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Access to higher education is often limited to adults because of their location. This is particularly challenging for adults who live in rural communities and small towns and can lead to unmet expectations. While policy makers have long recognised the potential impact of lifelong education for adults, the educational needs of adults have received relatively less attention. For adults residing in rural areas who rely, more often than not, on distance education, mostly in the form of blended learning there is usually limited access to public universities. For policy makers to respond effectively to the educational needs of the adult population in the rural areas, the first step is to understand the educational barriers of adults living in such areas, particularly as they are constrained with lack of minimal transportation and information communications technology. This paper reports on qualitative research exploring the educational challenges and needs faced by adults in rural areas of Ghana.

The study presented here investigated challenges of learning environments experienced by distance-learning (DL) higher education (HE) students in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The author interviewed students (n=24) in two DL centres, where they attended weekend face-to-face sessions. He asked them to share their personal experiences with respect to classrooms, learning facilities both inside and outside the classroom, and access to library support services. During each intensive one-on-one interview, which lasted 45-60 minutes, the author made audio-recordings and field notes for later analysis. The students' views were complemented with audio-recordings and field notes from staff interviews (n=4), each lasting 1-2 hours. The 28 participants in the study were recruited from two University of Ghana Learning Centres, Accra and Tema. Data collection covered the period from April 2018 to December 2019. The field notes derived from all participant interviews were transcribed, coded, categorised and analysed using NVivo 10. Particular attention was paid to students' educational and social well-being, and their "sense of place." Findings include students' struggle with poor infrastructure conditions, and most reported lack of access to power sources in the classrooms, lack of a cafeteria, IT labs, library space, a student hub, and support services as the most significant barriers to experiencing a meaningful HE as DLs. Participants stressed the importance of infrastructural support and services tailored towards DLs' needs, with an emphasis on DL HE students' physical, social and psychological well-being.

The study’s main goals are to investigate a sense of community belonging among distance education (DE) students from the perspective of an institutionalized learning center, as well as its impact on their satisfaction and well-being. This is one of the first studies to look at the perceived sense of community belonging among DE students in Ghana. The article presents the findings of thirty in-depth interviews with DE students at the University of Ghana’s Greater Accra Learning Centers. The findings suggest that low satisfaction and well-being owing to insufficient teaching and learning resources are more important in explaining DE students’ lower sense of community. While some participants reported improved access to higher education through DE, opinions on how beneficial the access was or could be for satisfaction were mixed. The findings highlight the need for research to incorporate a sense of community belonging into studies on enhancing DE image and reputation while focusing on the factors contributing to high levels of stress, discontentment, and incomplete studies among DE students, as well as on how to alleviate or reduce them. These findings are consistent with the need for policy intervention in developing countries to increase DE participation rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to higher education is often limited to adults because of their location. This is particularly challenging for adults who live in rural communities and small towns and can lead to unmet expectations. While policy makers have long recognised the potential impact of lifelong education for adults, the educational needs of adults have received relatively less attention. For adults residing in rural areas who rely, more often than not, on distance education, mostly in the form of blended learning there is usually limited access to public universities. For policy makers to respond effectively to the educational needs of the adult population in the rural areas, the first step is to understand the educational barriers of adults living in such areas, particularly as they are constrained with lack of minimal transportation and information communications technology. This paper reports on qualitative research exploring the educational challenges and needs faced by adults in rural areas of Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presented here investigated challenges of learning environments experienced by distance-learning (DL) higher education (HE) students in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The author interviewed students (n=24) in two DL centres, where they attended weekend face-to-face sessions. He asked them to share their personal experiences with respect to classrooms, learning facilities both inside and outside the classroom, and access to library support services. During each intensive one-on-one interview, which lasted 45–60 minutes, the author made audio-recordings and field notes for later analysis. The students' views were complemented with audio-recordings and field notes from staff interviews (n=4), each lasting 1–2 hours. The 28 participants in the study were recruited from two University of Ghana Learning Centres, Accra and Tema. Data collection covered the period from April 2018 to December 2019. The field notes derived from all participant interviews were transcribed, coded, categorised and analysed using NVivo 10. Particular attention was paid to students' educational and social well-being, and their sense of place. Findings include students' struggle with poor infrastructure conditions, and most reported lack of access to power sources in the classrooms, lack of a cafeteria, IT labs, library space, a student hub, and support services as the most significant barriers to experiencing a meaningful HE as DLs. Participants stressed the importance of infrastructural support and services tailored towards DLs' needs, with an emphasis on DL HE students' physical, social and psychological well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]