Communal Conflict Versus Education: Experiences of Stakeholders in Ghana's Bawku Conflict

Abstract

Notwithstanding the 1992 Constitution of Ghana’s affirmation of the right of every child to free compulsory universal basic education, conflict obstructs basic educational access and outcome in Ghana’s Bawku. This paper examines the impact of communal conflict on basic educational access and outcomes in Bawku. The study employed a qualitative investigation using interviews of key informants on the nature of the Bawku Conflict in the data collection procedure. Evidence of stakeholders indicate that conflict and poverty operate in a simultaneous fashion to impede basic education access and outcome. Authors find evidence of a significant decline in average basic educational access and outcomes with estimated effect on both boys and girls which further suggests that the communal conflict has triggered substantial regional and generational inequalities between Bawku and other parts of the country. The evidence suggests that this finding may be somewhat due to family trade-offs between education on one hand and insurgence activities for boys and work for girls on the other hand.