Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to find out the extent of participation of girls in basic education in the Eastern part of the Nadowli District in the Upper West Region of Ghana and to examine the reasons for that level of participation. Two sets of data were used in the investigation. These data were documentary data and interview data. The respondents comprised parents of pupils, female girls in basic schools, school dropouts, head teachers of the selected basic schools and the Nadowli District Education Officers. The main method employed in the data analysis was the calculation of percentages. The findings of the study indicate that many girls enter class one but some dropout as they get to the junior high school levels because of poverty and low premium some parents give to girls’ education.
The study therefore recommends that steps be taken by government to make modern agricultural extension services reach the small-scale and subsistence farmers in the Upper West Region to alleviate poverty. Also it is recommended that public education be given in those communities to disabuse the minds of the rural folk concerning the traditional conceptions they cherish that females are meant for only the kitchen and that they are made to become wives to men.
