Schooling, Leisure and Work: Experiences and Perspectives of Some School Children in Accra, Ghana

Abstract

This study explored the participating children’s experiences and perspectives on their schooling, leisure and work activities. It sought to find out how the participants apportion their time between schooling, leisure and work activities; who make the decision with regard to use of time for schooling, leisure and work, and what factors influence such decisions; the type of work activities they engage in and the reasons why they do so. A total of two hundred and eleven children from two schools were used in this study. The ages of the participating children ranged from nine years to seventeen years. The mixed method research which involves the mixing of quantitative and qualitative approaches was used. Participants spent most of their time on schooling activities, followed by leisure activities. Work activities consumed the least of participants’ time. There was no significant difference between time spent on school and leisure activities by both sexes. However, the results suggest that on the average, participating children from the public school spent more time on school activities than their counterparts from the private school. The findings suggest that on the average the participants were using a lot of hours on schooling activities. Teachers/school authorities decided the amount of time spent on all schooling activities except one. The time used for homework/personal studies and leisure activities was controlled mostly by participants. Whilst most of the participants performed household chores, many did not engage in paid work. The findings are discussed under schooling, leisure and work.