Ex-post Evaluation

1. Outline of the Project

• 1-1 Background of the Project

  In order to develop human resources andto ensure long-term economic development that would bolster the foundations of the national economy, the government of Ghana -stressed importance on reforms to the education sector in its economic reconstruction plan (1983). The large number of unqualified teachers was just one of many problems affecting the quality of teachers in Ghana's basic education Improving the quality of science teachers was particularly important among the educational sector reforms. Accordingly, the government of Ghana requested grant aid to set up and upgrade the necessary divisions at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) - Ghana's primary institution for training high-quality and qualified teachers.

• 1-2 Project Overview

  By preparing and updating laboratory equipment and educational materials for science and education divisions at the University of Cape Coast and the neighboring two teacher training colleges (Ola and Komenda), the grand aid supported Ghana's efforts to foster knowledgeable and skilled science teachers.

  • (1) Overall Goal

    To improve the quality of science teachers in Ghana's elementary and secondary schools.

  • (2) Project Purpose

    To strengthen and foster- educational practices at UCC for elementary and secondary school teachers.

  • (3) Output
    1. The improvement of laboratory equipment and educational materials in the science division
    2. The improvement of laboratory equipment and educational materials in the education division
    3. The improvement of laboratory equipment in Ola and Komenda Teacher Training Colleges
  • (4) Input

    Japanese Side:

    • 281 million yen

    Ghanan Side:

    • Land and facilities

2. Evaluation Team

3. Results of Evaluation

• 3-1 Summary of Evaluation Results

  Ghana currently has three types of teachers in its secondary education: teachers with licenses; teachers without licenses that hold a university degree; and teachers without either licenses or a university degree, but who have worked as teachers - before the current system. Since then, the proportion of teachers without proper qualifications working in secondary education has fallen; (estimated to be below 10% in 2002). About 90-95% of graduates, at the University of Cape Coast become science teachers in secondary schools - Cape Coast being the only university to grant secondary teaching licenses, for which there is a little under an average of 200 graduates a year. Since the government of Ghana regards graduates from four-year university programs as qualified to teach, it can be assumed that most newly hired teachers have a university degree but not a teaching license.

  Every year about 5% (10 - of the graduates) from related departments are employed as science teachers at teacher training colleges, with a total of about 50 since 1997. Given that there are a total of approximately 200 science teachers in Ghana's teacher training colleges, graduates from the University of Cape Coast could be estimated to make up for 25% of this total after the project was completed. This proportion means that the graduates have reached a level where they can contribute to the improvement in the quality of science education for college students.

  Positive impacts ascertained after the project was implemented include, for example, the fact that the University of Cape Coast has established a teacher training plan jointly with the Ministry of Education and is able to participate in exchange programs with the University of Ghana's science division; (mainly in the laboratory works). Also, according to the principal of the Ola Teacher Training College, the college claimed to be the best women's college for the science education program, and students from neighboring states also come.

  The university's glass-making workshop uses procured equipment and provides a service for other educational institutions in which it sells and repairs glass products used in the laboratories at reasonable prices. In the past five months, 12 high schools from the central state and the western state have used this service, and the sales are added to the university's independent funds.

  (2) Sustainability

  Even after the project, the related departments had an average of 200 graduates a year. The education department has continued to see an increase of graduates, from 15 in 1997 to 104 in 2001, while the science department's graduates have ranged from between 107 and 176 graduates in this same period. The extent to which the quality of education improved differed depending on the departmentThe proportion of high-achieving students, (the top two scores of four ranks of marks), at graduation increased in the science department from 33.7% to 54.7%, but the proportion decreased in the education department from 60.9% to 48.2%.

  The university's laboratory equipment and educational materials are used frequently in classes, and the number of classes conducting experiments and using equipment has increased. However, almost no students received practice teaching at the two teacher training colleges (Ola and Komenda) after the project was completed, because the period of practical training was revised by the university and overlapped semester breaks. Due to this change, the new laboratory equipment in these colleges is not used in practical teaching, but only for normal classes for college students.

  Although there have been no basic changes in the University of Cape Coast's organization or in its role in teacher training, the number of students has increased significantly, from 2,978 in 1995 to 9,822 in 2002. With this increase in student numbers, the teaching staff has also been increased, from 144 in 1995 to 218 in 2002.

  Seven out of the six divisions use more than 90% of their tools and equipment, and the maintenance management is also good. For example, the science department's chemistry course commissions external companies to check and maintain precision instruments such as analytical devices. In contrast, maintenance at the teacher training colleges seems weak, with drying equipment and pressurized aseptizers left broken. In addition, although consumables such as reagents needed in experiments are supplied regularly, neither the University of Cape Coast nor the colleges have updated the equipment regularly.

  University of Cape Coast had a budget of 8.641 billion cedi (equivalent to 124 million yen using exchange rates current as of March 31, 2003) in fiscal FY1997, which increased to 32.14 billion cedi (461 million yen) in FY 2001. The proportion of independent income sources also rose from 4.3% in 1997 to 16.4% in 2001.

• 3-2 Factors that Promoted the Realization of Effects

  • (1) Factors Concerning the Planning

    Careful planning of class schedules by using weekend and semester breaks helped to increase the number of classes that could perform experiments and use equipment.

  • (2) Factors Concerning the Implementation Process

    Equipment in the University of Cape Coast is maintained in good condition thanks to their system, which allocates budget spending for equipment repair and maintenance between the relevant departments, and provides regular check-ups for several pieces of equipment based on contracts with external companies. It also helps that the machinery workshop, electric workshop and glass workshop perform repairs on related equipment at the university.

• 3-3 Factors that Impeded the Realization of Effects

  • (1) Factors Concerning the Planning

    N/A

  • (2) Factors Concerning the Implementation Process
    • 1) One of the factors that the performance of students from the education department did not improve is the number of students per teacher. After the project was completed, the science department maintained a ratio of about 18 students per teacher, while the ratio of students in the educational department per teacher increased steeply from 20 to 67.
    • 2) In addition to the lack of technicians in charge of equipment maintenance at the colleges, the teachers have not been trained in the proper maintenance of equipment, which has lowered the condition of the colleges' equipment.
    • 3) The revised schedules for practical teaching overlapped with the college's semester breaks and therefore no students involved in the practical teaching at the colleges. A teacher licensing system that does not require practical teaching is also a cause.

• 3-4 Conclusion

  Most graduates become secondary school teachers, while the others became teachers at teachers training colleges or elementary schools. Both contribute to Ghana's elementary and secondary school science education. Supporting policies to encourage students to continue on to higher education, the University of Cape Coast has especially maintained and expanded its role in training personnel to work in secondary science education. However, the sharp rise in demand for science teachers exceeds the University of Cape Coast's ability to supply them, and graduates from other universities are becoming teachers without licenses. As a result, the University of Cape Coast's contribution was insufficient at the time of this evaluation, but its contribution will increase every year as long as the equipment is well maintained.

• 3-5 Recommendations

  • (1) Manuals were attached to almost all of the equipment, and necessary training for handling major equipment was provided by the grant aid. Some technicians, however, indicated that instructions for use had not been explained enough and that there had not been enough manuals. It should be understood that University of Cape Coast and the other colleges are responsible for any manual preparation and training for teachers and technicians that might be using the equipment. Moreover, the University of Cape Coast and the other colleges should provide the necessary training and distribute enough manuals to increase the project's sustainability.
  • (2) The University of Cape Coast and Ola and Komenda teacher training colleges should negotiate with equipment suppliers in Ghana and then devise an appropriate maintenance plan for the equipment. They should devise a plan to update the equipment while it is still operable.

• 3-6 Lessons Learned

  N/A

• 3-7 Follow-Up Situation

  N/A