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Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts Education

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  • Nana Afia Amponsaa Opoku-Asare
  • Abena Okyerewa Siaw

Abstract

Rural–urban disparity in economic and social development in Ghana has led to disparities in educational resources and variations in students’ achievement in different parts of the country. Nonetheless, senior high schools (SHSs) in rural and urban schools follow the same curriculum, and their students write the same West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which qualifies them to access higher education in Ghana’s public universities. Urban SHSs are also recognized nationwide as good schools where students make it to university. Moreover, performance patterns with regard to admission of SHS graduates into university also vary between rural and urban schools; consequently, some parents do everything to get their children in urban SHSs, even consenting to placement in visual arts, a program deemed appropriate only for academically weak students. This study therefore adopted the qualitative-quantitative research approach with interview, observation, and questionnaire administration to investigate the critical factors that affect academic performance of SHS students, particularly those in visual arts as case study. Findings from six public SHSs in Kumasi—two each in rural, peri-urban, and urban areas—revealed that urban schools perform better than rural and peri-urban schools because they attract and admit junior high school graduates with excellent Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) grades, have better infrastructure, more qualified teachers, prestigious names, and character that motivate their students to do well. This suggests that bridging the rural–urban gap in educational resources could promote quality teaching and learning, and thereby raise academic achievement for SHS students in Ghana.

Suggested Citation

  • Nana Afia Amponsaa Opoku-Asare & Abena Okyerewa Siaw, 2015. "Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts Education," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(4), pages 21582440156, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:5:y:2015:i:4:p:2158244015612523
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244015612523
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Francis Atuahene & Anthony Owusu-Ansah, 2013. "A Descriptive Assessment of Higher Education Access, Participation, Equity, and Disparity in Ghana," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(3), pages 21582440134, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Akhirul Ariyanto & Nurul Umamah* & Sumarjono, 2019. "Analysis of School Climate of Senior High Schools in Jember: A Case Study of Student in History Lesson," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 5(1), pages 40-47, 01-2019.
    2. Yeliz Eratlı Şirin & Mustafa Şahin, 2020. "Investigation of Factors Affecting the Achievement of University Students with Logistic Regression Analysis: School of Physical Education and Sport Example," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    3. Nana Afia Opoku-Asare & Abena Okyerewa Siaw, 2016. "Curricula and Inferential Factors That Affect Student Achievement in Rural, Urban, and Peri-Urban Senior High Schools in Ghana," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(3), pages 21582440166, August.

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