Childreach International is consistently striving to tackle education restrictions worldwide. In Ghana, education in rural areas is particularly limited: the enrolment level in the Savelugu/Nanton district is between 35-52%, with only 63% of that figure reaching grade 5.  Lack of adequate teaching, school facilities and food often provide parents with the excuse to retract their children from school and force them to work on farmlands or as servants in the cities. A particular problem is the lack of adequate teaching which often results in 5 classes sharing 1 teacher between them.

However, Childreach International and Childreach International Ghana have been combating this issue, through the initiation of a Teaching Assistants Programme. The programme funds volunteers to provide extra support and skills to teachers and students in 35 schools in the Savelugu and Nanton Districts. Childreach International envisages that with more teachers we will see a significant improvement in the standard of education and an increase of 10-23% in enrolment rates.

Amongst the many questions we ask when evaluating our projects, three are of notable importance: who are the individuals being helped? How have they been helped? And what more can be done? These questions were asked by our International Programmes Manager, Kohinoor Choudhury, who journeyed to Ghana this October.  Here, we are introduced to the children empowered by our pioneering sustainable development initiatives, and discover the answers to our questions.  Meet Rasika and Adarahinatu.

Rasika

Rasika is a 7 year old boy who attends Gbaga Lower Primary School.  Rasika 's parents maintains a rural livelihood.  All his siblings go to school except for one sister who was taken by an aunt to her residence in Diare to be a servant.
When asked whether the Teaching Assistants were helping, Rasika replied:
“There are not enough Teaching Assistants here, we need more. I like the Teaching Assistants, they come and teach us and we learn more”.

Adarahinatu

Like Rasika, 11 year-old Adarahinatu studies at Gbaga Lower Primary School. She has three brothers and three sisters. Her father works on a farm and her mother cooks food to sell. One of her sisters has also ‘been given to serve’ as a servant to a distant family member.

In partnership with local communities in the Ghanaian Savelugu/Nanton district, Childreach International Ghana will continue to provide Teaching Assistants in its bid for improved educational services. The success of this programme has empowered local children by providing safer, more sustainable and less crowded educational facilities. Thanks to Childreach International and its partners, more and more disadvantaged children are looking forward to brighter, more sustainable futures.

Teaching Assistants sit with locals in a village in the Savelugu/Nanton

This season, please help us increase the number of Teaching Assistants in Ghana providing unrestricted education for thousands of children. To donate, click on the green button in the top right hand corner of this page.