sary," Daily Times, 2 June, 1961.

23

24Tai Solarin, "Academic Penalty," Daily Times,
13 May, 1961.

 

Ibid.

 

92

It might have been enacted in the colonial
days to discourage students from studying

in Communist countries, but Nigerians still
study in these countries in spite of the law
and one may therefore conclude that the lag
has not been able to fulfill its function. 5

Another letter to the editor also supported Mr. Solarin's
viewpoint. A. O. Olayisade of Zaria wrote:

I strongly support Mr. Tai Solarin's attack

on 'Academic Penalties'. . . .

First, let us all accept that a man can
be Russian-trained without being a commun-
ist. . . .
Therefore, that part of the Nigerian Con—

stitution which prohibits a Russian-trained

man from entering our Civil Service is un-

reasonable and unprogressivs and should be

deleeted (sic) immediately. 6

Neither the government nor anyone else responded
to Solarin's charges and after several weeks Solarin wrote
a final feature article on the subject. He wrote that
the constitutional provision that Russian-trained Nigerians
were ineligible for government employment was a legacy of
British colonialism and was not appropriate for the new
Nigerian government. The government was already short
on educated Nigerian manpower and could not afford to con-
tinue down the same ideological road that had been laid out
by the British. Solarin concluded:

To carry in our heads the British bias against

the Russians and to reinforce this bias with

the undisguised Spite of gargantuan America

against their academic and technological rival,
the Russian Bear, is to cut our nose to spite

 

25
26

Dailerimes, 29 May, 1961.

 

DailleimeS, 30 May, 1961.

 

93

our face. . . .

To refulse to accept help on this front,
therefore, is to commit a crime, not against
the Nigerians alone, but against humanity. . .

And lastly, if we hate the Russians so much
let us stop smiling at them. Let us ask them
to fold up their embassy and go back home.27

Theme 4 - Language Planning and the
School Curriculum

Nigeria has three major language groups -- Ragga,
lhg, and Yoruba. As in the case of Ghana, Nigeria also
was interested in using a Nigerian language as the national
language of instruction. As far as the school curriculum
was concerned, some thought that by teaching the vernaculars,
national unity would result. Adelanwa Coher of Abeokuta

WI‘OtE:

May I however, suggest to the committee charged
with reviewing the education policy the advis-
ability of recommending the teaching of the main
language of Nigeria in the curriculum of primary
and secondary schools in the Region. In my own
opinion, this would go a long way in bringing
about the much-like-of unity of our country. 8

On the other hand, others thought that English was
the unifying force in the country:

Mr. Obiajunwa Wali a resident teacher of the
Department of extra-mural studies, Onitsha,
has said that in Nigeria the English language
is the most efficient and reliable means of
communication between various tribes of the
country and one of the permanent factors of
understanding and unity in our country.

 

27Tai Solarin, "Toying With Russian Scholarships,"
Daily Times, 7 August, 1961.

28
29

Daily Times, 23 December, 1960.
Daily Times, 28 April, 1961.

94

At the same time, there were some who were afraid that
English might jeopardize their African heritage. Indica-
tive of this view was M. Onwuegbuna of Lagos:

Though a very important language, English

must never be allowed to displace our own

languages, which, together with our own

cultures constitute one precious heritage

which we must never allow to decay.30

Still others were sure that a national lingua franca

 

was needed to replace English and that language should be
Hausa, the language of northern Nigeria. In a feature ar-
ticle, Sam Sara wrote:

The choice for a lingua franca to replace

English seems to be generally agreed upon

by the suggestion of Hausa, for an obvious

reason: it is already spoken by more than

half of the people of Nigeria. 1
B. C. Osunwa of Bida suggested in a letter to the editor
that the language should be Hausa and that it should be
taught right away:

The time is overdue for the Federal Ministry

of Education to make compulsory the teaching

of Hausa language in all 3330013 and colleges

throughout the Federation.
Still others, such as K. Ogenghe of Warri, did not see the

necessity of quickly deciding on a national lingua franca:

 

It is most surprising that despite so much
silence by the Federal Government on the
issue of a 'lingua franca' for Nigeria,

30Daily Times, 14 December, 1960.

31Sam Sara, "Let Us Adopt Hausa Language," Daily
Times, 4 May, 1961.

32

 

Daily Times, 16 February, 1961.

 

95

many people still indulge in jamming the

whole affair down our throats.
Personally, I do not see the necessity

of imposing one particular language on all

the citizega to the detriment of all other

languages.

The Nigerian experience with language planning in
the schools differed somewhat from the Ghanaian concerns.
In Ghana, the major language issues was over the language
of instruction in primary schools. Nigeria, on the other

hand, was more concerned with the teaching of a national

African laaguage in the schools.

Theme 5 - The Teaching Profession

The teaching profession did not appear to be held
in high esteem during the first year of independent Nigeria.
As in the case of Ghana, Nigerian teachers were struggling
for recognition.

Attack was launched on teachers by Innocent Iluoji
of Surulere who wrote in a letter:

My own candid opinion is that -- apart

from teachers in the civil service who

enjoy only normal leave facilities --

as things stand at present, teachers

are enjoying an overgenerous salary struc-

ture for thz eight months work they do

in a year.3
His letter brought a quick response in defense of teachers:

It is an undisputed fact that the teaching

profession is noble and this fact gives
teachers the pride of their place. Yet

 

33
34

Daily Times, 1 June, 1961.
Daily Times, 22 December, 1960.

96

they do have the right to call on the govern-
ment to better their conditions because
teachers are in so gany ways being relegated
to the background.3

To be specific, teachers combine the jobs of
technicians and clerks, farmers and tradesmen,
administrators and missionaries, et cetera
and et cetera into one. Their official houra
in schools are not their only hours of work. 6

At this time, teachers were also asking for compen-
sation and benefits that other civil servants enjoyed.
The following excerpts reveal the concern individuals had
for the inequity that existed between teachers and civil
servants:

The headmasters of primary schools in Ilesha
have called on the Western Nigerian Government
to make it possible for all primary school
teachers in the region to enjoy the same fa-
cilities and priviledges as civil servants. . . .
Replying to the points raised, the Minister
said that although the teachers were paid by
the government, it would not be possible for
them to enjoy similar facilities and priviledges
as their contemporaries in the civil service.
This was because th§ teachers were employed by
voluntary agencies. 7

The notion of the general public that teachers
are not among the people who matter in the
community seems to have been confirmed by the
attitude of the various Nigerian governments

in the recent award of one month salary advance
to workers in the country for the independence
celebrations. This award did not extend to

 

35
36
37

Daily Times, 29 December, 1960.

 

Daily Times ,2 January, 1961.

 

Dailleimes, 15 December, 1960.

 

97

teachers and naturally their view this discrim-
ination with grave concern. 8

If the educational standards in Nigeria are
going to rise as they should then there must
be teachers well trained to man the schools.
To attract graduates to the teaching profes-
sion, the salaries should be a par with thoag
in other spheres where grads are in demand.

At the moment, the statement by some Govern-
ments of the Federation that most teachers

are not employed directly by the government
and therefore should not merit full government
support, is merely a policy of escape which
will soon be abandoned as we progress towards40
full and buoyant nationhood already in sight.

Summary

The first year of independence for Nigerian educa-

tion, as reflected in the press, was Similar to Ghana's

 

experience on five counts. First, higher education received
an inordinate amount of educational news reporting, both

in written and photographic coverage. Both countries' un-
iversities also received a large proportion of the education
budget in respect to the size of their enrollments. Second,
teacher-training received little exposure in the general
content sample. Third, the teaching profession was strug-

gling to assert its professionalism in both societies.

 

38
39

40Tai Solarin, "Don't Blame Teachers," Daily Times,
8 April, 1961. ‘

Daily Times, 13 December, 1960.

 

Daily Times, 30 December, 1960.

 

 

98
Teachers complained of low wages, long working hours, and
unfair benefits in comparison to their civil service counter-
parts. Fourth, since both countries received their indepen-
dence from Britain, they had to decide what role the use of
the English language would play in the educational system.
In the case of Ghana, the major concern was over what language

to use as the medium of instruction. Nigerians' concern

 

centered around the teaching of African languages as part of

the curriculum. However, the two types of language questions

 

were addressed by both the Times and the Graphic.
Fifth, as was the case in most of West Africa, Ghana
and Nigeria had regional disparities in the delivery of ed-

ucational services. The southern, coastal; non-Muslim areas

 

were better educated than the northern Muslim.hinterlands.

 

However, there were differences as well. MUch em-
phasis was given in the iimaa_to manpower planning as a re—
sult of the Report of the Ashby Commission while educational
planning in Ghana did not receive press coverage. Also press
coverage of the issues of Russian scholarships and private
schools were unique to Nigeria as were the press issues of
educated women and teacher training programs in Ghana. A
question remains as to how muCh_pressure the Nigerian govern-
mentlput on the preps to report on manpower planning.

One other observation can be made from the data in
this chapter. Both the quantitative indices in the data
analysis section and the themes in the thematic analysis

section complement each other in two areas. First, the low

99
press coverage of teacher training was followed by the theme
of the teaching profession rebelling against low social
acceptance. Second, higher education received high press
coverage in the data analysis and also received high social
acceptance in the theme dealing with the Ashby Report.
There appears to be a relationship between the level of
press coverage a particular educational category receives
and the kind of concerns that are reflected in the corres-

ponding themes. The morerpress coverage a category receives,

 

the more it is likely to result in more favorable coverage

of themes. In other words, higher education had more favor-

 

able discussion in the thematic analysis than did the teach-
ing profession. The teaching profession had lower quantita-
tive press coverage and its themes were less favorable. lg
this instance, the quantity of news items and the content

of educational press coverage appears to reflect important

 

attitudes in the societies of Ghana and Nigeria towards

 

their respective educational aystems.

 

CHAPTER V
CHAOS AND CORRUPTION IN GHANA

The Setting

 

The scenerio that was found in Ghana when civilian
rule was restored in 1979 can ultimately be traced back to

problems in the first republic. The economy in 1979 was in

 

a shambles.- Several years of successive governments had
caused its deterioration. Part of the blame rested with the
precedent started by Nkrumah's expansionistic and reckless
economic policies.

In 1966, Nkrumah's regime was overthrown by the mili-
tary while he was on a state visit to China. The military
organized the National Liberation Council (NLC), which was
led by Major-General Ankrah and later by Major-General A. A.
Afrifa. The NLC was, in effect, a caretaker regime that hap-
pily turned over the country's problems to the newly elected
Dr. Busia and his Progressive Party (PP) in 1969. The elec-
tion was suspiciously conducted and hotly contested by the
four losing parties. Nevertheless, "The result was a sweep-
ing victory for the PP, who captured 105 of the 140 seats,

with 59 per cent of the poll."1

 

1Africa South of the Sahara 1981-1982, 11th ed., s.v.
"Ghana."

 

100

101
Once in power however, the Busia government was not able
to change the direction of the economy, leading to the
military's reentry into the goverment.

By the close of 1971, therefore, there were
strong parallels with the previous civilian
regime; the balance of payments had consi-
derably deteriorated, foreign debt repayment
saddled the country, food prices had shot

up and various key groups such as the mili-
tary, civil service and the cocoa farmers had
been alienated. For the second time within
six years, therefore, critical political
strains emerged as the result of inept eco-
nomic measures and it was a disillusioned
Ghana that experienced its second military
coup in January, 1972.

The coup. led by Acheampong, legitimated its move
on the basis that bad economic policies of the civilian
regime had required a change. "General Acheampong came
to power by force of arms accusing the Busia government
of economic mismanagement and repeatedly stated that the
Army would hand over the power after the national econ-

"3

omy had been salvaged by him. The salvage never took

place as Acheampong's inexperience and administrative

ineptness only exacerbated an already bad Situation.
. . . its fortunes deteriorated rapidly from
1974, and by 1977, with inflation running at

over 100 per cent per annum and acute short-
ages of both imports and home-produced goods,

 

2Africa South of the Sahara.

3Mike Oquaye, Politics in Ghana; 1972-1979 (Accra:
Tornado Publications, 1989)} P. 27.

102

the army proved itself as incapable of ecopomic
management as any civilian administration.

Acheampong stepped down under pressure and was al-
lowed to go free by his successor, Akuffo, instead of being
called to account for his administrative ineptness. In
1979 things had deteriorated to the point that junior of-
ficers led a coup to oust the corrupt regime. Flight
Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings led the coup and quickly adminis-
tered "justice" by executing several high level officials
including Acheampong and Akuffo. Rawlings arranged for a
speedy return to civilian rule. Dr. Hilla Limann and the
People's National Party (PNP) won the election and the
transfer of power came on September 24, 1979, less than
four months after Rawlings and his Armed Forces Revolution-
ary Council (AFRC) staged their coup. The new civilian
government, hastily put together, inherited an enormous
number of problems at the time of the transfer.

Seldom has a new democratic government entered

into office under such dismal circumstances.

Apart from the severe and highly disrupted eco-

nomic conditions, the economic and social infra-

structure. . .had deteriorated severely from

years of lack of investment, in part because of

foreign exchange constraints. Many government

institutions were in a State of disarray or

collapse and had manifested a5declining compe-

tence to fulfill their roles.

The indicators of Ghana's economic disaster are

 

4

5Jon Kraus. "Rawlings' Second Coming," African Report
27 (March-April 1982), p. 61.

Africa South of the Sahara.

 

103

multiple and mutually compounding. Ghana had a deficit in
its balance of payments and had been in arrears in paying
off Short-term debts. Major exports had declined since
the mid-1970's. The country was in non-compliance with
donor agency guidelines and consequently the IMF and World
Bank did not make more funds available. Furthermore, the
government financed its own budget deficits by printing
more money. Inflation increased dramatically as the money
supply rose by 675 percent between 1974 and 1978. On top
of this. a sharp contraction of imported goods slowed the
economy even more. Since 1976, prices rose 50-100 percent
annually. All of this was compounded by a shortfall in
food production coupled with a high unemployment rate.6
The debacle of economic planning had a very serious impact
on the average Ghanaian.

The average economic conditions of recent years

have created among many Ghanaians a single-minded

concern with their own survival, regardless of

the social costs. Smuggling, blackmarketeering,

and the misappropriation of public funds have

come to be regarded by many as economically imr

perative rather than simply self-serving.7

The civilian government, under President Limann's
leadership, apparently did not have the political capacity

that was needed to lead the country out of the depression.

Limann was orderly, methodical, slow, and appar-
ently undynamic in trying to rebuild the

 

6Jon Kraus, "The Political Economy of Conflict in
Ghana," Africa Report 25 (March-April 1980), pp. 9-10.

7

 

Ibid.. p. 16.

104

capabilities of Ghana's public institutions.
whose qualities of debility, incompentence.
lethargy and resogrce scarcity are apparent
to all Ghanaians.

Moreover, what Limann lacked in leadership abilities was
intensified by his erroneous strategic planning.

. . . the Limann government also made cruc-
ial misjudgements, some under strong political
pressure. When the Limann/PNP government came
to office in late 1979, instead of emphasizing
the sacrifices that would have to be made, it
promised to 'flood the market' with consumer
goods, thus providing needed supplies and re-
ducing prices through ending scarcities. It
had no resources to do this.

In retrospect, a major question Should be asked
concerning the basic economic structures in Ghana. Why
did each successive regime after Nkrumah continue to
place its hopes in the public sector for economic renewal?
One development economist comments:

Shortages of personnel, institutional problems
of administration and co-ordination, corruption,
and politicization persisted beyond Nkrumah, to-
gether with the problems which they generated.
In view of Nkrumah's inability to effect radical
improvements under the system which he created,
it is puzzling to understand why governments
maintained so much continuity with this system
after 1966. For what emerges . . . is that
there was throughout the sixties and into the
seventies an abiding faith in the efficacy of
the state as an economic agenp despite much
evidence of its inefficiency. 0

8Kraus. "Rawlings' Second Coming," pp. 63-64.

91bid., p. 65.
10Tony Killick, Develo ment Economics in Action:
A Stugy of Economic PoIiCieS in Ghana (New YorE: S .

MarEinTS Press, I978), p. 3TB}

105
The progress of educational development in Ghana was
also severely impeded due to the effects of economic mis-
management. Shortages of essential goods, especially text-
books, were common throughout the seventies. "Schools
and colleges were without textbooks for even the few who
were ready, willing and able to pay their unreasonably high

prices."11

Schools in 1979 were hard hit, especially sec-
ondary boarding schools, in that some were unable to open
on time since essential goods (eg. food) could not be found
to supply storehouses.

In the realm of capital expenditure, the Ministry
of Education had good intentions, but new building and im-
provements were hampered by shortages of construction ma-
terials. For example, in the 1980-1981 fiscal year, the
Ministry of Education had planned for the completion of 295
projects that included science laboratories, classrooms,
workshops, staff bungalows and new equipment purchases.12
"Out of the projects approved, thirty-five (35) were com-
pleted and are being used. The low performance in project
implementation was due to the slow down of constructional
activities as a result of lack of building materials and

other imputs."13

 

1quuaye, Politics in Ghana, p. 27.

 

12Republic of Ghana, Budget Proposals for 1981-82
(Accra: Ghana Publishing CorporaEIOn, I98I7. P. 62.

13Ibid., p. 63.

106

Shortages of supplies and materials were not the
only shortages the school system faced. Shortages of
teachers and educated manpower developed as many Ghanaians
sought employment in other countries. Kraus reports that,
"A significant brain-drain of educated persons, including
8,000 teachers, who left Ghana to find employment or avoid
the harshly depressed living conditions, occurred during
l974-79."14 The loss of educated manpower hurt the economy
as many migrated to escape deplorable conditions. On
another occasion, Kraus stated, "Thousands of educated and
skilled Ghanaians had left Ghana to escape the inflation
and absence of commodities, reducing sharply Ghana's abil-

"15 Ghana's creative capa-

ity to renew its capacities.
city in the form of human resources was being depleted via
the ”brain-drain." The "brain-drain" became an important '
educational issue during the civilian government of the
Third Republic. The turnover of teachers endangered the
quality of all levels of education.

While education expanded in the two decades following
independence, there was evidence that elitism still persis-
ted, especially above the primary level. Secondary schools
were a case in point. For example, in a follow-up of

Foster's study of social class and education in Ghana, Lois

Weis investigated secondary students by duplicating Foster's

 

l"Kraus, "The Political Economy," p. 10.

15Kraus, "Rawlings' Second Coming," p. 61.

107
methodology:

Two databases are used in the analysis as
follows: information on the composition of
Ghanaian fifth formers in 1961 derived from
Philip Foster's pioneering work, Education

and Social Change in Ghana and infErmation

I gathered through questionnaires administered
to a second nationally representative sample
of Ghanaian secondary school students in 1974.
The 1974 sample is comparable with Foster's
1961 sample. 6

 

The two variables used in both studies to determine school
access were; 1) father's occupation and 2) urban experience.
The overall occupational distribution and rural/urban pro-
portions had not significantly changed Since the early
1960's. Secondary schools had expanded from 39 in 1960 to
139 in 1972. Enrollments in publicly supported secondary
schools had increased to 58,000 in 1972 from 14,000 in

1960. However, Weis noted that:

Clearly. the children of urban parents re-
ceive more than their proportional share of
secondary school places. What is more im-
portant. however, is that expansion of the
educational system has enabled urban individ-
uals to achieve even greater representation
relative to rural individuals than they had at
an earlier Stage of development. . . . It
appears that consolidation and perpetuation
of privilege vis a vis schooling is taking
place to a greater extent in the mid-1970 s
than it did in the early l960's.17

Expansion, according to Weis, has tended to promote elitism

and suppress upward social mobility. She concluded:

 

16Lois Weis. "Education and the Reproduction of
Inequality: The Case of Ghana," Comparative Education Review
23 (February 1979), p. 44.

17

 

Ibid., pp. 49-50.

108

Rather than serving to broaden the base of re-
cruitment, expansion has made it comparatively
less likely that children from rural and/or low
socioeconomic backgrounds would receive places

in the nation's secondary schools. This suggests
that the secondary level of the educational sys-
tem is acting increasingly to reproduce social
inequality rather than offer opportunities for
mobility. 8

In summary, the Ghanaian education system in 1979
appears to have expanded several fold over the early 1960's.
However, this expansion appears to have solidified the

elite's hold on the system. In addition, the system.was

 

plagued with logistical problems that resulted from fail-

ing economic conditions.

Data Analysis

 

The Six issues constituting the Space scan sample
disclosed that the newshole Share of the newspapers mea-
sured 51.4 percent, and the remaining 48.6 percent was
comprised of advertisements. These percentages almost
parallel the figures of the earlier year (1957) of 47.5
percent continaing newshole and 52.5% of advertisements.
The topic categories were also similar to the first year
(see Table 12). There were increases in the domestic-
foreign and government categories and decreases in the
regular and social categories. Interestingly, the portion
of newshole classified as economic development was almost

identical to the first year (9.5% -- 1957; 9.7% -- 1979).

 

18Weis, "Education and the Reproduction of Inequal-
ity," p. 50-510

109

TABLE 12

SPACE SCAN SAMPLE OF THE
DAILY GRAPHIC, 1979-1980.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Form Mean No. Mean Col.. % of
of Items Inches Col. Inches
Newshole:
Regular 19.8 163.3 27.9%
Domestic-Foreign 14.3 170.5 29.2
Government 5.5 132.3 22.6
Social 3.8 61.8 10.6
Economic Development 4.3 57.0 9.7
Total 47.7 584.9 100%
Advertisements:
Non-Classified 26.3 270.8 49.0%
Classified 10.0 30.5 5.5
Paid Announcements 30.2 251.7 45.5
Total 66.5 553.0 100%

 

 

The economy was much worse in 1979 than it was in 1957,

but the Space scan would not indicate it.

One explanation

may be that in 1979 the Graphic was completely owned and

controlled by the governmentL and it probably did not want

to-draw unusual attention to the plight of the economy.

110

The newshole alloted 2.8% to education. This re-
presents a Significant decrease in comparison with 1957's
6.3%. The mean number of pages per issue was 12. The
papers tended to be issued in either an eight or six-
teen page format. The proportion of non-classified ad-
vertisements decreased significantly over the fiscal year.
Whereas, non-classified advertisements constituted 86.0%
in 1957, the 1979 year registered only 49.0%. A major
increase came in paid announcements when it increased
from 6.6% in 1957 to 45.5& in 1979. These changes reflect
a major difference in that in 1979 the government owned
Graphic did not solicit finances from the business commun-
ity in the form of advertisements as it did in 1957 when
it was a privately-owned commercial paper.

The effective coverage of the GCS was 99.4% as 310
out of a possible 312 issues were coded and analyzed.
There were 637 total items coded and this revealed a 22.8%
decline compared to the first year. Event-oriented items
constituted 77.6% of the total items while issue-oriented
items were 22.4% of the total. The issue-oriented items
were broken down into 84.6% calling for change, 9.8%
being being positive and 5.6% being negative. In 1957,
only 43.9% called for change and 40.2% were positive. The
change items were further broken down into 61.2% Calling
for institutional change, 12.4% calling for instructional
change, and 26.4% calling for changes from personnel. The

major difference in the issue-oriented items between 1957

111
and 1979 is the larger amount of items classified as
change. The three kinds of change were comparable in
breakdown in both years. The majority of change items
revolved around issues caused by an education system
struggling to survive. Concern was raised over teachers'
strikes, student unrest, shortages of personnel and es-
sential supplies. The educational news reporting by
form is reported in TABLE 13 along with data from the
first year. The major change seems to be in the area of

news articles and the "other" category.

TABLE 13
EDUCATIONAL NEWS BY FORM

 

 

 

 

1957-1958 1979-1980
Form No. Of 7 No. Of 7
~ Items ° Items °

News 665 80.6% 289 45.3%
Letters 72 8.7 21 3.3
Features 55 6.7 16 2.5
Editorials 16 1.9 23 3.6
Other 17 2.1 288 45.2

 

 

 

 

 

News articles decreased 35.3% compared to the first
year. The other category increased 43.1% over the first
year. There was a dramatic increase in the amount of paid

announcements as schools announced reopenings (due to

112
shortages), Alumni association announced meetings, and
exam schedules were announced. Total reporting of educa-
tional news by educational category is recorded in TABLE

14. The table compares written and photographic coverage

of 1957 with 1979.

TABLE 14
COMPARATIVE GCS DATA

 

 

 

Educational 1957—1958 1979-1980
Category % Of Writ- % Of Photo. % Of Writ- % Of Photo
ten Items Items ten Items Items
Higher 46.8% 51.3% 31.5% 39.5%
Secondary 22.0 27.8 43.7 36.8
Teacher-
Training 5.6 5.7 4.3 0.0
Vocational 8.4 5.1 14.9 10.5
Middle 8.9 6.3 1.9 5.3
Primary 8.3 3.8 3.7 7.9

 

 

 

 

 

Secondary education's written and photographic cover-
age increased while the coverage of higher education de-
creased in 1979. However, higher education still claimed
the greatest portion of photographic coverage. The teacher
training and middle school categories' photographic exposure
decreased and the vocational and primary categories increased

over 1957. Higher and secondary categories still dominated

113

the coverage educational news.
The frequency of educational news reporting is re-
ported in figure 6. The rise in news reporting between
December, 1979 and March, 1980 can be attributed to the

ending and beginning of schoollyears. Graduations, exam

 

announcements, and application information were reported,
especially in the form of news articles and paid announce-
ments. The sudden increase occurring between June and
August of 1980 can be explained for the same reasons.

Fig. 6 Frequency of educational news reporting by
month, 1979—1980.

 

140
120 ;
100 I
80 :
60 :
40 :
r

20 -
o ..

 

 

 

MONTH 8* O N D J F M A M J J A

*Combination of September 1979 and September 1980.

114

Thematic Analysis

 

A major difference emerged in 1979 as educational
news was more influenced by the government than by the
concerns of the public. In comparison to the 1957 figures
for Ghana, the letters to the editor and feature articles
in 1979 dropped to one half of the former level. However,
editorials (written by government paid editors) almost
doubled in 1979 compared to 1957 when the Graphic was an
independent newpaper. It appears that the Graphic mirrored
more of a government bias in 1979 as letters to the editor
were hardly published at all. There could be two possible
explanations. First, the government owned Graphic may have
been more selective in.what letters it published (both in
content and in quantity) or, second, fewer readers were
writing letters to the editor. It could also have been
a combination of both. Nevertheless, issues did emerge
and were commented upon. Since letters to the editor were
scarce, debate and controversy tended to be expressed more
by discussion than by argument.

There appeared on occasion several minor themes that
had significant relevance to national policy issues. A
youth farm scheme was questioned on the grounds that simi-
lar programs in the past had lacked full support from the
ministry of education. On another occasion an editorial
blasted the promotion system that elevated quality educa-

tors to administrative posts where their teaching talents

115
were lost. A feature article criticized foreign African
students who took advantage of Ghana's free education and
then immediately returned to their home country without
staying to provide service for Ghana. There were news
articles that reflected the Shortages of essential goods
(mainly food Stocks) and several schools had to postpone
their opening dates. A further issue evolved when an
editorial denounced the educated elite in the country for
not getting more involved in helping to solve Ghana's
problems. These minor themes however, were outweighed
in favor of three dominant national concerns.
Theme 1 - Tensions in
the Schools

There were several threats of teachers strikes
throughout the year and one that received a large amount
of attention involved the dispute between "graduate"
teachers in post-secondary schools and "diploma" teachers,
who possessed lower credentials. "Graduate" teachers
wanted more pay than the "diploma" teachers since their
training had been longer in duration.

The Graphic published two editorials before the
strike and pleaded with the teachers to remain on the job,
thus aligning itself on the side of the government:

. . . . the proposed strike action by the 2,000

strong post-secondary teachers in support of their

claims for new salary gradings. . . is quite un-

fortunate. . . .

The post-secondary teachers may have a very gen-
uine cause to be unhappy and as a result resort

116

to Strike action. But they must remember that
as teachers who, in no small way, contribute to
Shaping the minds of their students, a strike
action at the beginning of an academic year
would to say the least jeopardize their educa-
tion.19

We are hoping, however, that the teachers will
be willing to listen to a certain amount of
talking because nothing ruins an otherwise good
point more than unwillingness to hear the other
side. . . .

The state of most of the nation's schools is
deplorable enough without the pupils being left
without teachers. . . .

That is why we appeal to the teachers to return
to the classrooms while the matter is being
resolved. . . .

For, if the threat they are holding over the
Government in case their demands were not met

is that they would leave for "Agege" to find
employment, then they are definitely not going
to win many sympathisers to their cause. That
is not the spirit of the Third Republic and

that smacks of irresponsibility; at this time in
Ghana, everybody stays to face the problems,
fight inertia in officialdom until Ghana is
rebuilt. Surely this spirit must pose a challenge
to teachers especially.

The issue was not only salary grade scales as there
existed other grievances as well. In a news article,
the Graphic stated, "The statement enumerated other griev-
ances of teachers as lack of responsibility, allowances,
ln21

undue delays in promotion and lack of basic 'materials.

The government called on the teachers to end their

 

19
20
21

Daily Graphic, 2 November, 1979.

 

Daily Graphic, 16 January, 1980.

 

Daily Graphic, 26 January, 1980.

 

117
strike and the Director-General of the Ghana Education
Service, Professor N. O. Anim, favored the position of
the diplomate teachers.

He said the graduate teachers had always
felt cheated by being put on the same salary
scale as diplomate teachers but the Education
Service Council had indicated that if payment
should be for the job one does, the diplomates
should be on the same scales with fresh grad-
uates even though the graudates could rise to
head institutions while the diplomates would
not.

Professor Anim said reports from most of
the secondary schools now showed that the
head-teachers preferred to have more diplomates
in their institutions because they are more
conscientious in their work and stay longer in
the service.

Moreover, he said, the diplomates possess
Advance Level passes and do three years train-
ing geared towards teaching just as the grad-
uates have their Advance Level passes and Ehree
or four years training at the university.2

The president of the Student's Representative Council
of the University of Cape Coast responded to Professor
Anim in a paid announcement. He stated:

The Director asserted: "Graduate teachers and
diploma holders have almost the same qualifica-
tion and the same job content." The Director con-
tradicts himself by stating that the graduates
can head institutions whereas the diplomates
cannot. If the two categories receive equal
training then where is the justification in the
diplomate not being able to head institutions
when graduates are present?

The Director asserted: "The Education Service
had indicated that if payment should be for its
job one does, the diplomate should be on the same
scale with the fresh graduates."

If equal payment is made on job done, why does
the Council not give Specialists Teaching in the

 

22Daily Graphic, 6 February, 1980.

 

118

same Secondary Schools the same pay as
diplomates since they have "almost. . .
the same job content"?

Why does the three—year post secondary
teacher teaching in the same institution not
get the same pay as the diplomates?

He stated: "Our system makes people feel
unless you hold a University degree you are
useless".

It is such a ruling body headed by a person
like the Professor himself which has made the
system what it is now. If it were not so, why
does the Ghana Education Service insist still
that no diplomates can head institutions or the
Ghana Education Service itself?

He Stated further: "Headmasters preferred to
have more diplomates in their institutions be-
cause they were more consciencious and stayed
longer in the service!

If Heads appreciate the effort of diplomates
better, this reflects rather negatively on the
kind of teachers the Ghana Education Service
makes of graduate teachers.

The Director-General issued a statement that reflected a
change of opinion on the preparation of graduate and

diploma teachers. A Daily Graphic news article reported:

 

The Office of the Director-General of the Ghana
Education Service (GES) has announced that the
content of the Diploma Course currently operated
by the Service is not the same as the content of
a first degree course in the universities.

A statement Signed by Miss Agnes A. Laryea,
acting Director of Education for the Director-
General explained that any impression to the
contrary which might have emanated from a recent
press conference by the Director-General is wrong
as a study of the syllabuses of the two courses
would clearly show. 4

The students were also active in putting pressure

on the government to end the strike. In a news article,

 

23
24

Daily Graphic, 27 February, 1980.

 

Daily Graphic, 26 February, 1980.

119
a student representative's Statement claimed:

We want to be educated like everybody else in
the society and so our fervent appeal goes

to all those who are concerned with this mat-
ter to speed up the process of solving the
problem. . . . 5

The article also reported:

Earlier, hundreds of placard bearing Stu-
dents had converged in front of the Ghana
National Cultural Centre, Kumasi from where
they went on a route march through the prin-
cipal streets.

Some of the placards read: "No Teachers,
No Examination", "We Owe The Right to Be
Educated, Nothing More, Nothing Less,"
”Improve Conditions Of Our Teachers," and
"Help The Teachers To Help Us."26

Students were not innocent of causing other prob-
lems during the school year. At one point, headmasters
themselves threatened to go on Strike because of student
behavior:

The Ghana National Association of Teachers

(GNAT), has expressed profound concern about

the manner in which students have been beating

up the heads of schools.

The Association has, therefore, warned

that unless the Students desist from their

behaviour, headmasters will have to withdraw

their services.

In December, the Graphic published an editorial entitled
"Students on the Rampage" and asked for all parties to
resolve the problems:

. . . . there is no denying the fact that
some students, especially those in secondary

 

 

25DailyGraphic, 6 March, 1980.
26Ibid.
27

Daily Graphic, 17 November, 1979.

120

schools have persistently exhibited negative
approach to problems confronting them on their
various institutions.

. . . it must be pointed out that it is the
height of immaturity for people fighting to
improve their conditions to destroy the little
that they have. . . .

. . . We would like to think that this deplorable
situation is a result of a break down in commun-
ication between the students and staff. . . .

. . . While we condemn the mob action approach by
Students in such matters we call on the Ministry
of Education and administrators. . . to remember
that after the riots, always come the sobering
realization of waste of both human and physical
resources. Nothing therefore beats jaw-jawing.

Secondary schools were also affected by a new govern-
ment policy on boarding fees as the government attempted
to cut costs in education. The Minister of Education, Dr.
Kwamena Ocran, made the policy speech during a prize day
ceremony in Cape Coast. The Graphic reported:

Parents will soon be paying two-thirds of the
total cost of boarding and lodging fees of
their wards in secondary schools as a short
term solution to the increasin expenditure
of the boarding school system.

The new policy had been recommended to the Minister several
months earlier by the Ghana Education Service:

The Governing Council of the Ghana Education
Service has recommended to the Government to
review its policy of subsidising fees of stu-
dents in boarding schools.

It is the view of the Council that the
present policy is "discriminatory."

Disclosing this in Kumasi yesterday, Mr.
Nicholas Asante, Ashanti Regional Director
of the Service, explained that under the
current system, "the government subsidises

 

28
29

Daily Graphic, 18 December, 1979.
Daily Graphic, 24 March, 1980.

121

meals for students in boarding schools, leav-
ing out the day students. . . .

. . "in certain villages in the country,
pupils in elementary schools sit on the floor
and use pieces of blocks as classroom tables
while a huge sum of money is being spent in
subsidising boarding fees."

The Graphic took a position on the issue when it pub-
lished a two-part editorial on the boarding fees contro-
versy. The first half of the editorial again sided with
the government:

The central question is: Are most parents
financially strong enough to pay their wards'
fees considering the generally low level of
economic activities and the fast rising cost
of living?. . .

. . . We must all admit that the load on gov-
ernment expenditure is increasing by leaps
and bounds and with each leap, the taxpayer
is bound to wince Since it is his pocket that
gets squeezed. . .

. . . It is the opinion of this paper that it
is about time the whole boarding school sys-
tem was phased out. With the general improve-
ment of the educational system and transpor-
tation parents would not bend over backwards
to send their wards to prestigious secondary
schools in far away places but be contented
with what they have near home.

The editorial on the following day discussed not only
boarding fees but the whole subject of scholarships.
The editorial concluded:

Quite understandably the plan aimed at

shifting two-thirds of boarding and lodging

fees in secondary schools to parents while

government pays the remaining one-third is
kicking up a lot of dust. . . .

 

30Daily Graphic, 27 October, 1979.
31

 

Daily Graphic, 25 MarCh, 1980.

 

122

. . . It is an open secret that the whole

CMB Scholarship Scheme, for instance is

fraught with loop-holes through which child-

ren of those who can afford to pay school

fees rather benefit while children of farmers
and other people whose incomes really need to

be subsidised, are left in the lurch. . . .

. . . We need to take a hard look at the

hefty educational bill; streamline scholarship
awards to benefit as many wards of under-
privileged parents who through various ways
amassed wealth at the expense of the State and
even those who through their own sweat and
using Ghana's resources have made it, pay for
their children's education. It would be a small
price to pay in face of the catastropic econgmic
burden Ghanaians are condemned to shoulder.3

Theme 2 - Systemic Problems
in Ghanaian Education

The Daily Graphic reported on many educational
problems during the period under review. There was an
abundance of articles calling on a change in educational
philosophy. Other articles desired a change in educa-
tional planning. One example of this was published

in a news article:

Contributing to a symposium on the theme "The
Educational Needs of the Child" in Accra last
Tuesday night, Mr. Ayikwei Bulley of the
Psychology Department regretted that Ghana
had since independence had as many as seven
educational plans which had all tried to
radically change the trend but had all failed
because they were not "based on any identifiable
philosophy or criterion to facilitate evaluation
of such programmes."

Ghana, he observed, has been following bits
and pieces of philosophies on educational plans

 

32DailyGraphic, 26 March, 1980.

123

without a comprehensive educational system
and this led to the hanging on of educa-
tional programmes.

The Graphic published a series of feature articles
that dealt with a particular education problem. The
first article discussed the declining social Status that
a graduate from universities possesses if he does not
have a job to correspond to his level of education. The
second article discussed problems in the examination sys-
tem. The third article espoused the view that the educa-
tional system needed a new ideological base, namely
socialism rather than elitism. The fourth article exam-
ined the aspects of elitism, particularly on the issue
of private prep schools versus public schools. The
author stated:

Any exhaustive study made on the Common
Entrance Examination over the past few years
would Show startling results of imbalance.

The reason is that the children of the rich

get the upper hand over the children of the
poor. In fact, Statistics could be produced

to prove that Common Entrance results favoured
children whose parents can afford the very high
fees charged by the private Special schools;
and generally such Schools are in the urban
areas.

Regrettably too, these are the children who
get the Scholarships. This means that the low
income group children were being effectively
excluded from admission to the best Secondary
Schools in the country, and from scholarships.

It is true that better qualified teaching,
rehousing, recreational facilities, etc. are
factors that influence a child's education.

But when it comes to the Common Entrance issue,

 

33DailyGraphic, 17 January, 1980.

 

124

these are not the causes of the imbalance. The
real cause is that two educational systems (the
private and the public Schools) operate with
different objectives in mind. The private
schools aim at and specialize in preparing their
pupils to pass the Common Entrance whilst the
public Schools aim at giving the pupils general
education. . . .

But the most shocking thing is that those
I have mentioned above are the very people who
never send their children to the public Schools
to get the very type of education they are ad-
vocating for. Instead, they chose to send their
wards to the special private Schools which spec-
ialize in preparing their pupils for the Common
Entrance Examinations. . . .

Our educational policydmakers advocate one
type of education for the public schools (and for
that matter the poor) while they prescribe another
type of education for their own childran. Is
this not a moral and social injustice? 4

In a letter to the editor, Yaw Adusei Nyarko of
Accra commented on the private/public school differences.
He claimed public school children were at a disadvantage
at exam time because they spent so much time preparing
for independence day celebrations, an event their private
school counterparts were exempt from:

It is really sad to observe that school
children in Accra have learned virtually no-
thing this term. Actual classroom.work got in-
terrupted because the teachers and their child-
ren were busy preparing for 6th of March acti-
vities. . .

The children take two good months to learn
and rehearse at the Independence Square. . . .

Finally, on the fateful 6th of March, these
children put up a Six-hour performance, and
their only reward is a bottle of Fanta or Coke
each, plus a handful of chips.

Having thus wasted almost the whole term, the

 

3"E. S. Bruku, "The Present Educational System:
What's Wrong With It?," Daily Graphic, 29 November, 1979.

 

125

children have less than three weeks to prepare
for the Common Entrance Examination.

On the other side of the coin, one would see
that pupils in 'Preparatory' Schools have this
term as the busiest period to prepare for the
same exam. As if that is not enough, it is
reliable learnt that the same public school
children will be invited to perform again on
Republic Day this year.

This year's parade, like all previous ones,
was watched by Ministers of State, diplomates,
distinguished guests, etc. etc. Fair enough.
But my question is: How many of these person-
alities have their children among those who
perform for them to watch?

The answer is 'None' because these big men
do not egucate their children in public
schools. 5

A further problem in the education system stemmed
from poor administration in the Ghana Education Service
(GES). The Graphic covered in detail the proceedings
of a commission set up to investigate the GES. The six-
member appointed Commission of Enquiry delved into such
issues as textbook shortages, misappropriation of funds,

and administrative incompetence.

Theme 3 - The Brain Drain
The departure from Ghana of many educated profes-
sionals and skilled laborers has caused an enormous prob-
lem, at least as it was presented in the Graphic. The
universities experienced a large turnover in lectures
during the late 1970's. In a full page feature article

written by Adu Gyamfi, he reported:

 

35Daily Graphic, 22 March, 1980.

126

Perhaps one would be alarmed by the figures
of lecturers who have left the service of the
University of Ghana, Legon, given by Dr.
Appianda Arthur (Nzema-East), during the debate
on the motion. He noted that between 1976/77
academic year and the 79/80 year there had been
228 teaching appointments at the university,
as against a loss of 283 lecturers and described
the Situation as "very pathetic." ,

Additionally, Dr. Arthur, himself a former
lecturer of the University, said 113 people who
had benefitted from the University's scholar-
ship programme to study aborad since the 1969/71
year had failed to return for appointment for
reasons of poor reward for lecturers. . .

The brain-drain is not peculiar to the
teaching profession as it affects other pro-
fessions - Medicine, Engineering, Nuraing,
Architecture, Accountancy and others.

Gyamifi pointed out that the "brain-drain" had a double

effect for, "the brain-drain deprives society of both

the original investment and the future contribution."37

Dwame Nyanteh had a statement published as a
paid announcement in.which he asked his countrymen some
pointed questions. The following are excerpts of his
half-page statement:

That a disastrous brain drain has hit the
nation, especially during the past two years
is commonplace. Everyday, in the papers,
several vacancies are advertised. The position
is particularly worse in our Universities. And
to think of it, we wonder where the over one
thousand graduates we turn out in our Universi-
ties every year, let alone those we sponsor in
foreign countries, go to. Of course, the
answer is also commonplace because everybody
knows that most of them are in neighbouring
countries, especially Nigeria. . . .

 

36
37

Daily Graphic, 19 March, 1980.

 

Ibid.

127

Our investigations also revealed that not all
lecturers who have left the service of the Uni-
versities have gone to Nigeria and abroad: a
host of them are in the country working at the
Corporations and other private Institutions. . .
. . .The lecturer who is on study leave (as
this training is called) can take his wife and
children along with him, all at the expense of
the university. When some of these lecturers
return home they only render one year's service
and then resign to join a corporation, obviously
for more pay. The question one may ask is
whether the Ghana Tourist Board or the National
Savings Bank or the Social Security and National
Insurance Trust need people with doctorate de-
grees? And if they do why don't they train
their own men? Can't the universities sue the
these (Sic) ungrateful people or ask the corpor-
ations concerned to refund the amount spent in
training these people (with interest, of course)
so that others who are prepared to train and re-
turn to render useful service to the universi-
ties can have the training?. . .

And worse still there are others who go on
study leave at the expense of the universities
and never return home when they finish their
courses. Most of these people either choose
to remain in the countries where they did their
course to work and earn more than they would
earn at home, or return to certain African
Universities to work.

What surprises us is that students in our
universities are aware of these unpatriotic acts
and yet they keep quiet. Why shouldn't students
demonstrate against such people? When they cry

"more blood" on industrialists and businessmen
whose activities they presume have contributed

to the poor state of our economy don't they at
the same time realise that such unpatriotic

acts by some of their own friends also have
helped in no small measure to ruin the economy?38

The Graphic was not silent on the issue of the
"brain drain" as it published no less than four editor-
ials in the space of five months. The first editorial,

entitled "Universities in Economic Development,"

 

38bai1y Graphic, 19 April, 1980.

 

128
presented the university as a crucial element in national
development:

The laudable aims of university training
has never been questioned the whole world over.
In fact in developed economies the universities
are the inevitable wheels of research on.which
technological advancement moves.

However, over the years developing countries
have faced a situation in which a great chasm
has been created between the objectives and
realities in the University institutions . . . .

Viewed against this background, we believe
that the proposal to set up an Agricultural
University should be expedited because we realise
that if after years of dismal food production
and a fast failing cocoa industry, only meaning-
ful research by dedicated agricultural scientists
with the full backing of the government may
finally do the trick.

Some questions may be asked: How does the
nation achieve this when graduates trained
locally with the taxpayers money, leave the
country in droves in search of greener pas-
tures? . . . .

Professor Bekoe may have hit the nail right
on the head when he observed that conditions of
service in the universities in the country
are not competitive enough to attract and keep
the staff they need to have.

Of course, it could also be argued that an
economy which is totering on the brink of col-
lapse can hardly step up the already high ex-
penditure on the Universities by improving
facilities and conditions for a section of the
pOpulation often accused of living in an "ivory
tower." Therein lies our national dilemma.

It is the opinion of the "Graphic" that the
direction in which the vital national assets in
the Universities can be fruitfully channelled
depends on how much pgsmium.the government of
the day puts on them.

The second editorial, "The Prime of Miss Ghana," was
published on independence day, and the editor mentioned

the problem of the brain drain:

 

39

 

Daily Graphic, 3 December, 1979.

129

The quality of life in Ghana at indepen-
dence was the envy of all our neighbours and
it was no wonder that this country was the
Mecca to most African nations, nor was it sur-
prising that non-Africans looked up to Ghana as
a yardstick in judging all things African . . .

Now, of course, things are different, the
greatest resource that the nation has, manpower,
appears to have lost confidence in their very
heritage. Ghanaians, skilled and unskilled,
professionals of all kinds leave Ghana every
day in droves and are willing to live under
humiliating circumstances in countries which
hitherto thia did not consider even worthy
of a visit.

The final two editorials were published as two parts,
both entitled, "The Other Side of the Brain Drain Issue."
The first editorial remarked on the expense of the
scholarship program.and castigated students who were
taking advantage of the system:

However, the "Graphic" would like to review
this issue of brain drain which is by no means
peculiar to Ghana, from a slightly different
perspective - the huge cost to the nation of
foreign exchnage involved in training students
outside the country and the relatively little
benefits the economy derives from that supreme
sacrifice.

We would like to submit that the whole far-
cical arrangement begins and ends at the Scho-
larships Secretariat where applications of all
students to be trained with government funds or
under foreign government assistance abroad are
channelled.

Of course, some students who know the whole
gamut of obsolete regulations and the loop-holes
in the system never fail to exploit them while
the officials look on helplessly. . . .

Take the case of those we can conveniently
refer to as "Professional" Students. Those in
this group have been attending colleges for as
long as 10 years in some cases and are, quite

 

40Daily Graphic, 6 March, 1980.

 

130

frankly in no hurry to complete their courses.
After wasting government funds for many years
some decide to pay their own fees, with some of
them sponsored by their parents. Of course,
with their documents backed by impressive signa-
tures and official stamps from their "schools"
the Secretariat endorses quarterly remittances
of foreign exchange and this money only goes to
increase their purchasing power, not for know-
ledge, but for frivolous life-styles.

It is when these "professional” students
manage to pass their exams at last and, together
with other students, write to Scholarships
Secretariat stating their intentions to come
home that the joke really begins.

They are not only allocated plane tickets
but also a huge shipping tonnage to bring their
belongings home. On arrival at the Kotoka
International Airport, some Ghanaians born and
bred here then make such ridiculous demands as
accomodation in a hotel. The temporary accomo-
dation sometimes runs into months and thousands
of cedis all at tax payer's expense. . . .

One interesting aspect of the foreign ex-
change component of education in this country
is that it is not given the proper assessment
in the total estimate in the annual budget.
Opinion has been expressed in certain quarters
that if this is done, it would be realized that
Education takes quite really a hefty chunk out
of the total annual expenditure in the budget.41

The second editorial criticized the Scholarships Secre-
tariat for allowing the students to abuse the bursary
system:

It has for a long time become a standing
joke among students and past beneficiaries
of government scholarships that due to poor
monitoring facilities and abysmal lack of sta-
tistics the Scholarships Secretariat has no
inkling as to the number of students past and
present who benefited from government funds
and had executed their bonds. . . .
Admittedly, the signing of a bond per se,
does not mean much since they are broken
with impunity all the time. But we maintain
that had the Scholarships Secretariat insisted

 

 

41Daily Graphic, 15 April, 1980.

131

on the signing of the bonds, and followed
them up by monitoring students under bonds
and prosecuting those who break them with-
out proper explanations, the unsavoury re-
percussions the country is now confronted
with would have somehow been abated. . . .

To make bonds more enforceable, it is
our opinion that those who are trained over-
seas and therefore involve the government
in foreign exchange, must be made to pay
the cost of their education in FOREIGN
EXCHANGE or at least the penalty on the bond
in hard currency.

This, coupled with stricter measures to
ensure that students do not break their bonds
with impunity simply because the Scholarships
Secretariat is a toothless bulldog would go
a long way to reverse the present trend.4

Summary
The year of the third republic, 1979, reflected

some major differences in the Graphic from the earlier
period of 1957. The fact that it had become completely
government owned and operated is a possible explanation
for these changes. The nature of educational news re-

porting changed as letters to the editor were rare or

 

were notgpublished at all. The few that were published

 

tended to support government_policies. Private citizens

 

had to buy advertising space in the form of paid
announcements to present their views.

The data analysis results and the themes both EE'
flected the severe effects a poor economy had on the

education system. The system had to adjust to new

 

 

42Daily Graphic, 18 April, 1980.

 

132

realities in the life of the nation. This sharply con-
trasts with the expansionary era at the time of inde-
pendence. As 1957 was a year of national beginning
and hope, 1979 was a year of hardship and uncertainty.

A final comparison of the themes in both eras
reveals that the teaching profession was the only theme
common to both years. In each of the earlier and lat-
ter periods, the teaching profession was still trying
to clarify its own relationships either to society or

within the overall system of education.

CHAPTER VI

OIL WEALTH AND NATIONAL PRIORITIES
IN NIGERIA

The Setting

 

During the two decades after independence, Nigeria
endured a tumultuous period of political and economic
change. As in the case of Ghana, Nigeria's first repub-
lic was also brought to an end by the military. In
January of 1966, a military coup, under the leadership
of General Ironsi, toppled the civilian regime. Ironsi
abolished the federal system of government much to the
dismay of many Nigerians. Within six months another
military coup ousted Ironsi. In a rapidly deteriora—
ting situation, General Gowon assumed control and restored
the federal system. While the Northern Region accepted
his leadership, the Eastern Region did not.

The Gowon regime weathered a turbulent period in
the late 1960's as the country suffered through a civil
war over the secession of the Eastern Region. After the
war, Gowon was instrumental in initiating restoration
and reconstruction efforts in an attempt to reintegrate
the Ibos into national life. His attempts were laudable
as Diamond states:

133

134

The postwar policy of reconciliation and recon-
struction pursued by Head of State, General
Yakubu Gowon went a long way toward healing

the wounds of the conflict and reintegrating
the Igbo people into the social and economic
life of Nigeria.

Gowon's tenure as national leader came to an end in
1975 as the military under General MDhammed, took over
to install fresh political reforms:

A third military government came into being

in a bloodless coup on July 29, 1975. It

announced a four-year programme that would

terminate with the return to democratically

elected government and the shifting of the

Federal capital from Lagos to Abuja in the

central part of the country in response to

popular demands. It also created seven new

states to make Nigeria a federation of 19

states.2
Unfortunately, Muhammed was killed in an unsuccessful
coup in 1976. His successor, ". . .Lt. General Olusegun
Obasanjo, formerly Chief of Staff, continued the pro-
grammes, but not the pace, of General Murtala Muhammed."3
The military government allowed Nigerians to elect mem-
bers to a constituent assembly for the purpose of drafting
a new constitution. The new constitution represented a
considerable break from.the experiences of the past

civilian government. The first civilian government had

 

followed a British-oriented parliamentary system while

lax

 

1Larry Diamond, "Shagari's First Two Years," Africa
Report 27 (January-February 1982), p. 4.

 

2"Nigeria -- The First Year in Office of President
Shehu Shagari," West Africa, 29 September 1980, p. 1895.
3

Africa South of the Sahara 1981-1982, 11th ed.,
s.v. "Nigeria."

 

‘0'

135
the constitution of the 2nd Republic adopted a pres-
idential system somewhat based on the American model.

The document bears striking resemblance to

the U.S. Constitution, providing for a pop-

ularly elected executive president and bi—

cameral legislature, an independent judiciary,

and stringent separation of powers, state

governors apd legislators are to be elected

separately.

The presidential election was held in 1979, and a
former minister of finance during the first republic was
elected. ". . .Alhaji Shehu Shagari was sworn in on
October lst, 1979, as Nigeria's first executive Presi-
dent. The new constitution came into force and military
rule was ended."5

In the economic realm, Nigeria had changed dra-
matically since the early days of independence. It was
a result of the exploitation of large oil reserves off
Nigeria's coast. Oil became an important source for
revitalizing the post-war economy of the 1970's and pro-
vided the new civilian government with a viable economic
base.6

Oil opened new economic vistas as it rapidly

changed Nigeria's economy. According to Arnold:

 

-
4Richard Deutsch, "The Nigerian Example," Africa
Report 24 (July-August 1979), p. 47.

5
6

Africa South of the Sahara.

 

Ibid.

136

Between 1972 and 1974 oil transformed the

economy and changed a position of chronic

deficits into one of almost unmanageable

surpluses so that by the latter year the

surplus on balance of payments had risen

to the all time high of 3.1 billion.
The rapid influx of capital led to large public spend-
ing and this was not without its problems. One problem
has been clearly outlined by Kilby:

Clearly every country has a limit to the

rate at which it can effectively digest new

investment or expand public services. In

racing far beyond that limit two things can

occur.

First, the infrastructure. . . is over-

loaded. . .; and there is skimping on

pre-project planning. . . .

Second, spending bids up prices sharply,

spreading inflationgry distortions across

the entire economy.
The Nigerian government, realizing the problem of the
over-loaded infrastructure, depended on expatriates to
manage several of the functions, particularly in the
transportation sector. Expatriate management firms
operated the airlines, railroads, inland waterways and
harbors. Many of the construction and agribusiness
projects were operated by foreign contractors. This
has led to a large turnover in cash for much of it left
the country as fast as it came in, but little affected

the productive sectors of the economy. Kilby notes

 

7Arnold, Modern Nigeria, p. 57.

8Peter Kilby, "What Oil Wealth Did to Nigeria,"
Wall Street Journal, 25 November, 1981.

 

 

137
that, "Non-oil exports have declined in real terms by
some 60% since 1964."9 The decline in agricultural pro-
duction, partly due to urban drift, was substantial.

Nigeria fed itself until 1975 and exported
significant quantities of palm oil and ground
nuts. But, in the last three years, Nigeria
has been forced to import increasing amounis
of food, $l,5 billion worth in 1978 alone.

Oil has had an enormous effect on the national outlook
towards development. Perhaps Arnold sums up the effect
best when he states:

Oil wealth has brought to Nigeria vast pos-
ibilities of breaking out of our old pover-

ty and bringing development to all its people,
but it has also brought with it many problems:
maldistribution of incomes and rewards with
their accompanying political and social com-
plications; rising living costs; widespread
corruption; violent crime: and a spirit of
indicipline (sic) that may easily arise when
a country thinks it can solve all its prop-
lems with money -- in this case from oil. 1

In the context of an expanding economy, education
likewise expanded in response to increased private and
social demands.

In the post-war era, development has been

made possible by the 'oil boom' and, as has

been shown, great hope and a very large

proportion of natural resources are devoted
to education. The most outstanding project

 

9
10

Kilby, "What Oil Wealth."

Deutsch, "Nigeria's Example," p. 50.

11Arnold, MOdern Nigeria, p. 63.

 

138

is the UPE scheme, which is supplemented by
massive expansion at other levels.

UPE, or Universal Primary Education, had been an
ongoing experiment in the southern sections of the
country since the 1950's. Based on these experiences,
the country decided to implement a national program.

The launching of the UniverSal Primary Educa-
tion (UPE) programme in 1976 marked a new era
in the history of education in Nigeria. In
an attempt to provide free primary education
for all school age children irrespective of
the economic or social conditions of their
birth, education was formally recognized as
the right rathig than the priviledge of
six-year-olds.

The UPE scheme was an attempt to redress the educational
imbalance between the Muslim.north and the non-Muslim
south. Bray and Cooper explain:
One basic aim of UPE is the elimination of
the political and social problems that have
arisen from the unbalanced educational de-
velopment in the country. Historically, the
southern and urban areas of the country have 14
received much more education than the others.
The disparities between the regions were enormous in
the past. Csapo notes that, "Prior to the UPE scheme,

in some regions enrolments of primary school age

 

12T. M. Bray and G. R. Cooper, "Education and
Nation Building in Nigeria since the Civil War," Compara-
tive Education 15 (March 1979), p. 39.

13Marg Csapo, "Religious, Social and Economic Fac-
tors Hindering the Education of Girls in Northern
Nigeria," Comparative Education 17 (September 1981), p.
311.

 

 

14
p. 34.

Bray and Cooper, "Education and Nation Building,"

139
children approximated 100% while in the northern pro-
vince it was as little as 5%.15
Thepprimagy level of education was not the only

beneficiary of a liberal educationppolicy. Post-primary

 

levels were given increased financial assistance as
public pressure demanded more from government coffers:
These new measures included. . . a drastic
reduction in secondary grammar schools tui-
tion, boarding and lodging fees. Education
was made free at universities, teacher-train-
ing colleges, colleges of education, and
colleges of technology. With further pres-
sures from the public, students, and politi-
cians, tuition fees were abolished in the
secondary grammar schools effective April
1, 1979. . . .16
The expansion of the universities was another venture
financed by the oil boom. Between 1960 and 1976, twelve
new universities were established. However, rapid ex-
pansion brought about problems in quality control.
There were shortages of adequately trained teaching
staff, particularly with the addition of five new uni-
versities in 1976 alone.17 Equal access to universities

has also been a problem in Nigerian education. The

 

15
p. 311.

16E.D. Anusionwu and V.P. Diejomaoh, "Education &
Income Distribution in Nigeria," in The Political Econo-
my of Income Distribution in Nigeria, eds. Henrnyrenen
and V.P. Diejomaoh (New York: HOlmes and Meier Publishers,
1981). P. 375.

Csapo, "Religious, Social and Economic Factors,"

 

 

17"Blueprint for Education--III: Funds needed for
University Expansion," West Africa, 3 December 1979, p.
2235.

 

140

use of quotas for determining undergraduate admissions
became a major policy issue in the 1970's. Bray and
Cooper explain:

In recent years, there has been particularly

heated discussion over the merits and demerits

of a quota wywtem in the universities. Many

northerners have been anxious that the new

univerisities established in the North should

not be filled with southerners, and so argue

for a quota. Opponents point out that quotas

limit competition, which lowers the quality

of output and permits inferior students to is

admitted instead of the more talented ones.
A problem in implementing the quota system surfaced as
states were given equal enrollment allotments regardless
of the state's population. A densely populated state
received the same as a state with less population. A
possible solution could have been to base the quota on
a proportionate scale, depending upon the states rela-
tive size to each other in population. This involved a
deeper problem.because, "The problem encountered by a
proportionate quota would be that only very approximate
population data exist. At present, all planning is based
on th 1963 census which was of doubtful accuracy, and
states with lower population figures are likely to con-

19 .
." The census issue has been ex-

test its use. . .
tremely sensitive one for the lasttwo decades. Therefore,

a proportional quota system was not politically expedient.

 

18Bray and COoper, "Education and Nation Building,"
pp. 38-390

19Ibid., p. 39.

141

Admissions were a cause for acute anxiety and con-
troversy. The government body set up to oversee admis-
sions, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board,
JAMB, was not effective in carrying out its duties at
the national level. "In 1980, the Joint Admission and
Matriculation Board was abolished and autonomy restored
to individual universities in the matter of student
admissions."20

Finally, universities were subject to attack on
the grounds they perpetuated the welfare of the elite at
the expense of the uneducated poor. The expansion of
universities during the decade of the seventies was a
partial response to the question of elitism. Elitism
was a major policy issue through the decade:

. . . there is growing uneasiness even among

academics themselves about the ivory tower

nature of Nigerian universities. These uni-

versities have been well described as islands

of privilege surrounded by a sea of poverty.

How to reshape the universities to reach out 21

to the masses is the major issue of the 1970's.

In summary, the setting found in 1979 was a situa-
tion dominated by dynamic change that had been occurring

in Nigerian society. Politically, the nation returned

to a civilian government somewhat patterned after the

 

20

21A. Babs Fafunwa and John W. Hanson, "The Post-
Independence Nigerian Universities," in University Reform,
ed. Philip G. Altbach (Cambridge, Mass.:’Schenkman Pub-
lishing Company, 1974), p. 114.

Africa South of the Sahara.

142
United States model. Economically, the government was
spending large amounts of oil revenue on public develop-
ment projects. Educationally, the new found oil pros-

perity increased popular demand for more schooling.

Data Analysis

 

The newshole portion of the space scan sample con-

stituted 46.2% for the Daily Times, a decrease of only

 

one percent from 1960. The advertising section was
53.8% or a one percent increase over 1960. The topic
categories were quite similar to 1960 (see TABLE 15).
The government category increased from 6.3% in
1960 to 15.0% in 1979. This may be a result from the

government owning a partial share of the Daily Times.

 

The other change came about in the economic development
category as it decreased from 19.3% in 1960 to 14.4% in
1979. This is an interesting decrease since oil had
transformed the economy in the decade of the seventies.
Education registered 7.4% of the newshole. This is

an increase over the 6.0% of 1960. The mean number of
pages per issue was 29.3 with a 32 page issue being the
standard size throughout the year. In advertisements,
non-classified decreased from 83.2% in 1960 to 70.2% in
1979. Classifieds decreased from 12.6% in 1960 to 3.0%
in 1979. The big change came in an increase of paid
announcements in 1979. The first year had 4.2% in paid

announcements while 1979 had 26.8% in paid announcements

TABLE 15

143

SPACE SCAN SAMPLE OF THE
DAILY TIMES, 1979-1980

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mean No; Mean Col. % Of

Form Of Items Inches Col. Inches
Newshole:

Regular 22.7 336.0 33.0%

Domestic-Foreign 17.2 201.8 19.9

Government 9.7 152.0 15.0

Social 11.5 180.3 17.7

Economic Development 9.0 146.2 14.4
Total 70.1 1016.3 100%
Advertisements:

Non-Classified 37.8 829.2 70.2%

Classified 5.3 36.5 3.0

Paid Announcements 14.5 316.0 26.8
Total 57.6 1181.7 100%

 

 

given over to education.
The general content

dailies out of a possible

age for the year was 94.6%.

sample coded and analyzed 297

314 issues.

items coded in the Daily Times in 1979.

 

The effective cover-
There were 1355 total education

This represents a

144
13.8% increase over 1960 in the number of items coded as
educational. The item total was broken down into 63.0%
being event-oriented and 37.0% being issue-oriented.
This represents a 15.6% increase in issue-oriented items
over 1960. The issue-oriented items were broken down into
60.8% calling for change (compared to 48% in 1960), 18.7%
being positive (compared to 31.6%), and 20.5% being nega—
tive (compared to 20.4%). A noticeable difference in the
two years is in the increase of items calling for change
in 1979 and the decrease in the positive category in 1979.
The change category was further broken down into 63% wanting
institutional change (compared 54.2% in 1960), 19.3% want-
ing change in personnel (compared to 15.8%). A major de-
crease is noted in the instructional category of change as
1979 dropped off one-third from 1960. The majority of
change issues centered around the concerns caused by expan-

sion in the education sector. Concern was raised over such

 

issues as lack of scholarships, government policies, and
allocation of funds. In comparison to the Ghanaian educa-
tional situation, Nigeria's educational situation, as re-
flected in the Timgg in 1979, was quite different. Instead
of dealing with a flatering economy that could barely de-
liver basic educational supplies or finance schools, Nigeria's
oil prosperity caused increased demand for educational ser-
vices. The difference seems to be that the readers of the
Graphic in Ghana wanted change for survival while the readers

of the Times wanted change for expansion. Both these concerns

 

145

for educational change tend to demonstrate the deep

interrelationship that exists between the educational

and economic sectors in the societies of Ghana and

Nigeria.

The educational news form results are reported in

TABLE 16 along with data from the first year.

The major

difference in 1979 appears to be in the decrease in

feature articles and an increase in editorials.

TABLE 16

EDUCATIONAL NEWS BY FORM

 

 

 

 

1960-1961 , 1979-1980
FOrm No. Of 7 No. Of 7
Items ° Items °

News 915 78.3% 1072 79.2%
Letters 100 8.6 132 9.7
Features 48 4.1 35 2.6
Editorials 9 .8 36 2.7
Other 96 8.2 79 5.8
Total 1168 100% 1354 100%

 

 

 

 

 

 

The total reporting of educational news by educa-

tional category is recorded in TABLE 17. The table com-
pares written and photographic coverage of 1960 with
1979. There appears to be little improvement over the

disproportionate reporting of the higher and secondagy

categories of 1960.

 

146

The two categories of teacher

training and vocational both declined in written cover-

age but increased in photographic coverage.

The in-

creases in the primary category can be attributed to

the interest in the UPE scheme.

Overall, the data in TABLE 17 reflect that educa-

tional news reporting still is biased towards the higher

and secondary categories.

This reveals that the Times

still reported an elitist orientation in their educa-

tional news coverage in 1979.

TABLE 17

COMPARATIVE GCS DATA

 

 

 

1960-1961 1979—1980
Educational
Category % of Writ- % of Photo. % of Writ- % of PhotQ

ten Items Items ten Items Items
Higher 52.6% 72.2% 47.7% 48.8%
Secondary 26.0 17.5 32.2 30.0
Teacher-
Training 5.5 1.6 5.2 6.2
Vocational 7.2 3.2 5.4 5.0
Primary 8.7 5.5 9.5 10.0

 

 

 

 

 

The frequency of educational news reporting is

shown in Figure 7.

for the year but excludes photogrphaic items.

The data includes all written items

The sharp

rise from November to December reflects the end of the

147
school term as graduates and speeches dominated December.
The sharp decrease from February to March reflects a
database problem rather than a decline in educational
reporting. Half of the issues for the month of March
were unavailable either in microfilm or in newsprint.
Thirteen of the total seventeen issues unavailable for

the entire year were in March.

Fig. 7 Frequency of educational news reporting by
month, 1979-1980.

 

200
180
160
140
120
100
80
6O
40

ITEMS

II1TITIIII1llllll1—U

 

 

 

148

Thematic Analysis

 

The reporting of educational issues in 1979 was
similar to the reporting of 1960 except that in 1979
there was much more reporting. The issues evoked just
as strong a response in 1979 as they did in 1960.

There were many minor themes that had significance
on a national level. Such issues included unemployed
school-leavers, student discipline and the teaching pro-
fession. Other concerns included the need for political
education and technical education. At one point, Nigerian
students in the United States were not receiving their
bursaries from the Nigerian government. Another concern
revolved around University expansion.

The Roman Catholic Church wanted the return of
some of their schools that had been taken over by the
government during the civil war. This created no small
opposition. But all these areas of education were over-
shadowed by five extensively reported issues. These
comprise our thematic analysis.

Theme 1 - Public Versus
Private Primary Schools

The elections of 1979 included state elections and
Alhaji Lateef Jakande was elected governor of Lagos State.
A campaign promise of Jakande was to turn all unregistered
private primary schools over to government control. He

claimed they were bilking parents of money in return for

149
inferior education. The issue surfaced after Jakande's
administration sent a letter to all private school head-
masters explaining that it would be illegal to charge
school fees for next school year. This was met with
increasing opposition from manifold interest groups. The
Timgs published articles of opposing parties that in-
cluded the Lagos Parents Association of Private Primary
Schools, Lagos branch of Nigerian Union of Teachers, the
heads of international schools, and religious groups.
The controversy was fueled by Jakande's statements about
the quality of private education:

In another college he did not visit,
Alhaji Jakande said the man in charge was
the proprietor, headmaster, registrar and
bursar, collecting N95 each per term from
3,230 pupils yearning for education. "Not
satisfied with that, he charged them.N10
each for water before they could take their
terminal examination," the Governor asserted.22

But the Governor said he knows others
that are anything but primary schools.
"I've been to one where the headmaster
has never been a teacher."

At Orile Agege, there's a school he said,
that has eight to 10 classrooms with about
80 pupils in each class and only six teachers.
The owner used to be a clerk in WAEC.

"That's the closest he ever got to teach-
ing and thg school is as good as a poultry
shed. . ." 3

Governor Jakande had told the newsmen
then that his government was abolishing

 

22
23

Daily Times, 17 December, 1979.

 

Daily Times, 3 January, 1980.

 

150

private schools in order to bring equality
to the primary schools educational system
in the state.

He said, "In the past, Ministry of Educa-
tion officials gave priority attention to
anywhere they had their children and many who
ought to inspect and make provisions for the
numerous needs of the public schools had felt
less concerned because their own children
were not there."24

In support of Jakande, a feature article was pub-

lished that placed part of the blame upon government

policy makers:

One of the immediate advantages of taking
over private schools is the fact that the "big
men" including the permanent secretaries, the
university dons and the politicians will have
no choice but to send their children to the
state schools. With proper arrangements, the
children of these 'big men' will go to the
same schools with the children of the masses
and so the 'big men' will be forced to take
keen interest in the progress of all the
schools. In this way, the children of all
classes of the society will mix.

There were others who supported the Lagos govern-

ment's move to control the schools:

'The idea is good after all, children of
both the poor and the rich would be able to
learn how to read and write together.'. . . .
Government should take over all of them,

they are just making money. Some of them
are good no doubt but a great majority of
them are set up purely to make money. 6

 

24Daily Times, 7 April, 1980.

 

 

25Oyeniyi Popoola, "The Case Against Private Schools,’
Daily Times, 30 April, 1980.
26

Daily Times, 7 April, 1980.

 

151
In opposition to Jakande, some felt that the move
to control private schools was a violation of a basic
constitutional right:

'Why should anybody stop me from spending
my money the way I want? Why should I send
my children to a public school where the right
kind of attention would not be given?‘

The question boils down to one of the choice
and how much of our right to choose. Is the
Lagos State government willing to curtail to
achieve its objectives. True enough the UPN
government of Jakande had a massive and deci-
sive mandate from all of us in the state. That
mandate was to enable him to improve the cir-
cumstances of our citizens. It was not a man-
date to set up a totalitarian regime which de-
cides where I must live, who my friends would
be and how I must spend.my hard earned income.
Our mandate to Jakande was to enable him to
put everyone in a position where he would have
a choice in life.2

. . One of the major tenets of a democratic
society is the provision of equal opportuni-
ties to all members of its citizenry. In this
sense, the free educational policy, which gives
equal educational opportunities to thousands
of school-age children, is a laudable democratic
act. But by the same token, Nigerian citizens
should not be denied their freedom of choice -
an equally important democratic provision. It
is for this reason that we support the estab-
lishment of private schools for those who may
wish to exercise this freedom, for whatever
reasons.

The issue had a further problem as it also dealt

with a federal—state relationship. In a feature article,

 

27
28
29

Daily Times, 7 April, 1980.

 

Daily Times, 3 June, 1980.

 

Daily Times, 5 December, 1979.

 

152
Dr. Gandonu explained that such a move by the state gov-
ernment might not be appropriate:
About 94% of properly run private primary
schools in Lagos State are in the Federal
enclave and variously constituted as inter-
national, diplomatic, community, army, univer-
sity and, federal school but all providing es-
sential service to the community they serve.
Their total abolition by a state government of 30
fixed tenure is neither necessary nor feasible.
President Shagari issued a statement that criticized the
Governor and praised the rights of the private schools.
Finally, the case was settled in court after the
Roman Catholic Church sued the State. The court ruled
that Jakande's administration had acted unconstitutionally
and declared the private school takeover to be illegal.
Theme 2 - University Admissions
and Inequality
The major issue concerning higher education in 1979,
as reported in the press, dealt with the federal govern-
ment's policy on admissions. The Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board, JAMB, came under hearing attack,
especially from letters addressed to the editor. A letter
written by S. Salami of Ibadan stated:
I will like to comment on the performances
of JAMB since its birth.
I think it is time someone told JAMB it is

creating a lot of problems for the candidates

of this great country.
It is not an overstatement to say that JAMB

 

30A. Gandonu, "Way Out of the Impasse," Daily Times,
5 May, 1980.

153

has outlived its usefulness. It has failed
woefully in its performances for the past
two years.

Formerly I thought it was established to
reduce the problem of candidates.

It will be noticed that on the JAMB form
students are told their first and second courses
and also their first, second and third choices
of universities. But JAMB does not consider
candidates for the second or third.

Rather they consider you for what you did
not fill on the form. The civglian regime
should see to the end of JAMB.

Cyril O. Uramu of the University of Ife questioned the
correctness of admitting less-qualified students over
more qualified:

The only quarrel, I think, we should have
with JAMB is this case of 'educationally dis-
advantaged' areas. What we are yet to know
is how much of the 'cutting of throat' of the
innocent candidates from the so-called educa-
tionally advantaged areas has taken place in
sacrifice to students from educationally back-
ward states.

It is, indeed, unfortunate that students
from educationally better off states should
be made to give their ears for an offense
for which only history and civilisation could
be blamed.

The civilian regime will do well to review
this 'rotten,' parochial policy. We should
not expect to harmonise education, gevelopment
or civilisation in all the states.3

Adebayo Giwa of Zaria expressed his disfavor with the
admissions system:
Justice and fairplay even demand that
any student who is born and live continuously

for over 10 years in any State of the feder-
ation should automatically claim and be

 

31DailygTimes, 19 October, 1979.
32

 

Daily Times, 12 October, 1979.

 

154

entitled to, all the educational privileges
of the states, in which the parents have
always discharged their civic responsibilities.
Unless this is done, some Nigerians will
continue to be treated like bats and our hope
to build one nation bound in freedom, faith
and unity, will be a sham. The earlier this
injustice is corrected the better it will be
for everybody.33

Chris Funmilola Akinlosotu of the University of Lagos
claimed the admissions policy violated the principles
of meritocracy:

Our policy makers have ostracised the age-
long and world acknowledged principle of
meritocracy. Do we have to abandon merito-
cracy at this crucial stage of our develop-
ment? This is a big question we all have to
address to ourselves.

The new policy which states that 20 per
cent be based on merit, 50 per cent on equal
state basis and 30 per cent on local interest
is a complete sham and is uncalled for. We
cannot afford to sacrifice meritocracy for
local interest. This will surely mar our
country's reputation for academic prowess. . . .

Quota system is not the solution to educa-
tional imbalance. What can be more respon-
sible for a fallen standard of education than
the 'unholy' quota system?

It is not shameful to do away with a can-
didate with as high as 80 per cent and select
one with 50 per cent?3

In support of the quota system operated by JAMB,
Eugene Onwumere of Yabo wrote the only letter to the
editor in favor of quotas. His position reflected the

fact that his state did not have a university:

 

33Daily Times, 15 April, 1980.

 

34Dailleimes, 18 August, 1980.

155

It's alright for the State government to
appeal to the federal government not to scrap
JAMB because it surely placed Imo State which
has no university of her own on a dangerous
disadvantage but all the same, we must certain-
ly accept that this is a nation without con-
science. For this reason any appeal from Imo 35
State Government will as usual go on deaf ears.

The Daily Times was not silent on the issue and in

 

an editorial stated, after some political analysis, that
JAMB had not worked out and should be replaced:

AS it turned out, JAMB was unable even to
certify candidates efficiently enough, nor
was it empowered to impose its decisions on
any dissenting university. The outcome was
that the northern states denounced it for
insensitivity to their educational needs,
while the southern states charged it with
operating an admission policy that was pre-
judicial to their interests.

The one thing everyone seems agreed upon
is that JAMB should be scrapped.3

A news article in June related that the National Assembly
had a bill before it to terminate JAMB's existence:

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation
Board, (JAMB), is reaching the end of its
existence as a bill to terminate its life
was tabled at the National Assembly yester-
day.

Its functions are to be taken over by the
various universities, if the bill sails
through.37

 

35
36
37

Daily Times, 19 April, 1980.

 

Daily Times, 14 December, 1979.

 

Daily Times, 11 June, 1980.

 

156
Theme 3 - Problems in the
Examination System

The West African Examination Council came into ex-
istence in 1952 to provide examination services for
Nigeria, Gold Coast, the Gambia, and Sierra Leone. Each
country had national office which conducted WAEC affairs.
During the decade of the seventies, some suggested that
Nigeria was well ahead of the other three countries cOn—
cerning exam malpractice and leakages. In January of
1980, the Nigerian House of Representatives appointed
a commission for the purpose of investigating examina-
tion malpractices. The commission, known as the Sogbetun
Tribunal, released its findings in a report to Congress

on July lst. The Daily Times reported in a news arti-

 

cle some of the reasons for the leakages by the Tribunal:

On some of the reasons for the leakages,
the committee said some workers who handled
live questions committed them to memory and
wrote them down when they got home.

Another named source of leakage were the
banks. The committee said junior bank
officials got hold of live questions in the
'strong room' and sold them.to candidates. . .

The committee said the threat of demotion
of headmasters whose schools performed badly
in WASC examination should stop.

This was because headmasters 'threatened
in that way may prefer to leak examination
questions to their pupils ragher than face
the indignity of demotion.'3

 

38Daily Times, 2 July, 1980.

 

157
Inefficiency was another problem within the exam-
ination system. Adefefioye Oyesakin, of the University
of Lagos, wrote a letter to the editor describing what
he apparently believed to be a common problem:

When eventually the result is published, all
sorts of anomalies usually surface candidates
who did not sit for certain papers may be cred-
ited with distinctions on such papers, some
brilliant students fail while many poor ones
pass. The general belief now is that the scripts
are never marked and the grade a candidate
attains depends on his or her connections.39

Inefficiency led to delays and this was not popular with
the public either. Akinkunmi Akinade Ashiru of Yabo
wrote a letter to the editor deploring the WAEC's laxity
in returning exam results:

If I heard correctly over the air, the sum-
mary of the latest WAEC results is as follows:
156,000 candidates sat for the WASC examination,
114,000 candidates had their results released
27,000 candidates results withheld for exam
malpractices. Therefore, 15,000 candidates
results are yet to be released (if my mathe-
matics is okay).

The most important thing to note here and
from the above analysis is the results of the
15,000 candidates yet to be released. What on
earth can one adduce for the delay? Why should
these candidates suffer from.the delay in return-
ing marked scripts, if at all they have been
marked? Why did the council not forsee this
pitfall before October when admissions into 40
moSt institutions of higher learning are over?

The Sogebetun Tribunal recommended a change in exam-

ination methods. It recommended a method of "continuous

 

39Daily Times, 29 May, 1980.
40

 

Daily Times, 26 February, 1980.

 

158
assessment" that would include an assessment of the
student's final three years of school besides a final
exam at the end of the last year. In a Tlmgp editorial,
an explanation was presented as to how a continuous
system would work:

By this system, the cumulative perfor-
mances of students in their last three
years in school will constitute 25 per
cent of the total aggregate in the West
African School Certificate examination.
And the final year examination result
will for? 75 per cent of the overall
grading. 1

The editor, in the same editorial, did not refrain from
giving his viewpoint as to the proposed system's chances
of success:

The problem as it appears to be essen-
tially a human factor. The solution must
therefore be found in the attitudes which
the students, the teachers and the staff
of examinating bodies bring to examinations.

The findings and recommendations of Mr.
Justice Sogbetun on examination leakages
suffice to plug tight the loop-holes which
allow for lapses in the WAEC's handling
of examinations.

To apply the continuous assessment sys-
tem will only increase the mounting prob—
lems of the West African Examinations
Council.

The problem of examination malpractices
cannot be solved by this system.4

 

41
42

Daily Times, 4 July, 1980.

 

Ibid.

159

Theme 4 - Secondary Boarding
School Controversy

The UPN governors in Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, and
Bendel states decided to phase out the boarding house
system in their secondary schools. A news article re-
ported that the governor of Oyo state, Bola Ige, favored
a progressive phase out of the system. He was visited
by a delegation of the Parent-Teachers Association to
ask the governor to reconsider:

The association explained that boarding
houses would minimise the effects of fre-
quent transfer of parents and promote the
security and safety of the children.

Replying, Governor Ige said that his govern-
ment did not intend to go back on its de-
cision to phase out the boarding system be-
cause according to him, 'it is an educational
phenomenon that is unfair to contemporary
Nigerian society.‘

He said his government would rather pro-
vide boarding facilities for all children
instead of encouraging the continued exis—
tence 25 the system to the advantage of just
a few.

The issue had strong political overtones as the
five governors all belonged to the same party and were
the only governors to abolish boarding. In reaction,
a leading member of a different party, the NPN, spoke
out on two occasions in favor of keeping the boarding
system:

Chief Gabriel Akin-Deko, who is also the
pro-chancellor of the University of Benin,

 

43Daily Times, 24 May, 1980.

 

160

said the decision by the UPN-controlled
governments was 'a step in the wrong
direction.‘ .

Chief Akin-Deko, however, agreed that
many boarding institutions in the post-
independent Nigeria were 'profit- -oriented. '
He said they were badly organised and
lacked discipline and qualified house-
masters and house-mistresses. . . .

Yet he said, boarding institutions had
become 'an established part of our educa-
tion outfit. It is one of the proud leg-
acy we carry forward from the colonial
era and it has enabled ZS to achieve cer-
tain things concrete. '4

He told the Daily Times in Ibadan that
the boarding house formed the bedrock of
secondary school education. . .

According to him, the post- independent
boarding houses were too profit- -oriented.
They lack discipline and organisation,
while their staffing is inadequate.

With these inadequacies, Chief Deko
maintained that the system, rather Egan
being scrapped, should be improved.

In a letter to the editor, Suleman S. Akhadelor
of Benin City advanced two reasons in opposing the
abolition of boarding schools:

It will not only contribute to the al-
ready low standard of education in the
country, it will also tell much on the
pockets of the parents who would suffer
untold hardship as a result of maintaining
two homes. . .

Experience has shown that many of the
students who are under confinement within
the four corners of the school premises and
kept under the strict supervision of the
principals and housemasters still violate
the school regulations and play truancy.

 

44
45

Daily Times, 25 February, 1980.

 

Daily Times, 26 January, 1980.

 

161

What would become of these students

when they are made to attind school
from their various homes? 6

The Daily Times published another letter to the
editor that did not favor doing away with boarding.
G.O. Movor of Lagos warned of possible consequences
if boarding was discontinued:

This action will have far-reaching neg-
ative effects on the students as well as
parents.

It is a clear experience that children
are very susceptible to bad influence es-
pecially when they are left alone. The
phasing out of boarding system will lead
to renting of private houses by pupils
whose parents live outside the state.

The out-come of this new development of
freedom from.house masters, teachers or
principals, supervisors as in the case
of boarding house will be gross immorality
and other social ills like drunkenness,
smoking at a very early stage or even
stealing because of bad company these
students will keep in the towns outside
their schools.

Theme 5 - Elitism in Secondary Schools
The issue of elitism in secondary boarding schools
was not a new one. However, when it was made known

that the children of elected government officials re-

ceived preferential treatment, the Daily Times did

 

publish articles that in all cases condemned nepotism
and favoritism. There were two states, Bendel and Oyo,

that were consistently reported on throughout the year.

 

46
47

Daily Times, 27 October, 1979.
Daily Times, 17 October, 1979.

162
In Bendel State, students issued a statement that
indicated their protest:

The National Union of Isoko Students has
criticised the decision of the Bendel State
House of Assembly over Edo and Idia colleges
in Benin.

The union observed that the decision of
the House on the two schools showed that they
were being reserved for children of Assembly
members only. . . .

'This decision or legislation is nothing
short of apartheid and it is a product of
colonial and bourgeois mentality' the union
added. . . .

The students observed that it was no use
for the State Assembly members to go about
parading themselves as leaders 'whereas in
actual fact, they are looking for ways of
contravening the values of the land for
their pan selfish and avaricious aggrandise-
ment.‘

Joe Aigbe Orhewere of Ile-Ife expressed his displeasure
in a letter to the editor.

It will be very unfortunate if those who
are supposed to represent the majority of
people who are peasants should now try to
detach themselves from the problems of their
people by finding privileged places for
themselves.

I am personally concerned that the fear
expressed.by some people over the possibility
of free education might be substantiated by
this discriminatory attitude of setting aside
some colleges for a class of people.

Furthermore, a legislator even spoke out against

favoritism:

 

48
49

Daily Times, 18 December, 1979.

 

Daily Times, 19 December, 1979.

 

163

A legislator in Bendel State, Dr. Emmanuel
Urhobo, has alleged that the executive and
the legislators have influenced the admission
of their children into the best secondary
grammar schools in the state.

Dr. Urhobo named the Edo College, Hussey,
Idia and a host of other colleges where the
top notchers had influenced the admission of
their children.

Speaking to the people of his constituency
at Warri over the week-end Dr. Urhobo described
the leaders' action as betrayal of trust and
sheer hypocrisy of the highest order. . . .

He added, 'we are still perpetuating the
educational elitist system, which we inher-
ited by the time we gained independence.50

The situation in Oyo State revealed some interesting
contradictions between what in words legilators condemned
and what in practice they condoned. They legislators
first condemned the privileged status of two government
schools in a news article published in December;

Facilities being enjoyed by the pupils of
Government colleges and the fringe benefits
for the teachers were described by some legis-
lators as discriminatory.

The 'privileged pupils in the affected
institutions are worse than what we are con-
demning in South Africa,’ the Oyo State
House of Assembly heard.

In a motion calling on the House to approve
a bill for the handing over of all the finan-
cing and staffing of the affected schools in
the state to the Central School Board, Mr.
Oluwole Siyanbola, from Obokun IV Constituency,
said it was high time discrimingiion among
schools and pupils was stopped.

Three days later another news article indicated that the

legislature had enacted a bill to abolish special

 

50
51

Daily Times, 25 July, 1980.

 

Daily Times, 3 December, 1979.

 

164
privileges:

The privileges being enjoyed by the
Government College and Queen's School in
Ibadan, Oyo State, have now been abol-
ished.

A bill abolishing the privileges was
passed by the State House of Assembly
in Ibadan on Monday.

The two schools will no longer enjoy
special treatment from.the government.

These include:

*Approval of special funds by the
government;

*Posting of best teachers to the schools
by the Ministry of Education:. . .52

However, a few months later another published
news article revealed the two colleges still received
an inordinate share of allocated funds:

The variation in the allocations for
secondary schools in the estimate of the
Oyo State budget has been criticised at
the State House of Assembly.

While both GOvernment College and
Queen's School in Ibadan were to have
N523,040 for their services, other 283
old secondary schools and 400 new ones
to be established in the state would
share N3 million in the current year.

A member, Mr. Ladipo Fasade, Ilesha
IV Constituency, criticised this dif-
ference, saying it amounted to dis-
crimination among the schools concerned.

He wondered why the two schools had
private inspectors of education and
special clinics, while students from
other schools had g3 make do with
general hospitals.

 

52Daily Times, 6 December, 1979.

 

53Daily Times, 19 May, 1980.

 

165

Summary

The reporting of educational news in 1979 did not
deviate much from the style, substance and form reported
in 1960. Perhaps this is explanable in that the Daily
2192s was still, by and large, an independent newspaper.
Although the government did own part interest in the
newspaper, the reporting did not seem to reflect as
strong a government bias as was the case with the Epily
Graphic in Ghana.

If anything, the reporting seemed much more ser-

ious than in 1960. Perhaps the euphoria of the inde-

 

pendence era had settled down to the hard reality_of
pressing educational issues that were extant in 1979.
At the same time, a common thread united the two eras -
expansion. The expansion that developed during the
1950's and 1960's in Nigeria was continued on a more
massive scale in the 1970's due in part to large oil
revenues.

A comparison of the themes in both eras indicates
that the press issues in 1979 of private schools, board-
ing schools and elitism paralleled the issue of private
schools in 1960. The basic dichotomy of rich versus poor,
private versus public was still an issue to be resolved.
For the time being it appears that Nigeria will still
have a dual system of elitist schools and public schools,

something common to most capitalistic societies.

CHAPTER VII

CONCLUSION
This dissertation has attempted to discuss the
nature of educational news reporting in two daily na-
tional newspapers in independent Ghana and Nigeria.
The study does have its limitations and these should
be recognized. One limitation is that newspaper cov-

erage of educational news is only one influence on ed-

 

ucational policy making. There are other influences

 

such as historical tradition, politics, and socioec-
onomic conditions which play an integral part in policy

formulation. A second limitation is the target audience

 

of theppress in these two Anglophone West African na-

 

tions. The press is geared towards the urban market
that has educated subscribers. Therefore the tendency
of newspaper publishers has been to publish papers that
are oriented to consumer tastes. The fact that news-
papers are essentially elitist in reporting educational
news is perhaps a reflection of the consumer's values
towards education. Consequently, the educational news
coverage probably does not reflect the educational
values and concerns of the poor peasant farmer who lives
in the rural hinterland. A third limitation is the

166

167

governmental influence that may not allow the press

 

to be free in reporting all the relevant sides to an
issue. Sometimes what is not reported speaks louder
than what is reported. A final limitation involves the

study itself as it dealt with only a sample of post-

 

independence educational news reporting in each country.
International education involves comparing whole
educational systems of one country with another. The
functional approach, or the analysis of education from
an "educational-societal" perspective, involves inte-
grating the linkages that exist between education and

other societal functions. This report has emphasized

 

the political and economic linkages to education.

 

In the realm of politics, the countries have some
interesting similarities. Each country gained its in-
dependence from the same colonial power -- Great Britain.
They began with civilian governments that were both
overthrown by military coups in 1966. The countries then
went through a succession of military dictatorships until
they both returned to civilian rule in 1979. Interest-
ingly, both elected heads of state were northern Muslims
(Limann - Ghana, Shagari - Nigeria). Throughout both
decades after independence, both countries had deep in-
ternal cleavages based on ethnic and religious loyalties.

There were historical and political differences
as well. Nigeria opted for federalism at independence

while Ghana developed into a one-party state under

168

Nkrumah. At the time of Nigeria's civil war, Ghana
was experimenting with a brief return to civilian
rule under Dr. Busia's leadership.

At the time of independence, the economies of
Ghana and Nigeria were dominated by agriculture and
agricultural exports. Through the decades of the
sixties and seventies their agricultural base weakened
and agricultural output, in real terms, dropped. By
1979, both countries were importing food. A basic

difference in the economic development of both

 

countries is that Nigeria's economic base was trans-

 

formed by oil. Consequently, Nigeria has had a better

 

balance of payments record in the seventies than Ghana
whose balance of payments has been a real problem.

The education sectors in Ghana and Nigeria have
been marked by rapid expansion during the decades be-
tween 1950 and 1980. The Report of the Ashby Commis-
sion in 1960 became a blueprint for badly needed ex-
pansion in higher education in Nigeria. Between 1960
and 1980, over twelve new univerSities were established
throughout different regions of the country. Ghana
has also experienced expansion since independence. Al-
though both countries accelerated expansion after in-
dependence, py 1979 the education systems in both coun-
tries were being deeply affected by their economies.

In Ghana, the education system was struggling to sur-

vive because of the difficulties caused by severe

169

shortages and loss of teaching personnel. Nigeria
was also affected by the interrelationship between
the economy and education as oil wealth produced new
pressures for educational expansion.

Elitism, or favoritism shown to those in power
or those who are wealthy, has also been a character-
istic of both educational systems. While badly needed
educational expansion did take place in Ghana and
Nigeria, a basic question arises as to how much this
expansion has led to equality in education. Perhaps
a summary of the data mentioned in the previous chapters
of this report will shed partial light on the question,
at least from the perspective of educational news re-
porting in the national press.

It appears evident that those categories that
have the least proportion of school enrollments receive
a majority of the educational news coverage. The higher

and secondary categories in both countries consistently

 

received approximately 70 to 90 per cent of all written

 

andlphotographic educational news coverage throughout

 

all four time periods (see TABLE 18).

 

The data in TABLE 18 reveals two trends. First,
written news items in the secondary/higher category
actually increased in both countries over the first
year. At the same time, photographic coverage decreased

in both countries after the first year. As written

170

TABLE 18.--Comparative GCS data of educational news
coverage in secondary and higher education,.

 

 

 

General GHANA NIGERIA
Content

Sample 1957-1958 1979-1980 1960-1961 1979-1980
Written 68.8% 75.2% 78.6% 79.9%
Photographic 89.1 76.3 89.7 78.8

 

 

 

 

 

items account for the majority of total items, it seems
as though reporting that focused on elite groups in-
creased rather than decreased.

A summary of the thematic analysis also reflects
that elitism was a concern in both Ghana and Nigeria.
Educational elitism was the only concern that was
consistently reported in the press across all four
time periods. Parallel concern #1 in TABLE 19 demon-
strates that elitist-oriented themes occurred each year
in the school systems.

The teaching profession (concern #2) was reflected
as a concern in three out of the four years. Language
planning (concern #3) was a concern in the early years
and boarding school (concern #4) concerns were existent
in the later years of each country. Educational plan-
ning (concern #5) was a concern in Ghana in the latter
years as the people came to question Ghana's educational

strategy. In contrast, the Nigerian Ashby Report of

171

TABLE l9.--Comparison of educational press themes in
Ghana and Nigeria.

 

 

 

PARALLEL GHANA NIGERIA
CONCERN#
1957-1958 1979-1980 1960-1961 1979-1980
1. Urban-rural Private Private Private
Schools Schools Schools
Govt.
Schools
————————————————————— ¢—---———---—-L-——---—-—--9-—---—-—-
2. Teaching Teaching Teaching
Profession Profession Profession
Teacher
LTraining
3. Language Language
Planning Planning
————————— p—c—u-n-n——-——-¢>————--—————— p——-————————db—————————
4. Boarding Boarding
Fees Abolition
————————— P-----------qp------------ p—-—-————--—:----——--—-
5. Educational Ed. Plann.
Planning (ASth)
6. Women Brain Russian Univ.
Drain S.S. Admission
Exam.
Malpractice

 

 

 

 

 

1960 was a blueprint for expansion rather than a criticism

of existing strategy.

There were five themes that were not as directly re-

lated to each other (concern #6).

Women and higher

172
education, the brain drain, Russian scholarships, uni-
versity admissions, and examination malpractices were
all year-specific. If the five non-related themes
are recognized as having no direct parallel, E2222

remain 15 themes (concerns 1-5) that have either cross-

 

temporal or cross-national similarities.

 

In conclusion, the press seemed to mirror speci-
fic values towards education. These values, or traits
society believes are important, could have been a par-
ticular reflection of the public, special interest
groups, the government or the press. For example, the
issue over private schools in Nigeria (theme 1-1979),
when Governor Jakande attempted to eliminate private
schools, became an issue because of different educational
values held by several groups. The Tings mirrored the
opinions and values of the Lagos state government, re-
ligious bodies, teachers' organizations, parent organ-
izations, the federal government, the courts, private
citizens, and the Tiggs_itself. Some of the factors
at work in this example include the federal-state re-
lationship, political rivalry, elitism versus democracy,
constitutional rights, church-state relations, educa-
tional quality and corruption.

The press also mirrored interrelationships that
existed between various sectors, especially between

education and the economy. Theppolitical and

173
socio-economic conditions of both countries appeared to
have played an important role in the formulation and
execution of educationalppolicy. An illustration of
this can be found in Ghana during 1979. Educational
news reporting, even in a government-controlled press,
was dominated by the bad economic conditions. Shortages
of everything from pencils and textbooks to boarding
school food supplies were a constant concern. Perhaps
a more important concern was the "brain-drain" problem
that had occurred as a direct result of the economic
situation.

Finally, the degree of press freedom also seemed

 

to affect the manner in which educational news was
reported and the extent to which it was reported.
Ghana in 1979 serves as another example. The govern-
ment-controlled Graphic published almost no letters
to the editor that were critical of the Ministry of
Education or the Ghana Education Service. Private
citizens had to buy advertising space in order to
present their views and opinions. This represented a
substantial change from the freedom reflected in the

Graphic's educational coverage of 1957 when it was an

 

independent paper.

In retrospect, some observations should be noted
and explained. First, the concept of the press being
a mirror of society should be discussed. A vital

question that concerns all researchers involved in

174
content analysis deals with selectivity in repprting.
Even in free societies, the press is quite selective
in what it reports. The idea of a "laundered press" in
a restricted society is no small concern to the honest
researcher. However, once one ventures into the arena
of attitudes and motivations behind the news gathering
screening process, the very difficult task of qualita-
tive content analysis begins. Perhaps what is not re-
ported becomes more significant than what is reported.
Outside of a few observations in this study, such as
the dearth of reporting on curriculum reform and
Africanization or criticism of governmental education
agencies, the scope of this study did not include an
indepth dealing with qualitative analysis. The scope
of this study was to initially explore some relation-
snips, particularly between politics, economics and ed-
ucation, that existed in the area of national develop-
ment policy making. The functioning of the press in
these two societies, as far as governmental influence
and censorship are concerned, would entail a much more
detailed study than what has been done here.

The selectivity of the press no doubt shapes
attitudes and opinions concerning education. The dif-
ficult question to answer is whether educational news
reporting reflects existing values towards education or

creates values. For example, one relationship cited in

 

this chapter revealed that there was a direct connection

175

between the amount of criticism a form of education re-
ceived and the level of status it held. High status
university education received little criticism while
low status teacher training programs received a good
deal of criticism.

The question arises, does the amount of reporting,
and amount of criticism in that reporting, reflect

the values of the society or the bias of the publishers

 

of theppress? Perhaps this is the bottom line concern-

 

ing motivations. It is a difficult question to answer.
More research is needed related to this major question.
Inspite of the drawbacks of the mirroring concept
of the press, a study that uses the press as its pri-
mary database has some advantages. By using the press,

the researcher gains an additional insight into society.

 

The press provides a dynamic look into thepproblems of

 

national development. This is in contrast to much
scholarly research that depends on static reports of
graphs, tables, and cold information.

News reporting brings a human dimension to the
cold facts of reality as the press unveils the conflict
of society's competing values.

Secondly, by using the press as a database, the
press serves as an historical record which allows the
researcher to make comparisons across time. By compar-
ing a database across time, one can watch how a society

changes. For example, in 1960 Nigerians viewed popular

176
education as a panacea to solving personal and national

problems. The Daily Times in 1960 continually used

 

education in advertising. Education was used to sell
insurance to vitamins. Education and health care went
hand in hand. But by 1979 the euphoria of education
was gone. Nigerians had realized that education in and
of itself was not enough. Education had to be appro-
priate -- it had to meet the needs of society. By
1979, Nigerians were well aware of the frustrations

of the unemployed, underemployed or malemployed school
leaver. The linkage between education and the market-
place was becoming understood. Consequently, the
euphoria characteristic of the reporting in 1960 was
replaced by_the seriousness of the reporting in 1979.
Gone also were the advertisements. Nigerians were more
concerned about jobs and additional education than
about vitamins and insurance.

Another example of how societies change over
time is the case of Ghana. The researcher was shocked
how the country had changed from 1957 to 1979. The
optimism of independence in 1957 was replaced by the
pessimism of political and economic realities of 1979.
The excitement of national development was gone as
Ghanaians struggled for national survival. Euphoria
had been replaced with malaise.

There are limitations to using the African press

as a database, especially because there has been such

177

a turnover in newspapers and magazines through the
years. The lack of stability in the African print
media industry makes it difficult to sample many
publications over time. As mentioned, government cen-
sorship is another problem. However, the public print
media of newspapers and magazines remains an open
source of data for the Western researcher. Often
government documents and files are closed to expa-
triates and foreign researchers. The press offers
many opportunities to study African development and
African society in general. Hopefully more studies
will be coming in this new area of investigation --

the African press.

APPENDIX

NAME

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR RELIABILITY TEST

This is a test for inter—coder reliability or in other words a
measurement of the level of agreement between the researcher and other
independent evaluators. It is for a doctoral dissertation that is an-
alyzing educational news reporting in the press in Nigeria and Ghana.

The items listed in the quiz are actual excerpts of educational news
taken from the Lagos Daily Times (Nigeria) between October 1 and December
31, 1960. The items may have come from different types of articles

such as letters to the editor, news articles, or editorials. The items
should be coded according to the following classification scheme.

 

Criteria For Evaluating

"U
ll

Positive -- Opinions reflecting full support of the current system
of education including statements praising or defending
the system.

2
ll

Negative -- Opinions reflecting disapproval of the education system
without offering solutions to problems nor alternative
approaches.

Change -- Opinions calling for change or reform of the educational
system either by correcting a problem or adding new
improvements. The change could be in any of the three
areas:

C — 1 = Institutional (organizing and managing)

government (policies, planning, evaluation)
administrative structure

time schedule

facilities

costs (budgets, salaries, fees, scholarships)

C - 2 = Instructional (aims, content, techniques)

 

philosophy
curriculum
standards (exams, grades, admissions)

C - 3 = Personnel (human resources)
students
teachers

headmasters
staff

178

179
SAMPLE QUIZ ITEMS

To illustrate the coding procedure, the following five items will be coded accord-
ing to the five possible responses listed under the criteria for evaluation. The
five response choices are P, N, C1, CZ, C3. The key is to first determine if the
item is calling for change or not. If it is not calling for change, then decide
if it is a positive or negative statement. If it is calling for change, then de-
cide which of the three areas of change it falls under.

1. "May I however, suggest to the committee charged with reviewing the education
policy the advisability of recommending the teaching of the main languages of
Nigeria in the curriculum of primary and secondary schools in the Region."

Evaluation = C-2

The speaker is asking for an addition to the system so it falls under change.
The area of change is in the curriculum, thus falling under C-2 Instructional.

 

2. "My own candid opinion is that...as things stand at present, teachers are
enjoying an overgenerous salary structure for the eight months work they do
in a year."

Evaluation = N

Here the speaker is not calling for change. His opinion is critical of the
teaching profession and is therefore coded as negative.

3. "Chief S.L. Akintola, Premier of Western Nigeria has said that his government
is absolutely determined to develop the education service of the Region so
that it can provide the trained man-power needed to implement the Region's
development plans."

Evaluation = C—l

The chief is stating that he is going to develop the system and this indicates
change. Since it is the government that is initiating it, the area of change
is Institutional.

4. "He urged parents and guardians to c00perate with the school authorities to
ensure that their children attended school regularly."

Evaluation = C-3

The speaker is not passing judgement nor praising so it is not negative or
positive. The item is calling for the solution of approblem (ie. school at-
tendance) so it falls under the change category. Since the primary subjects
that are part of the school system are administrators and students, the area
of change is Personnel or C-3.

 

5. "Commenting on his general impressions of the Zaria School of Architechure,
Mr. Okumuyima said that he was favorably impressed by the high standard of
work among the students as a whole."

Evaluation = P

No change is called for here but the person is simply praising the school.

NOTE: Remember to make two distinctions. First, is it change or not? If it is
change, what is the key issue to determine whether it is C1, C2, or C3?

Ival uat ion
1.

10.

180

RELIABILITY TEST

"To attract graduates to the teaching profession, the salaries should
be at par with those in other spheres where graduates are in demand."

"But at the same time much that is called education in present day Nigeria
simply unfits men successfully to fight the battle of life. Thousands

are today studying things that will ultimately be of exceedingly little
importance both to themselves and to the nation at large. Much valuable
time is wasted in studying languages that long ago were dead and histories
in which there is no truth."

"At the end of this year, about 300,000 children will leave primary
schools in Western Nigeria as against 70,000 or so last year. This is
a great achievement; and I have no doubt that this large number of
primary school leavers will go down in history as the first powerful
unit of the army of universal enlightenment in a free Nigeria."

"The school's efforts to make these children useful to themselves and
the nation is laudable, but can't the hours of continuation classes be
changed to 5-7pm instead of 7-9pm so that they can return home in time,
have their food in time, and after a little rest go to their books?"

"I am alarmed at the high incidence of gambling among schoolchildren
and other categories of juniors . . . . It is time the minister of
education sent out inspectors to the various schools to check these
evil practices."

"In addition, the curriculum for higher elementary teachers should be
modified to include elementary science."

"It is time the council of the R.S.A. realized the urgent necessity of
increasing the number of examination centres in the country. At the
moment, the centres for R.S.A. examinations are far too few and even so,
they are not evenly distributed. I cannot see how the whole of Ondo
province should not have a single centre allocated to it."

"To be specific, teachers combine the jobs of technicians and clerks,
farmers and tradesmen, administrators and missionaries, et cetera and
et cetera into one. Their official hours in schools are not their
only hours of work."

"May I, therefore, appeal to the West African Examination Council to
consider the inclusion of commercial subjects in the curriculum of
subjects for the G.C.E. examination in Nigeria."

"It is an undisputed fact that the teaching profession is noble and
this fact gives teachers the pride of their place. Yet they do have
phe_right to call on the government to better their conditions because
teachers are in so many ways being relegated to the background."

181

11. "Addressing students of the Baptist Women's College and the Abeokuta
Divisional Teacher Training College, at Abeokuta recently, the Minister
said the education system in the Western Region was the best in the whole
of the federation."

12. "I wonder if the authorities of the Northern Nigeria Ministry of Educa-
tion are aware that teachers in voluntary agency schools in Benue Pro-
vince do not receive their salaries in time?"

13. "Pupils of commercial schools got as least as good a general education
as pupils in secondary grammar schools, the minister emphasized."

14. "Mr. Ogbalu held that the conference would also consider a proposal
intended to be submitted to the West African Examination Council for
the replacement of the syllabuses (sic) in Igbo for the General Cer-
tificate of Education. He described the syllabus as 'static' and
'decadent.'"

15. "These supervisors appear to be in secret agreement with owners of
primary schools to cover the weaknesses of their schools. Some of these
supervisors have thereby weakened the Inspectorate Division by their
acts of favoritism and nepotism."

16. "Malam Nehu urged the Federal Ministry of Education to speed up the
taking of degrees in the Zaria branch of the college."

17. "The parents viewed gravely the choice of the students marrying and
settling in the United Kingdom after completing their courses, instead
of returning home. They wanted to know what the government would do
'to discourage such a bad practice.'"

18. "He urged the teaching of Hausa language in all Northern schools with
a view to becoming the lingua franca of West Africa."

19. "Already the commission has visited a number of institutions but all
these are in the urban areas. In the light of all this, may I suggest
that the commission revise their itinerary to cover schools in the
rural areas."

20. "Speaking candidly, Mr. Ekpenyong has missed the mark completely,
because the poor standard in our schools has no bearing at all with
the teaching of vernaculars. In my own opinion, the pupils are in the
main responsibility for the declining standards of education in our
primary schools."

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.

Philip M. McDonald

 

 

 

 

 

 

182

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183

APPENDIX A. (Continued)

TEACHING, ACADEMIC AND VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Specialist Diploma (S.T.T.C.) Specialist Diploma in Physical Education
(S.T.T.C.) (4 years) ‘

Associateship and Diplomates (A.T.T.C.) Licentiate of the Royal School of
Music (S.T.T.C.) (2 years)

M.Ed.

Diploma of Advanced Study in Education; Post-Graduate Certificate of
Education

B.Sc. with Education and B.A. with Education

B.A. and B.Sc.

B.Sc.

Higher Technical Diploma

City and Guilds Ordinary Technical Diploma

Technical Teachers Certificate

G.C.E. O Level and R.S.A. Certificates

City and Guilds Intermediate Craft Certificates

City and Guilds Intermediate Craft Certificate

Certificate A Handicraft Teachers Certificate

Advanced Handicraft Teachers Certificate

Certificate A Teachers Certificate

G.C.E. Advanced Level

G.C.E. 0 Level of the West African Examinations Council

Middle School Leaving Certificate

Primary School Leaving Certificate

Post-Graduate Diploma in Art Education

OTHER NOTES

The Post-Graduate Certificate in Education is offered for degree holders of
other institutions lacking teaching qualifications. One year of teaching is
regularly expected prior to taking the course.

Cape Cost University College also admits students with G.C.E. 0 Level quali-
fications to a preliminary year course preparatory to entrance on the degree
program.

Kumasi University of Science and Technology offers a comparable preliminary
year's course.

Entrance to secondary schools is by a secondary school common entrance exam-
ination, taken any time from after primary 6 to after middle 4.

Entrance to technical schools is by a technical school common entrance exam-
ination, ordinarily taken after several years of middle school.

Entrance to post-middle school teacher training is by a common entrance
examination for teacher training colleges.

Source: John W. Hanson, Gen. ed. Report on the Supply of Secondary Level

Teachers in Englishe§peaking Africa. 16 Vols. East Lansing, Mich.: Michigan

 

State University, 1971. Country Study No. 12, Ghana, by John W. Hanson.

 

184

 

 

 

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185

APPENDIX A (CONTINUED)
App.A/ p.2
TEACHING, ACADEMIC AND VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS .

M.A. and Ph.D.

Post-Graduate Certificate in Education; Master of Education.

B.A., B.Sc., B.Education.---Various Certificates; Nigeria Certificate
in Education.

Higher School Certificate; General Certificate of Education, Advanced Level.

West African School Certificate.

Nigeria Certificate in Education.

Nigeria Certificate in Education (Commercial); Nigeria Certificate in
Education (Technical).

Higher School Certificate; General Certificate of Education, Advanced Level.

Teachers' Certificate, Grade II. (Pivotal Teacher)

Teachers' Certificate, Grade II. '

Secondary Modern School Certificate.

First School Leaving Certificate.

OTHER NOTES

One year of service in the National Youth Service Corps is required of all
students graduating from Nigerian universities.

Masters and Doctoral Degrees are now granted in a number of fields in
Nigeria. The Post Graduate Diploma in Education is awarded after one year
of post-graduate study. »
Entrance to the universities varies. All admit students after the Higher
School Leaving Certificate for a three year course; most admit students
after the West African School Certificate for a four year course. Admission
'with advanced standing is available in some universities for those holding
the Nigeria Certificate in Education. Students completing the College of
Arts and Science in Maiduguri and the College of Science and Technology

in Port Harcourt proceed to one or more universities to complete their degrees
The National Technical Teachers College offers a Technical Teachers'
Certificate after a one-year program for professional craftsman, technicians,
and engineers. It also offers a three year course leading to the Nigeria
Certificate in Education (Technical or Commercial).

The College of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, offers a Technician
course (two years) and the first three years of a degree course which is
then completed at a university. A diploma course in business is now offered
as well, and this will also presumably lead to a degree from a university.
Eventually the College is expected to become a degree granting university.
The College of Arts and Science in Maiduguri began its program by offering
post-school certificate preparatory courses for the university.

The large majority of those completing primary school do not continue in
formal education.

Secondary Modern Schools, which existed primarily in Western States and
Lagos State, are declining in number and enrollment.

In-service training, extension programs, apprenticeship programs, vocational
improvement centers, farm institutes, correspondence courses, and other
types of programs outside the formal education system touch some, but far
from all of those leaving school.

Programs vary in length from state to state. For example, primary school
programs are now regularly six or seven years in length, some northern
states offering the longer programs.

 

186

App.A/p.3

9. In-service training, extension programs, apprenticeship programs,
vocational improvement centers, farm institutes, correspondence courses,
and other types of programs outside the formal education system touch
some, but far from all of those leaving school.

10. Programs vary in length from state to state. For example, primary
school programs are now regularly six or seven years in length, some
northern states offering the longer programs.

Source: John W. Hanson, Gen. ed. Report on the Supply of Secondagy
Level Teachers in English1§peaking Africa. 16 Vols. East Lansing, Mich.:
Michigan State University, 1973. Country Study No. 15, Nigeria. Edited

by John W. Hanson.

187

EDUCATIONAL EXPANSION IN NIGERIA AND GHANA

NIGERIA
EDUCATIONAL ENROLLMENTS, 1960-1980

 

Secondary Sec. Tech. Teacher Univer-

 

 

Primary Grammar & Voc. Training sities
1960 2 912 618 135 364 5 037 27 908 1 395
1964 2 849 488 205 002 7 702 31 054 6 719
1971 3 894 559 343 313 15 590 38 095 14 371
1973 4 746 808 448 904 22 588 46 951 23 173.
*1980 11 521 500 1 555 180 177 686 234 680 53 000
*Projected

Source: Federal Republic of Nigeria, Third National Develop-
ment Plan 1975-80, Vol. 1, Tables 16-1-16-5.

 

 

188

EDUCATIONAL EXPANSION IN NIGERIA AND GHANA

GHANA
EDUCATIONAL ENROLLMENTS, 1975-1980

 

 

Sec. Teacher
Primary Middle Grammar Voc. Trng. Univer.
1957 468 000 127 500 12 200 3 100 3 873 890

1960 503 100 161 200 16 100 4 500 4 552 1 390
1964 1 085 100 258 500 40 000 9 700 9 753 3 414
1971 947 500 442 300 52 900 14 300 19 500 5 063
1974 1 051 012 439 655 74 839 10 740 n. a. 6 003
1980 1 468 265* 531 729* 111 971* 25 050* n. a. 10 705*

 

*Projected

n. a. = Not available

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Ademoyega, Wale. The Federation of Nigeria: From Earliest
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Adetoro, J. E. The Handbook of Education in Nigeria.
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Ainslie, Rosalynde. The Press in Africa. London: Victor
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