The politicization of education policies
The case of Ghana’s Free Senior High School Policy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21639844 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hilarius Kofi Kofinti (0009-0008-2682-3423, York University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Publication date | 2024-11-05 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Education Policy Analysis Archives (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1068-2341 • E-ISSN: 1068-2341 |
| Publisher | Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.14507/epaa.32.8486 |
| OpenAlex | W4404078349 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
While many scholars recognize and criticize the politicization of education policies, scholarly attention to the strategies politicians utilize to politicize educational policy discourses remains limited. Focusing on the officials of Ghana’s two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), as policy actors, this paper investigates how officials of these two parties operationalized discussions regarding Ghana’s Free Senior High School Policy (FSHSP) to garner support for their parties while stoking resentment for their political opponents. The study employs a critical discourse analysis (CDA) framework and a dataset of 175 documents, including news stories, press releases, party manifestos, and government publications. The analysis reveals that both parties resorted to strategies of positive self-presentation and negative other presentation. The NPP contrasted its regime with the NDC’s tenure and framed the NDC as a threat to FSHSP and the education of the poor and vulnerable. The NDC problematized and highlighted implementation bottlenecks while framing the NPP and FSHSP as threats to quality education. I argue that through these strategies, NPP officials aimed to maintain incumbency while NDC officials advocated a regime change. The paper concludes by emphasizing the potential risks associated with politicizing education policies
Economic growth · Economics · Education policy · Higher education · Pedagogy · Political science · Sociology · African Education and Politics · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Public Administration
A social equity informed SWOT analysis of Ghana’s Free Senior High School policy from 2017 to 2025
Exploring Teachers’ Perceptions About the Implementation of Ghana’s Free Senior High School Policy Using the Contextual Interaction Theory
Marginality and exclusion
Universal Access, Divided Opinions
Public perception of Ghana's Free Senior High School policy
| Citations per year | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |