Location of Impact
GHANA
Ghana was, until very recently, one of the poorest countries in the world. Over the past few years, the nation has experienced unprecedented growth and development (IFAD report; African Development Bank). Although the lives of Ghanaians have improved greatly, the country still faces many challenges, especially in the education sector.
In Ghana, 18% 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 2012). Additionally, over 28% of the Ghanaian population is illiterate and the government estimates that almost 25% of all the current primary school classrooms need repairs (World Bank, 2014; USAID 2009).
PoP works with over 100 communities in Ghana to ensure our students overcome these, and other, barriers to accessing a quality education.
VOLTA REGION
The Volta region is located in southeast 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 in-classroom programming in order to create sustainable change.
To date, we’ve built 161 schools in the Volta region and will continue to scale our teacher training workshops and use of educational technologies across PoP schools in the region.
Pre-Build
Previously, the students of the Kuli – Dzogbefeme school had no access to formal classrooms or dedicated learning spaces. Kindergarten through second grade students were taught under trees, which offered no shelter from the elements and lacked solid structure to foster learning and development. While the primary and secondary grades did have access to provisional structures, all were very dangerous and therefore not often used. The large cracks in walls and holes in roofs made for a hazardous environment for learning.
Post-Build
Students now have access to a permanent space dedicated to their educational needs. They have formal doors, desks, blackboards, benches, chairs and fans. Classes are no longer held under trees or in dangerous structures, but instead in one of the 6 formal classrooms made possible by your donation. Overall student engagement and learning will benefit from these drastic improvements and the community and students of Kuli – Dzogbefeme are so excited for their new school.