2020 – Ghana

Young women leading the use of Mobile Learning Labs in Ghana

Partner: CAMFED

CAMFED/Eliza Powell
Pearl (centre) is a CAMA leader and Learner Guide (life skills mentor). Having faced the same barriers to education, Pearl has a deep understanding of the challenges facing girls in her community, and supports them to succeed.

Background

Despite the recent improvement in Ghana’s economy, in the northern, rural districts of the country where CAMFED works, up to 50% of the population lives below the international poverty line of $1.90. Chronic poverty prevents many girls from attending school and pushes them into child labour or early marriage. Currently, only 25% of the poorest rural girls in Ghana complete lower secondary school, and only 11% complete upper secondary school.

Project objectives

This project will address two major issues facing rural students in Ghana: school attendance and the quality of education. The introduction of Mobile Learning Labs (MLLs) will address both issues while providing an opportunity for educated young women to establish themselves as “edupreneurs” (entrepreneurs who work within the education sector). The three main goals of the project are to:

  1. Deliver quality learning materials in a way that is interesting to students;
  2. Increase the pedagogical skills and knowledge of members of CAMFED’s alumnae association (CAMA), who will serve as MLL coordinators;
  3. Improve the visibility of young women who have stepped up to establish schools, leading change as female edupreneurs and as role models in rural communities.

CAMFED/Eliza Powell
Nimatu and secondary school students. As a CAMA member, Nimatu plows back into her community by supporting more children through education and engaging with schools, traditional leaders, and government officials to champion the rights of women and girls.

To achieve these goals, the project will train and mentor 20 female teachers and edupreneurs as MLL coordinators in charge of implementing the MLL technology in 10 schools. The intention is to help schools and teachers attract students, thereby creating access to education for children in their communities. Teachers in these schools will benefit from training on the MLL technology, adding to their skills and knowledge base.

This project will help the 20 coordinators use innovative pedagogical methods, provide access to a wide range of content and improve teaching and learning for students, while developing their own businesses. Drawing MLL coordinators from CAMA makes this project unique and innovative. As young women who have also come from marginalized backgrounds, CAMA members are committed to using their education to give back and transform their communities.

Of the 10 chosen schools, four will be CAMA-owned schools, which are currently providing basic education to students, aged 4 to15. This group of young women edupreneurs will lead education innovation in their rural communities.

The project expects to directly reach 3,000 students, over 50% of whom will be girls.

Why partner with CAMFED?

This is our first project with CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education), an organization whose mission is to eradicate poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young women. This partnership will build on CAMFED’s existing relationships and trust capital with schools to introduce innovation into classrooms to further advance education outcomes for children. It will improve the value and appeal of schools set up and led by young women. In addition, our partnership will provide additional skills to young female edupreneurs and open up opportunities for them to grow their education businesses.