Help children in Ghana pass exams!

Posted: November 28, 2018

We’ve chosen the Hands-on computers for 1,800 Ghana children project for our year-end fundraising campaign. Here’s why –

Since 2015 the project has helped thousands of children in junior schools in poor and rural areas of Ghana to pass their Basic Education Certificate Exam (B.E.C.E.), which determines entry to secondary school. To get through the B.E.C.E. children must pass their ICT exam. But because junior schools in poor and rural areas do not have computers or internet connections, children learn about ICT in the abstract. Every year, thousands fail.

Anna, aged 17, from Ho in Volta Region, is one of the lucky children who gained practical ICT skills through the project. She passed the exam in 2018 and is now at Ola Senior High School - and well on the way to achieving her dream of becoming a policewoman.

“The hands-on computer classes helped me pass the ICT exam, and also my English exam, because of the reading,” said Anna.

Failure would have been devastating. “It would have been the end of my education. I would have just been at home because to repeat the exam is expensive,” explained Anna, whose parents make a living from farming and trading.

“The library’s classes have changed my future. I need the skills, because I know they use computers in the police stations. Thank-you so much!” said Anna.

How the project achieves its results

1,800 children attending 17 schools in four regions of Ghana attend practical computer skills classes offered by mobile libraries. Library vans packed with solar-charged laptops, modem internet, screens and projectors travel to each school three times a month. During each visit, librarians conduct two practical computer skills classes. The laptops are pre-loaded with educational materials, and so - in schools where textbooks are scarce - the children also have the opportunity to read and study.

In 2017 the project contributed to an 81% pass rate in the ICT exam at B.E.C.E. level at 17 schools in the four regions. This is a remarkable 36% more than in 2015.