The purpose of this study was to assess how Ghana’s educational system is promoting educational equity. In terms of data collection, the study relied on secondary sources whilst Scott’s goals of educational equity served as the theoretical basis for data analysis. The results show marked disparities in Ghana’s educational system that manifest in terms of gender, geographic location, and income levels. In the area of gender, the results show that gender parity worsens as the educational level increases. This fuels the variations in literacy rates between the male and female population in Ghana. In terms of geographic location, a performance gap was observed between urban and rural Ghana, which could be explained by the uneven distribution of educational facilities and resources. It was further observed that the current educational system is skewed more towards formal academic development to the neglect of vocational and technical training, especially in the informal sector. To address this form of educational inequity, policies should be put in place to expand Ghana’s educational system to areas such as sports development, the creative arts, vocational, and technical education.

The study the nature of activities and assess knowledge on occupational safety and health (OS&H) risks and practices among solid waste collectors in two low-income informal in Kumasi (Aboabo and Asawase). Using observations and semi-structured interviews with 83 participants and relevant institutions, the findings indicate that informal tricycle waste collectors provided spot-to-spot waste collection using improvised sirens to signal their arrival. Workers generally had low knowledge, expressed less about occupational health risks, and thus adopted less safe work practices. The study however showed significant differences between knowledge of health risks (p < 0.000, R = 0.83) and years of working experience (p < 0.01, R = 0.74) and adoption of safe practices. Workers who had knowledge the associated health risks of the activity and also have been in the activity for more than 2 years were more likely to use at least one PPE/PPC. The study recommends that targeted interventions to mitigate risks and improve the health and safety of workers require effective risk communication. The study concludes that insight into OS&H is important to offer opportunities for better waste management strategies in the informal urban areas.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to explore the factors influencing the emergence and growth of informal e-waste activities and to examine workers’ motivation for involvement in informal e-waste activities. Semi-structured interviews and observations among actors in the recently established Dagomba-Line e-waste site in Kumasi, Ghana were employed to gather relevant data. Emergence and growth of e-waste activities are largely influenced by spatial, political, socio-cultural and economic factors. The reuse and open disposal of e-waste are the common practices due to the cost of transportation to a final disposal site. Similar to findings at the well-established Agbogbloshie e-waste site, also in Ghana, scavengers are found at the bottom of the e-waste financial ladder. The major motivating factor for engaging in e-waste handling is poverty. Additionally, some respondents mentioned the lucrative nature of the activity, landlessness, and peer influence as a motivation. The results showed that younger workers (below 35 years) were more likely to be engaged in the activity for reasons of peer influence and poverty and major source of livelihood . The paper recommends that policy and planning should reflect ways of delivering and creating stable socio-economic conditions that promote an inclusive and sustainable development.