Improving pupil performance in rural Ghana basic schools: Principals' leadership challenges

This research used the multiple qualitative case study design, aiming to explore the leadership challenges of principals of basic schools in rural Ghana. Specifically, the study was to uncover the latent conditions frustrating the efforts of the principals to improve pupil performance and to explore leadership practices of school principals that could address the challenges and boost rural pupil performance. The study utilised multiple sources to obtain data from 33 participants accidentally selected. The study found that the principals could not do much to improve rural pupil performance because of ill-equipped learning environments, school indiscipline, ineffective instructional supervision, parents’ casual attitudes towards formal education, and mass promotion. The research revealed further that, to salvage the situation, the leaders needed to engage in practices such as vision-driven leadership, people-centered leadership, leadership based on resourcefulness, autonomous leadership, and decisive leadership. The significance of the study, both locally and internationally, was explored.