Abstract:
This study sought out to investigate the influence of illegal mining on school
attendance, dropout and academic performance of junior high school pupils in the
Atwima Kwanwoma District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. In order to achieve the
purpose of the study, a convergent mixed method design was employed. The sample
size for the quantitative study was 105, comprising 70 pupils and 35 parents. In the
qualitative phase, a sample size of 8 comprising 4 pupils and 4 parents were
employed. The researcher used questionnaire and interview guide as the primary tools
for collecting data. The questionnaire and interview guide were employed to collect
quantitative and qualitative data respectively. The quantitative data were analysed
using the Statistical Product and Service Solution, SPSS version 20 whereas the
qualitative data were analysed using the thematic approach. Among the findings of
the study, it was revealed that most of the pupils acknowledge the fact that they often
absent themselves from class and go into mining without official excuse or
permission. It was again revealed that, illegal mining activities contributed
statistically significantly to pupils’ poor academic performance in Social Studies. The
study recommended that the Directorate of the Ghana Education Service at Atwima
Kwanwoma District and traditional leaders should be in constant dialogue with
members of the communities, especially parents, to appreciate the value of formal
education in order to ensure that their children stay in school and study. It was
suggested that further research be conducted in other basic schools in the country
where illegal mining activities are carried out to give the general overview regarding
the influence of illegal mining activities on school attendance, dropout and academic
performance of junior high school pupils and to come out with holistic approach in
curbing the situation.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Basic Education,
Faculty of Educational Studies, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies, in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Basic Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
SEPTEMBER, 2019
