Development of Curriculum in Ghana

Ghana’s curriculum was developed with the following factors in mind: Knowledge of God, Love for God, Sound Moral Character, Quality Education.

Currently in Ghana, the agency under the Ministry of Education mandated to develop curriculum for basic and second cycle institutions is the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA).

National Council for Curriculum and Assessment

This agency was previously known as Curriculum and Research Development Division (CRDD). It used to be a division under the Ghana Education Service. Now redefined, the NaCCA is a full fledged agency under the Ministry of Education.

Responsibilities of the NaCCA

Apart from the design and development of curriculum, other responsibilities of the NaCCA are:

writing of the textbooks
assessment
design of manuals
reporting of outcomes of research on curriculum issues to the nation

Workers at NaCCA are expected to exhibit a great deal of expertise in instructional design and curriculum development in order get a good and well-developed curriculum for our schools.

Factors NaCCA Consider in Designing Curriculum for Ghana?

Before we introduce any new curriculum, one of these two instances must hold true.

There is no curriculum already in use
The current curriculum in use already needs to be redesigned to meet the changing needs of the nation

We will get to know the above factors after we have done deep analysis of our current state identifying the need for a new curriculum. This is referred to as Needs Assessment or Needs Analysis.

During this kind of analysis, the designers will compare two (2) main things:

The Current State (where we are now…)
The Desired State (where we wish to be)

If the analysis turns out that the current state is very similar to our desired state, then the designers will conclude that there is no need for a new curriculum.

Otherwise, the researchers must prove to stakeholders why there is the need for a new curriculum. They must explain in details how the new curriculum will make a difference.

How Do We Know Whether We Need A New Curriculum?

During the analysis to decide whether or not we need a new curriculum, 3 important things must be considered:

The Learners (here we consider age, interest, learning styles, RPK, financial background of learners, cultural background, capabilities etc)
The Content (this considers topics and available materials that will be appropriate based on the goals)
The Context and Task to be performed (the culture of the people, human resources, material resources, national aspirations,)

Experts consider a lot of things when designing curriculum for the Ghana. A