Challenges Facing Nursing Mothers in Distance Learning in the Upper West Region of Ghana: A Recipe for Policy Formulation.

Abstract

It is obvious that women will love to have children for their husbands in the Ghanaian society. However, with the increasing responsibilities of women in society it has become a challenge for women to have children while fulfilling their new responsibilities in society. Before now the core role of women in society was to produce children, cook for their husbands, and respond to their sexual advances when needed. On the other hand, men work to bring resources home. The situation has changed in contemporary times whereby women have to work to support their husbands to keep the home financially. The purpose of the study is to identify and evaluate the educational challenges facing nursing mothers on distance education programs in the Upper West Region of Ghana. It is also to identify strategies and interventions in dealing with nursing mothers to create a healthy learning environment for academic success. The study adopted a case study design, and purposive sampling was used to select all available nursing mothers taking part in College of Distance Education University of Cape Coast distance education program. A questionnaire was used to gather information from thirty-one (31) nursing mothers. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and analysis. The results show that nursing mothers face numerous challenges while seeking for further education. The major ones been the lack of accommodation for their babies and babysitters, and competing equally with other students in terms of time during the examination. The nursing mothers suggested separate room for them during examinations as well as extra time for the inconveniences the babies create during examinations.