Educational Resource Needs and Access to Tertiary Education among People with Disability in Bayelsa State (Published)
The paper investigated educational resource needs and access to tertiary education among people with disability in Bayelsa State. Three research questions were raised and three hypotheses tested in the study. Mixed method approach was adopted in the study while 165 respondents consisting 160 persons with disability, four Deans of Student Affairs and an executive of Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) in Bayelsa State were sampled for the study using multistage sampling technique. Respondents were selected from within and outside four randomly selected tertiary institutions namely; Bayelsa Medical University (Yenagoa LGA), Federal University Otuoke (Ogbia LGA), Niger Delta University (Southern Ijaw LGA) and Isaac Jasper Boro College of Education (Sagbama LGA). Instruments used for data collection were questionnaire for the persons with disability as well as Focus Group Discussion while five Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)was conducted with the other respondents. Data collected quantitatively were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation and t-test while the qualitative data was analyzed using content and thematic analysis. The finding of the study indicated that financial resource, policy intervention and assistive technology were the priority educational resource need of the respondents. Inaccessibility to tertiary education has implication on the employment prospects and human rights of the respondents and this can only be corrected through appropriate policies, better infrastructure among other strategies. There were differences between the opinion of students and non-students on the issues interrogated. It was recommended that the government should collaborate with school administrators to create a fund for persons with disability who wish to acquire tertiary education across all spheres.
Keywords: Access, Bayelsa State, disability, educational resource, tertiary education
Free Senior High School Policy: Implications to Education Access Equity in Ghana (Published)
Equity in education is when every student receives the resources needed to acquire the basic work skills of reading, writing, and basic arithmetic. While Ghana has achieved near universal access to primary and lower secondary education, the gross enrollment rate in higher secondary education was below 45 percent in 2014, with large disparities in access. In the year 2017, the government of Ghana implemented a free SHS policy on a free access to secondary education for all. This research sought to investigate the implications of the free senior high school policy to educational access and equity in secondary education in Ghana. The document analysis approach was adopted for this study. The findings revealed that the free SHS policy has really increased enrollment figures in secondary schools’ attendance. The researcher recommended that parents, teachers, school administrators, policy analysts and relevant stakeholders have the responsibility to offer alternative proposals and do so in a manner that is constructive and helpful to the policy discourse.
Keywords: Access, Education, Equity, Quality, enrolment, equality, free senior high school
REFORMS AND INNOVATIONS IN TEACHER EDUCATION: FACILITATOR OF ACCESS, QUALITY AND EQUITY AS EMERGING ISSUES IN EDUCATION IN KENYA (Published)
Teacher Education Programme (TEP) is a critical component of education in the society. It determines the rate and level of development in any society. This is because the programme focuses on preparation and production of school teachers whose main role is to transform a society with relevant competencies for development. However, due to the dynamic nature of education and society, Teacher Education Programme experiences emerging issues in education. Today in Kenya, and indeed in the whole world, the concerns in education are access to education, quality in education and equity in education. These are current aspirations by all in education but somehow elusive to realise. However, when proper reforms and innovations in Teacher Education Programme are undertaken, it is possible to develop and manage these important developments in education. This paper explores and discusses how reforms and innovations in Teacher Education Programme in Kenya can facilitate the achievement of access, quality and equity in education.
Keywords: Access, Equity Emerging Issues., Facilitator, Innovations, Quality, Reforms, Teacher Education