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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.

Diverse national and local policies represent efforts to guarantee inclusive and equitable quality education and provide lifelong learning for all (SDG4). Their effects have the potential to alter local access to education. There has been a lot of research on the factors that led certain universities to embrace distance learning programs in their local communities, but relatively little has been done to examine how these changes can affect the perceptions of the larger community approach to investigating public opinion. This study investigates community perceptions of distance learning through community learning centres in Ghana's port city, Tema Metropolis – which supports various educational activities – using semi-structured interviews. Although community members expressed concerns about the possible socio-economic effects of learning centres, we discovered that individual students who used the learning centres were driven to pursue distance learning largely for its educational advantages. Our research demonstrates that the scope and speed of distance learning made possible by community learning centres has influenced local communities such as the Tema Metropolis and beyond. To guarantee that community learning centres encouraged by DE policy are administered effectively and fairly, such implications must be considered in research, policy, and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

This study employs the therapeutic landscape theory to explore how online religious services during lockdown restrictions shape experiences of well-being and intergenerational learning. We used qualitative data from in depth interviews and focus groups with older adults and pastors in five churches in Ghana to explore how online religious places are conceptualized as therapeutic landscapes for sustaining wellbeing goals amidst a global pandemic. We identified multiple pathways of meaning through which online religious services shape the lives of people in a faith community to sustain the experience of well-being in a difficult time. In addition, this paper reflects on the broader implications of COVID-19 in shaping a paradigm shift in digital religion and intergenerational learning experiences through a changing religious landscape precipitated by lockdown restrictions that have drastically altered traditional religious places. [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]

This study explores the experiences of African immigrants’ religious place making and its relationship to health and well-being. Attention is paid to how religious places are seen as therapeutic and their impact on well-being of Ghanaian and Somali immigrants in Hamilton, Ontario. Our analysis of the interviews, emerging from the therapeutic landscape lens underscores the importance of immigrants’ religious places and activities in shaping health in their new destination. The results indicate that places of worship are significant for physical health, social, emotional, spiritual, mental and general quality of life amongst immigrants. Future research employing the therapeutic landscape theory may explore the links between health and place in specific religious places and activities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]