Abstract:
In most parts of the world today, the goal of providing all children with
free and Universal Primary Education (UPE) has received broad national and
international support and some educational systems have evolved from predominantly
‘fee-charging’ towards ‘fee-free’ status in recent times. In Ghana, for
example, the endorsement of Education for All (EFA) and millennium development
goals (MDGs) agreements coupled with commitment to internal constitutional
reforms have resulted in the initiation of the Free Compulsory Universal, Basic
Education (fCUBE) policy. Dishearteningly however, in many low-income countries
(including Ghana), verbal commitments to these laudable social goals do not
appear to be translated into the needed changes in policy and practice. This article
draws on a case study of the fCUBE policy implementation to provide insights into
the complexities involved in operationalising UPE policy initiatives in sub-Saharan
Africa. The methodological approach involved the critical discourse analysis of
interviews with Ghanaian education officials who mediate policy at the ‘mesolevel’.
Owing to the commitments of the fCUBE policy to enhancing the educational
opportunities and outcomes for the socially and economically disadvantaged,
the paper sees it (i.e. the fCUBE policy) as deeply rooted in social democracy.
However, it is argued that as long as there is a blurring in meaning of the intentions
encapsulated in its title, primary education in Ghana cannot be said to be ‘free’,
‘compulsory’ and ‘universal’. It is concluded that accentuating policy purposes in
low-income countries is not inherently problematic but that the challenges lie with
how the intentions and provisions of policy are conceptualised and operationalised
in context.
