Why Ghana?
While Ghana has experienced unprecedented growth and development over the past few years (IFAD report; African Development Bank), the country still faces many challenges, especially when it comes to access to education.
In Ghana, 17% of primary school age children are not enrolled in school and of those who are in school, 28% will drop out before completing primary school (UNESCO, 2018). Additionally, over 14% of the Ghanaian population is illiterate (UNESCO, 2018).
PoP works with over 160 communities in Ghana to ensure that students overcome these and other barriers to accessing quality education. Currently, PoP is impacting over 361,000 community members in Ghana through School Builds, Teacher Support and WASH programming.
VOLTA REGION
The Volta Region is located in southeastern Ghana, to the west of the Republic of Togo and just east of Lake Volta. In many of our partner communities in the region, PoP couples school builds with literacy programming in order to create sustainable change.
To date, we’ve built over 160 schools in the Volta Region and have also provided teacher training and educational programming to many PoP schools in the region.
Adaklu-Sikama
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With a population of around 945, this farming community is located within the Adaklu district of Ghana. The Adaklu Sikama D.A Basic School currently serves 160 students across grades K-6. The Ewe language is spoken here, and students are excited for their new school, where each child will be inspired to reach their full potential and promise. |
Jess and Mike’s Impact in Adaklu Sikama
At PoP, we strive toward a world in which every child can experience and benefit from quality education. Previously, kindergarten students at the Adaklu Sikama D.A Basic School are learning in a community-donated tent where they were exposed to extreme wind, heat and rain.
We believe that a quality learning environment is critical to increasing student attendance, engagement and overall literacy outcomes.
In the previous structure, students were easily distracted and were exposed to the elements. These conditions clearly posed a hazard to student safety and well-being, as well as to engagement and learning.
A school build is only the start of a transformative educational experience. PoP is excited to partner with the Adaklu Sikama community to build a new two-unit classroom block for the kindergarten! The community is devoted to providing valuable education to its students and is contributing 20 percent of the resources and labor required for construction.
We establish partnerships with communities that are deeply committed to their children’s education. The support of the Adaklu Sikama community ensures the sustainability of the school that it will remain a quality learning environment for generations to come.
We are thrilled to celebrate the extraordinary learning that will take place there!
