Towards Scientific Literacy for Basic School Pupils: Which Profile Dimensions are Emphasised in the Ghanaian Basic Science Curricula?

This paper examines the extent to which the specific objectives in the basic school science curricula reflect the notion of scientific literacy as envisaged by the curriculum developers. The specific objectives for teaching, learning and assessment were analysed using a consensus building approach to identify objectives addressing the three profile dimensions emphasised in the two curricula. The findings revealed that far more emphasis is put on knowledge and understanding in the upper primary and junior secondary school science curricula than the curriculum developers had intended. Also, the anticipated percentage weights of the three profile dimensions are inconsistent with what obtains in the two curriculum documents. The curriculum developers therefore need to address the issue of how much content is necessary to emphasise the development of science attitudes and process skills at the primary school level and application of knowledge at the junior secondary school level as envisaged. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 4 2006: pp. 1-14