ABSTRACT
Ghana spends nearly one quarter of the National Budget on education. Following the introduction of fee-free compulsory primary education in 1961, enrolment rose precipitately reaching in certain areas something like 90% of children of school going age. This chapter describes the prestige and social status of elementary school teachers in village communities in Sehwi Wiawso state, Western Ghana. Foster for instance, found in Ghana that the status of elementary school teachers ranked very low in the perceptions of secondary school students in comparison with that of doctors or lawyers. But the educational achievements of secondary school students already exceed those of many teachers, and their career expectations, therefore, are unlikely to be directed towards the level of such teachers with whom, in any case, they may no longer interact. Whereas once the Middle School Leaving Certificate opened up prospects in a variety of careers, it is now virtually a worthless commodity except as a basic qualification for further education.
