Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Ghana’s Schools

Gender-responsive or gender-transformative pedagogy (used interchangeably at VVOB), a way of teaching and leading that ensures that education is delivered fairly and equally for all learners, and where harmful gender norms and power dynamics are challenged to promote gender equality) is often assumed to be about girls. In reality, it begins with understanding the pressures facing both boys and girls and recognising that policy alone cannot undo the norms shaping their opportunities and choices. 

In Ghana, with expectations of men as breadwinners, boys from low-income families face economic pressure to leave school early, before completing Junior High. Francis Kwasi Addai, Director of Licensing and Registration at the National Teaching Council (NTC) points to galamsey (illegal mining) as a major factor affecting boys. 

“Boys are keen on making money, sometimes using shortcuts, and once they’re exposed to this, especially seeing how much they can make in a day, school stops being a priority.”

Gifty Asiedu, Director of the Girls Education Unit at the Ghana Education Service, sees these expectations play out even where alternatives to Junior High School exist. “There are institutions that offer free skills training, but we’re not getting boys pursuing this. They’re not ready to go through two to three years of training.” 

To address this, schools are emphasising career talks with role models, club activities, peer-to-peer mentorship, counselling sessions, among others. Still, the pull of immediate income remains strong, shaped by ideas about masculinity, success, and responsibility that sit far beyond the classroom.

Girls face a different set of pressures. Adolescent pregnancy remains the leading cause of school dropouts. While Ghana’s Constitution guarantees free, compulsory basic education, socio-cultural norms often discourage pregnant girls from staying in school. “Our Gender Policy has supported us with guidelines on what to do when a girl gets pregnant; the policy states that pregnancy should not be a barrier for a girl accessing school,” Gifty explains. However, prevailing harmful gender norms can still limit what a policy can achieve. Gifty, however, sees change beckoning as schools are increasingly prepared to support girls who remain in school during pregnancy or who return after childbirth. Curbing teen pregnancy from the onset is also taking place as schools prioritise interventions such as mentorship talks, club activities and counselling. 

In Ghana, Junior High School covers the early adolescent years and is a turning point in a learner’s education. It is often the moment when young people begin to imagine what comes next, and when the guidance they receive can either open doors or close them.

In partnership with the Guidance and Counselling Unit, Gifty and her colleagues are equipping teachers to guide learners effectively, so they can make informed decisions, regardless of their gender. 

Gifty stresses that this makes well-prepared teachers essential. “Teachers influence which programmes [and subjects] learners select,” she explains. If guidance is misinformed, by harmful gender biases or stereotypes for example, then students may avoid certain pathways unnecessarily. She cites the example of STEM programmes, which are perceived to be expensive, unsuitable for girls, or incompatible with marriage and motherhood. “We must be intentional with community engagement; we must disabuse the minds of parents because some of these things start from home,” she says. “We also have to engage community opinion leaders and religious leaders to break stereotypes and practices, including early child marriage, that affect learners’ futures.”

Evidence shows what this looks like in practice. In a 2018 initiative in northern Ghana, which was cited by Gifty, one in two girls initially believed she would not be able to continue to senior high school. For many, the expectation was that their education would end early.

In reality, almost all of them did continue. More than 95% of the girls (954 out of 1,000) progressed to senior high school. What changed was not only access, but their belief in themselves. And it didn’t stop there. This shift was also reflected in the choices of subjects girls made next. Nearly one in three enrolled in STEM programmes, pathways girls are often discouraged from considering. Across 54 schools, this pointed to a change in how guidance was delivered and how girls saw their own potential.

“Gender-responsive pedagogy works,” Gifty says. “When it is implemented well, students especially girls from low-income or low-literacy households are motivated to explore pathways they might not have considered.”

The pressures learners face place significant demands on teachers, particularly at Junior High School level, where guidance can shape long-term outcomes. Within the Regional Teachers Initiative for Africa (RTIA), partners are working with national systems to strengthen teacher training on gender-responsive pedagogy and career guidance across Kenya, Ghana and South Africa.

In Ghana, continuous professional development (CPD) is mandatory for all licensed teachers. Teachers must undertake CPD activities at least twice a year, earning points tied directly to the renewal of their professional licence. This process is facilitated by the National Teaching Council through Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). “If you don’t have the minimum continuous professional development points, your licence will not be renewed,” explains Francis. 

To support participation, teachers receive 200 Ghana cedis per month for attendance and engagement in Professional Learning Communities. In the Teacher Continuous Professional Development on Gender-Responsive Study and Career Guidance in Junior High Schools project led by VVOB in partnership with the Ghana Education Service and the National Teaching Council, gender-responsive pedagogy and career guidance is being integrated into both initial and continuous teacher professional development through existing PLC structures, which is further enhanced by aligning the PLC content in these areas. 

“Career guidance is infused into everyday teaching, so we don’t only rely on specialist counsellors, who are scarce. Teachers don’t teach in isolation; every subject and the materials we’re developing links to career paths and the world of work,” says Madeez Adamu Issah, VVOB’s Project Coordinator in Ghana.

Ghana’s experience shows how gender-responsive career guidance can move from aspiration to practice through alignment of systems, partnerships and vision. Through similar projects and partnerships, enhanced monitoring and resourcing, awareness-raising and sustained advocacy, we can jointly shift teachers’ mindsets, strengthen guidance and ensure that all students see every opportunity as within reach. 

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