Teacher Migration and the Quality of Basic Education in the Upper West Region of Ghana

The Wa West District of the Upper West Region is an important sending area for teacher migrants to the Brong Ahafo Region, both in Ghana. This paper discusses the reasons for the out-migration of teachers and the effects on the quality of basic education in the Wa West District. The discussion focuses on the characteristics of the teacher migrants, reasons for out-migration and the performance of sending schools as a result of the out-migration. The goal is to expose some of the reasons that account for poor quality education in the Upper West Region while attempting to suggest remedies to this problem. To be able to do this a survey was conducted using questionnaire and interviews as main instruments. The survey revealed that economic push factors such as inadequate motivation for teachers in the sending District and the lack of alternative employment opportunities were key factors for teacher migration. The push conditions were found to result in the poor performance of pupils at the primary and junior secondary school levels in sending district. Consequently, it was concluded that improvements in the socio-economic and infrastructure of the sending district, which would aid in bridging the development gap between the two regions, would help in reducing teacher migration and improve the quality of basic education in the Wa West District.KEY WORDS: Teacher Migration, Socio-Economic Forces, Quality Education, Development Gaps, Educational Parit