Truant Ghanaian Children in London Shipped Home for Parochial Ghanaian Education

Every parent wants his children to do well. Many children of migrant Ghanaians in London fall into the wrong groups and don't take their education serious. This article is refreshing since the kids sent to Ghana by their parents seem to appreciate their parents' efforts to give them a solid foundation for their future.

Parents Should not Shirk Their Responsibilty in Educating their Children,

Children are our assets for the future. It takes a whole village to educate them. The parents should not shirk their responsibility and rely only on the teachers. Please, read on:

Computer Education for School Children in the Third World.

The one laptop for a child program, the brainchild of Negroponte, aims to computer educate each child for $100.00. Please, read on:

Margaret Yeboah Mortgaged her House to help Educate Children in Ghana

The plight of children dropping out of school in Ghana is such that many concerned people will do anything to help these desperate children. This is an interesting article about a teacher in Minnesota who recently died. She mortgaged her house to help build a school to educate poor Ghanaian children. Read on.

Oberlin College Donates Computers To Educate Ghanaian Children.

‘All the gold in the world has no significance. That which is lasting are the
thoughtful acts which we do for our fellow man.’

Adolfo Prieto

In order to stimulate some of the children of the Central Region of Ghana to take education seriously, we should expose them to what education can do for them. The internet is a powerful media through which these children can learn what other children in the world are learning and talking about. When they can communicate with other children and discuss issues with them, it would be easier for some of these truant children to take their education seriously. The benefits from access to the internet are more than talking to other kids. Education is its major benefit. We will fail these children if we don’t use any means at our disposal to make it easier and more attractive for them to want to read a book and stay in school.

It is with the above thought in mind that I have been talking about this project with everyone I meet. Luckily for me I discussed this idea with Cynthia Murnan, the Director of Client Services at the Irvin E. Houck Center for Information Technology at the Oberlin College. Cynthia saw my vision and bought into the idea. She has donated six McIntosh computers to start the project in Ghana.

I am grateful to Ms. Murnan and the Oberlin College for this generous contribution which will bring tears of joy to the faces of these poor Ghanaian children. I am hoping that other readers who are are able to help can contact us and join this effort to help these children. Computers and books for the school library are welcome.

Education is the Cornerstone of Nation Building.

No nation can survive without education of her children. Children are the fountain of nation building. A nation without educated children is thus doomed to fail. Unfortunately, in Ghana, though the government is attempting to ensure that the children receive education, the following article posted on the web is not encouraging and hence the government has to double her effort to correct the situation:

"Public Agenda (Accra)
October 14, 2005
Posted to the web October 17, 2005
Accra

A survey by the Ghana Education Service (GES) has found that 56,596 girls
between the ages of six and 11 in the Central Region were out of school by April
this year.

Mrs Justina Torjagbo Central Regional Director of Education who disclosed this
said the number was high and stressed the need for more interventions such as
identifying areas and communities where such problems were prevalent to meet and
counsel parents to address the issue.

Mrs Torjagbo, was speaking at the launching of communication materials such as
posters, brochures and stickers with inscriptions "send your girl child to
school", to promote girl child education in the region, at Cape Coast on
Tuesday. She said although establishment of the Girl Education Unit had made 'great
improvement' in terms of advocacy and community mobilization, a lot more needed
t o be done to attain gender parity in education.

Mrs Torjagbo commended district girls' education officers for working hard to
mobilize more girls in their communities into the classrooms but noted that
although this had been successful they needed to work harder to get the rest in
school by the end of the year. She therefore, urged stakeholders to assist to ensure that provision of the communication materials, by UNICEF in collaboration with the Girls' Education Unit of the GES made the desired impact.

Under the second component of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Credit (PRSC 111)
the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors on September 16, 2005 approved
US$125 million credit for the implementation of the poverty reduction strategy.
Areas to be tackled include education, health etc. The World Bank specifically
asked that particular attention be paid to education in the four most deprived
regions-Northern, Upper East and West and Central regions.

Last two weeks, the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) released a
final draft of its Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS 11), which
highlights the need to increase access to and participation in education
training at all levels. It also aims to bridge the gender gaps in access to
education in all districts.

The GPRS 11 document says that in the case of education for all, "government has
undertaken not only to meet the numerical targets of the MDGs but also to put
the lost quality back into the basic education that is offered to children in
deprived and rural areas." But the large number of girls in Central Region and
other parts of the country, who are not in school, suggest that the educational
targets are not being met.

It is expected that the latest World Bank credit will be used to target
these unfortunate girls who are dropping out of school due to poverty.


Document Title: 57,000 Girls Out of School in Central Region

Document Source: Public Agenda"

We realize that the above situation is a major problem. The solution will involve a strong involvement of the parents of the children, the community and the government. In the long run if these children are not educated, they would become a liability to society. The nation also loses a major source of work force to help fuel its economic progress. It is with this in mind that I have started blogging on these issues so I can stimulate discussions and solutions to some of these major pressing issues in Ghana.