Ghana, still the ‘education country’ we know

My very first excitement was in Kano from where we were to take off to Lagos and go on to Accra. It was the first time I saw an adult literary run for her life from a chicken. With all the delays and swinging from one airports to airports we finally arrived Accra at about […]

My very first excitement was in Kano from where we were to take off to Lagos and go on to Accra. It was the first time I saw an adult literary run for her life from a chicken.

With all the delays and swinging from one airports to airports we finally arrived Accra at about 6pm local time which is 7pm Nigerian time. We were greeted with choruses of Akwaaba (Welcome) by our hosts who were already waiting for us at the airport. In no time at all we identified our luggage as a swarm of young men echoing “taxi” came at us each one contesting for a passenger. We were led to the waiting bus which conveyed us to our hotel. Simple as it was, the Ghanaian architect and builder, did a most detailed and impressive work of the rooms. As each one entered his room, were all rushing out in less than five minutes later like excited children, as we looked into one another’s room complimenting the cosiness of the environment and the workmanship.

We hurriedly took our baths and went down to dinner where introductions were made and in a very time conscious manner we were briefed on our itinerary for the sejour by Mrs. Martha Ossei CEO of Centre for (CFDC), our host after which we retired for the night.

It was impossible to miss the orderliness of Accra, in the individuals and in the community at large.

This was even more evident from our first port of call the following day which was an interaction with partners on the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) program. It was remarkable to note that after years of tussle, endless meetings and debates, the Ghanaian government had come up with a policy on ECCD which had been implemented and was producing good fruits. It was also remarkable that it was not an affair left to the education arm of the government but involved the health sector as much as it involved the ministry of women affairs, the office of birth and death registration as each one played it roles without over stepping the set boundaries towards ensuring the best for ECCD. Two very significant components of the success of the program which is still somewhat an abstract phenomenon in Nigeria are, their ability to take and keep records as well as diligence with follow up on cases; and the diligence of parties involved which allowed them overlook bureaucracy and work behind the scenes to make the development of children a holistic package.

A major part of the study tour was visiting ECCD centres around chosen areas in Ghana such as the Montessori Private School and the ECCD Centre of the Teacher Training Centre which is a public school. Unlike in Nigeria where more elite parents prefer to take their children to private schools, in Ghana the reverse is the case. The public schools are more populated than private schools for very realistic reasons. Public schools are free like in Nigeria but the difference is they have an educational level that is at equilibrium with that of the private institutions. It was a ‘surprise’ to see this and to see that there is detailed and precise monitoring of what goes on in both private and public schools with disciplinary measures where necessary.

It was also impressive from our visit to a centre for autistic children to see that even they were a core part of Ghana’s ECCD policy and they are not lumped with disabled or physically challenged children as is the case here.

From all the institutions we visited there were general elements in their curriculum which include teaching by inclusion for physically challenged children, the absolute use of teaching aids especially pictures, songs and dances. Teachers as part of their training to be ECD teachers are taught to make these aids with locally sourced materials as well as how to use them to impact knowledge on the pupils.

These are absolutely inexpensive and readily available materials which these teachers use to educate kids of the high and low and these children in the spirit of competition do it favourably against one another.

There was something else that caught my admiration when we visited the community schools like the Falaliya Islamic School established in 1974 and the Community School in Koforidua both in the Eastern Region, managed by the Muslim religious association MURAG. The Islamic school in the Koforidua area is situated on a land donated by a Christian woman who also gave her private residence as the first administrative building of the school. Off course when we heard this, all participants exchanged knowing looks. The apparent bond here is that this people see the progress of their community. Not of their religion or their tribe. This way they work as a team with each person dedicated to his task regardless who the beneficiary is.

A twist to this was that, in these institutions the teachers were not trained for the purpose of ECD. This was obvious in their behaviours as well as their rapport with the children. We pointed this out to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs which is the primary responsible of the ECCD in Ghana.

I had a good laugh when I saw the location of our next stop referred to as Small London. It is anything but a London in the sense we know London. But it has an organisation of its health facility that is comparable to that of community its size in London. Although it lacked all the high technological facilities it operated in the same civilised and dedicated manner with health officers who worked as full time volunteers on a daily basis with a more senior officer coming round for monthly checks. It was also interesting to note that one of the primary goals was working with the national ECCD team.

The last which seemed more like the Nigerian situation in terms of rowdiness and invisibility of coordination even though it was there, was the visit to the Achimota School for Street Girls and visits to ECD centres in James town which could be described as the Ajegunle of Ghana. Even in these centres with more of the children being those of fishermen and petty traders, the ECCD policy was in place there with regular monitoring going on.

In between all these we visited tourist sites like the Cape Coast Castle, the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, Small London which is anything but a representation of London; and the acclaimed biggest man made dam in the world located in Akosombo.

Small London made quite an impression on us because it was a humourous shock for us when we arrived at the location. I, like the other participants, was expecting to see a well laid out urban settlement with cosy houses and a near London encounter. But we were entertained with well laid out traditional African setting laced with mud houses and thatched roofs landscaped with trees, bleating goats and chickens running freely around as they enticed our nostrils with their droppings.