Rethinking the Philosophical Approach to Higher Education in Ghana

Abstract

This study investigates how higher education [H.E] at a university level in Ghana can serve a public purpose (the common good of society). The study uses a qualitative mode of inquiry with a critical studies approach. It further utilises autobiography to investigate what it means to be educated in Ghana – this approach locates the researcher in the study. An extended literature review is utilised to illustrate the main features of historical development of H.E in Ghana. Semi-structured interviews were employed to help gather empirical data in order to answer questions as to how H.E in Ghana is elitist; the alternative means of funding H.E in Ghana; and the possible future of H.E in Ghana. Given that the framework of Ghana’s H.E is a legacy of the British colonial heritage, broad based anti-colonial persuasions of Franz Fanon, Kwame Nkrumah, Aimé Césaire, Leopold Sedar Senghor and Marcus Garvey were utilised. Specifically, the anti-colonial theorisation by Simmons and Dei (2012), which draws from the works of the above-mentioned theorists was adopted as a framework to argue that Western notions of H.E dislocate the highly schooled Ghanaian historically, spiritually, aesthetically, socio-politically and ethically. The thesis finds that the basis for conceptualising an “educated” person in Ghana is the acquisition of European values and outlooks. Further, whereas the main feature of traditional African H.E focuses on the cultivation of ethical values to nurture character in order to enhance a person’s humanity, the greater possibilities for employability is the main concentration of Ghanaian universities. Even though the extent of elitism in Ghanaian universities has reduced, the pre-eminence given to Western worldviews and perspectives and the restricted access to medical sciences and business programmes remain strands of elitism. The study reveals the need for universities to generate useable knowledge through a connection between H.E institutions and society to enhance the prospects of funding. The future possibilities of H.E are both bleak and bright depending on the trajectory universities adopt. Overall, the findings suggest that for H.E to serve a public purpose in Ghana, it must be localised and based on Ghanaian/African epistemological, ontological and axiological worldviews.