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 150 communities in Ghana to ensure that students overcome these and other barriers to accessing quality education. Currently, PoP is impacting over 42,000 students 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 160 schools in the Volta Region and have also provided teacher training and educational programming to many PoP schools in the region.
Nkwakubew
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With a population of around 4,300, this farming and fishing community is located within the Asuogyaman district of Ghana. Nkwakubew currently serves 421 students spread throughout six grades. The Ewe language is spoken here, and students are eager about their new school, where each child will be inspired to reach his or her full potential and promise. |
Karen’s Impact in Nkwakubew
At PoP, we strive toward a world in which every child can experience and benefit from quality education. Prior to our partnership in Nkwakubew, students were learning in thatched roof buildings, 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 original structure students were easily distracted and overcrowded, often forcing grades to double up in classrooms. 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 education experience. We broke ground in mid-June 2019 and completed the structure in March 2020.
PoP partnered with the Nkwakubew community to build a new three-unit classroom block! The community is devoted to providing a valuable education to its students, and contributed 20 percent of the resources and labor required for construction.
We establish partnerships with communities who are deeply committed to their children’s education. The support of the Nkwakubew community ensures the sustainability of the school that it will remain a quality learning environment for generations to come.
When we completed the structure, we came together to inaugurate the new school and celebrate the extraordinary learning that will take place there!