Aurhor: Daniel Ampem Darko-Asumadu, PhD (University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana)
Abstract: Building a career, managing social life and studying at the same time has been a longstanding phenomenon in many countries. However, little is known about the concurring challenges workers face once they assume their roles as students. This study therefore sought to establish challenges of student-workers enrolled on the distance education program in Ghana. Guided by the interpretivist philosophy, the study employed the qualitative approach. Data was gathered from student-workers and coordinators who were purposively selected from public universities in Ghana. Student-workers revealed that the main institutional challenges for UCC student-workers included difficulty in rectifying incomplete results and late provision of logistics that aided learning. KNUST and UG student-workers, however, lamented on the difficulty in catching up with the online teaching and learning system considering the regular power outage. Apparently, verbal and sexual abuse, lack of facilities for nursing mothers and accommodation for student-workers who travelled long distance were common challenges across the public universities. The study recommended that university authorities should put up infrastructure for child care to support nursing mothers and create a desk on weekends for students to air out their concerns, in addition to providing a hotline for receiving concerns on sexual harassment.
This piece brings out the true challenges of working students in Ghana’s distance learning.Reality ranges from electricity outages to childcare shortages and harassment.The piece voices the imperative for more robust institutional support systems.Suggested interventions such as childcare facilities and hotlines can really equip learners.