Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts Education
Rural–urban disparity in economic and social development in Ghana has led to disparities in educational resources and variations in students’ achievement in different parts of the country. Nonetheless, senior high schools (SHSs) in rural and urban schools follow the same curriculum, and their studen...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2015-12-01
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| Series: | SAGE Open |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015612523 |
| _version_ | 1818256327678361600 |
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| author | Nana Afia Amponsaa Opoku-Asare Abena Okyerewa Siaw |
| author_facet | Nana Afia Amponsaa Opoku-Asare Abena Okyerewa Siaw |
| author_sort | Nana Afia Amponsaa Opoku-Asare |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Rural–urban disparity in economic and social development in Ghana has led to disparities in educational resources and variations in students’ achievement in different parts of the country. Nonetheless, senior high schools (SHSs) in rural and urban schools follow the same curriculum, and their students write the same West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which qualifies them to access higher education in Ghana’s public universities. Urban SHSs are also recognized nationwide as good schools where students make it to university. Moreover, performance patterns with regard to admission of SHS graduates into university also vary between rural and urban schools; consequently, some parents do everything to get their children in urban SHSs, even consenting to placement in visual arts, a program deemed appropriate only for academically weak students. This study therefore adopted the qualitative-quantitative research approach with interview, observation, and questionnaire administration to investigate the critical factors that affect academic performance of SHS students, particularly those in visual arts as case study. Findings from six public SHSs in Kumasi—two each in rural, peri-urban, and urban areas—revealed that urban schools perform better than rural and peri-urban schools because they attract and admit junior high school graduates with excellent Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) grades, have better infrastructure, more qualified teachers, prestigious names, and character that motivate their students to do well. This suggests that bridging the rural–urban gap in educational resources could promote quality teaching and learning, and thereby raise academic achievement for SHS students in Ghana. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T17:26:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-71e52156c08747ceb84eb8131861c130 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2158-2440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T17:26:00Z |
| publishDate | 2015-12-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SAGE Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-71e52156c08747ceb84eb8131861c1302022-12-22T00:17:31ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402015-12-01510.1177/215824401561252310.1177_2158244015612523Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts EducationNana Afia Amponsaa Opoku-Asare0Abena Okyerewa Siaw1Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaKumasi Polytechnic, GhanaRural–urban disparity in economic and social development in Ghana has led to disparities in educational resources and variations in students’ achievement in different parts of the country. Nonetheless, senior high schools (SHSs) in rural and urban schools follow the same curriculum, and their students write the same West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which qualifies them to access higher education in Ghana’s public universities. Urban SHSs are also recognized nationwide as good schools where students make it to university. Moreover, performance patterns with regard to admission of SHS graduates into university also vary between rural and urban schools; consequently, some parents do everything to get their children in urban SHSs, even consenting to placement in visual arts, a program deemed appropriate only for academically weak students. This study therefore adopted the qualitative-quantitative research approach with interview, observation, and questionnaire administration to investigate the critical factors that affect academic performance of SHS students, particularly those in visual arts as case study. Findings from six public SHSs in Kumasi—two each in rural, peri-urban, and urban areas—revealed that urban schools perform better than rural and peri-urban schools because they attract and admit junior high school graduates with excellent Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) grades, have better infrastructure, more qualified teachers, prestigious names, and character that motivate their students to do well. This suggests that bridging the rural–urban gap in educational resources could promote quality teaching and learning, and thereby raise academic achievement for SHS students in Ghana.https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015612523 |
| spellingShingle | Nana Afia Amponsaa Opoku-Asare Abena Okyerewa Siaw Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts Education SAGE Open |
| title | Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts Education |
| title_full | Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts Education |
| title_fullStr | Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts Education |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts Education |
| title_short | Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts Education |
| title_sort | rural urban disparity in students academic performance in visual arts education |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015612523 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nanaafiaamponsaaopokuasare ruralurbandisparityinstudentsacademicperformanceinvisualartseducation AT abenaokyerewasiaw ruralurbandisparityinstudentsacademicperformanceinvisualartseducation |