Ghana in Search of Regional Integration Agenda 161 In Ghana, formal education can be broken down into three main phases – Basic Education, Senior High and Tertiary. Basic Education provides the platform for the introduction of the fundamentals of literacy and numeracy, as well as the values and norms of the society such as patriotism, volunteerism and selflessness. It is at this level that pupils also take up roles of responsibility. It consists of two years of kindergarten, six years of primary education and three years of junior high school. The primary level is further divided into two – lower and upper primary. Class one to three l are lower primary and class four to six are upper primary. In the lower primary, pupils are limited to literacy and numeracy only getting introduced to areas of general knowledge, history, geography, vocational and technical studies as well as social studies and life skills at the upper primary level. The Senior Secondary level which offers“further education to eligible Junior High School Pupils is a continuation of what is begun at the upper primary level and an introduction to newer courses which are also dealt with at the tertiary level The objective is to help equip them with skills and knowledge either for direct entry into the world of work or for further education.” 182 According to the 1991 Government White Paper on the University Rationalisation Committee Report, “tertiary education includes education at the universities, polytechnics and teacher training colleges, indeed all formal education beyond the Senior Secondary School.” It is the last formal space for knowledge generation and transmission, and most graduates from tertiary institutions move from here into the labour market to take up different positions. It can therefore be concluded that it is in this last arena where their ideas are crystallised and consolidated as they receive the skills and tools to build and develop their capacities in their chosen careers and various fields of employment. Accelerated globalisation, coupled with an enabling environment occasioned by integration, has also resulted in a higher labour mobility within the sub region. Therefore, educational institutions in the country do not only provide manpower for national development but also, for the sub-region as a whole. So, whilst there is no doubt that efforts at educating the citizens must be in different forms and at different levels, the focus of this paper is on formal educational institutions as they serve as centres for knowledge and national manpower development at different levels. 183 The starting point for educational institutions to play a meaningful role in West Africa's integration efforts is at the upper primary level. This is because it is at this 182 Ghana's Education System available at http://www.ghana.gov.gh/ghanas_education_system accessed on January 26th 2009 183 For more on this, especially at the tertiary level, see for instance Amuwo Kunle,“Confronting the Crisis of the University in Africa- Nigerian Academics and Their Many Struggles” Occasional Paper Series, Vol. 3, Number 2, 1999 p.6