Centring adult learning and education in political party manifestos in Ghana: party positions on education and issues of salience from 2000 to 2024

This study examined the party manifestos of the two major political parties in Ghana from 2000 to 2024 to determine how their ideological positions have influenced the conceptualisation of adult education, adult learning and education (ALE), and lifelong learning as salient educational issues. Using documentary analysis, the study found that adult education, ALE, or lifelong learning were often given peripheral attention in the manifestos compared to basic education, secondary education, and university education. Party ideology did not significantly influence the identification of issues of saliency and ownership of issues with respect to adult education. While manifestos applied the ‘riding the wave’ approach to determine topics with high public issue salience, critical issues such as adult literacy and adult human capital development were often missing in some of the manifestos. The study concluded that the party manifesto must begin to shift towards the adoption of adult learning and education as a transformative agenda to address persistent challenges facing the country.