Ebenezer Ankrah

2 Publications in AERD

Author Publications

Sustainable development goal four (SDG 4) in Ghana: Can second cycle school libraries play a role?

By Elizabeth Okantah Ntsiful

School libraries have a strong commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) four. The United Nations SDG four aims to ensure inclusive and equitable education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Librarians are in the right position to foster the attainment of the SDGs. Therefore, this study sought to investigate how school libraries in high schools attain SDG four at the Presbyterian Boys’ Senior High School, Benkum Senior High School, and Kwabenya Senior High School. This study was guided by the Partnership Relationships Model. This study adopted a quantitative approach and survey research design to select 257 out of the total population of 2574 using a stratified sampling method. Statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The study found that most respondents had a basic level of knowledge of what constitutes SDG four. The Chi-square test showed that there is a relationship between school libraries and SDG four in Kwabenya Senior High School, unlike in Presbyterian and Benkum Senior High Schools. The findings can be explained by the fact that in Kwabenya, the school library plays a critical role by supporting teaching and learning in schools, but in Presbyterian and Benkum, school libraries only provide training for teachers and learners. The study concluded that it is important for school management to assist the school library through the provision of training and supporting teaching and learning to learners in attaining SDG four with available resources. The study recommended the following, awareness creation of SDG four through workshops, provision of training, and enhancement of collection to support the teaching and learning of learners. © The Author(s) 2023.

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University students’ perspectives on the benefits and challenges of emergency remote teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana

By Emmanuel Boakye Omari

The advent of Covid-19 changed how education is carried out at the tertiary level in Ghana. Despite the lunch of emergency remote teaching at the University of Ghana in 2020, little research has been done on students’ experiences. Using a qualitative descriptive design, this study explored students’ experiences regarding the benefits, challenges, and the influence of emergency remote teaching on their self-esteem, academic confidence, and performance. 20 students were interviewed, and their responses were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results showed students had both positive and negative experiences which had diverse impacts on their self-esteem, academic confidence, and performance. Positive experiences resulted from the confidence to participate in class without intimidation, improved IT literacy, self-esteem and academic performance, less distraction and leniency from lecturers. Negative experiences bothered on problems with the learning management system, internet challenges, laziness on the part of students, high cost of internet data, unconducive learning environment, comprehension difficulties, increased workload and cheating by students. The findings underscore the need for university management to consider students’ psychological wellbeing and needs when implementing new educational systems and further put measures in place to improve emergency remote teaching and curb academic dishonesty in order to improve tertiary education in Ghana amidst Covid-19. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

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