Cultural aspects of constraints on village education by radio

Abstract

Radio, in its linear one-way communication mode, is not an effective medium for rural mass education in Ghana. Ansah (1979,1985) described the causes of its in effectiveness as political, economical and social. This Article asserts that constrains on rural Ghanaian radio education broadcasting are largely cultural. The assertion is founded on views from clinical literature which hold that ‘language or culture can impede communication (stover,1984:7) on empirical data obtained through in situ observations of the structure and process of the Ghanaian broadcasting system, and on conversations with villagers and educators. The evidence gathered showed that cultural elements impeded radio -based education . As a result, this article proposes the exploration of the network of indigenous village communication systems, found to be the linchpin for intra-village communication as potential educational channels by the country’s rural educators. In arriving at this proposition, the modernization approach to radio-based village education which dominated the schemes examined is reconsidered