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Article History

Received: 9 June 2025

Accepted: 13 April 2026

First Online: 21 April 2026

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: This study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the University of Education, Winneba Ghana on 15 September 2024 (Approval Reference: IRB/2024/09/15). The approval covered all aspects of participant recruitment, data collection, management, and analysis. The research was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki (2013 revision) and followed all relevant institutional and international guidelines for studies involving human participants.

: Informed consent was obtained from all participants before the commencement of data collection. The consent process took place between 20 September and 25 October 2024 during field visits to participating rural and underserved public schools in the Northern, Upper East, Volta, Bono East, and Western North regions of Ghana. The procedures were explained to participants in their preferred local languages to ensure full understanding of the study’s objectives, procedures, potential risks, expected benefits, and confidentiality protections. All participants who were literate provided written informed consent prior to participation. For participants who were unable to sign due to literacy challenges, verbal informed consent was obtained and documented in accordance with ethical guidelines. The verbal consent process involved an independent witness who was not affiliated with the study and had no vested interest in participant responses, ensuring impartiality. The researcher read the consent script aloud, explaining the study’s purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, confidentiality measures, and the voluntary nature of participation, including the right to withdraw at any time without consequences. After confirming participant understanding, the witness signed a consent documentation form certifying that the information was accurately conveyed and that the participant freely provided consent. A copy of the verbal consent form was securely stored alongside written consent forms in a locked cabinet accessible only to the principal investigator. All data were anonymized, and identifying information was strictly protected using secure storage and transmission procedures in compliance with institutional and national data protection standards.

: All authors have reviewed and approved the final version of this manuscript and consent to its publication. Participants were also informed during the consent process that anonymized data might be used for academic dissemination, including conference presentations and journal publications. For participants who responded via the online survey component (October 2024), electronic consent was obtained through a mandatory consent form integrated into the online platform prior to participation. All identifying information was removed before data analysis and reporting.