Journal of Education & Social Policy

Experiences of Families Engaged in Home-Schooling in Accra, Ghana
Nana Esi Badu Nketsiah, Kwame Winston Abroampa PhD, Rev. Kwesi Nkum Wilson PhD

Abstract
The study explored the experiences of families engaged in home-schooling in Accra. The research adopted a multi-case study design to explore the experiences of a select group of parents who home-school their children, highlighting their motivation for home-schooling as an alternative to traditional school education. The snowball sampling technique was used to identify three families with children between the ages of 3 to 14 years. Primarily, data were gathered using interviews and observation sessions Data accumulated for the study was analysed by first transcribing interviews recorded. The transcribed interviews were then classified under three major themes which are reasons for home-schooling, curriculum choices and challenges of home-schooling. The study identified several motivations for home-schooling and amongst these, the most prevalent were; a concern about the school environment, a desire to provide a strong moral foundation, dissatisfaction with academic instruction provided in traditional schools and the provision of religious instruction to home-school children. Families also chose from a variety of curricula and resources. However, they found paucity of resource materials, stereotyping of home-schooling and absence of policies as challenges. The study concluded that the motivations for parents choosing home-schooling are consistent across cultures though no previous research has been found to support this in the Ghanaian context. It was recommended that the legal framework and guidelines for home-schooling in Ghana be clearly spelt out by the government of Ghana to permit more and more parents see this option as a viable school choice option.

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