Effects of parental attitudes towards girl-child education in Wa West District, Ghana

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of attitudes of parents towards girl-child education in Wa West District of Upper West Region. The descriptive survey design was adopted. Respondents were drawn from all the five (5) area councils of the Wa West District. They were made up of parents/guardians, Headteaches/Teachers and circuit supervisors/District Director of Education of the district. Data for the study were obtained through questionnaire and interview schedules. The findings indicated that the overall attitude of the respondents was moderately favourable and positive towards schooling and education of their children. The results also indicated that the attitudes of parents do not encourage the girl-child in her education. It was indicated that, preference of male over female education was common in the community. The study concluded that, although parents were aware of the positive contributions of schooling and education, there was a lot of scope for improvement in this regard since most parents had preference for boy-child.