Barriers Beyond Poverty: Cultural Practices and Culturally Responsive Reform for Primary Education Access in Ghana

As of 1996, Ghana has made considerable strides in the enrolment of primary school children, however, improvements in attendance, retention, and completion have lagged behind. Existing scholarship has paid limited attention to the role of culture in shaping these disparities. Cultural practices such as early marriage, gender-based domestic responsibilities, child fostering, and certain religious beliefs continue to affect school participation differently across regions and ethnic groups. In response, this study proposes a Culturally Responsive Educational Reform Framework (CRERF) to guide educational reform through community engagement. Preliminary appraisal involving 100 survey respondents, 40 interview participants, and 20 experts indicates encouraging levels of face and content validity, despite the use of purposive sampling. The findings further suggest that legal enforcement, cash transfer programmes, gender-responsive education, curriculum adaptation, and continuous monitoring should be integrated to improve educational outcomes.