Empowering Girls with Digital Climate Education and Experiential Learning in Rural Ghanaian Senior High Schools

Partner: CAMFED

Background:

In Ghana, children face significant barriers to education, especially those in rural remote and urban poor communities, as well as ethnic and linguistic minorities. Girls from rural Ghana face compounded challenges as a result of gender and geographic factors, leading to lower attendance, performance and completion rates than their urban peers, alongside higher rates of teenage pregnancy and child marriage. Climate change exacerbates these inequities, as adverse weather events such as rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns and increasing climate shocks disproportionately affect children’s ability to attend school, with marginalized adolescent girls being affected the most. These challenges are further intensified by the digital divide, with unequal access to online resources and digital skills hindering the academic journey of many students, especially adolescent girls, and many facing distinct barriers accessing valuable digital learning materials and developing digital skills equitably.

Expanding digital climate education in rural Ghana presents a key opportunity to equip girls with the skills and knowledge needed to strengthen both their digital literacy and build climate resilience, to help address the important barriers they face. Secondary school girls in Ghana will engage in agriculture, supporting family farms or sharing knowledge with peers. Equipping them with climate education and climate-smart practices will empower them to strengthen local resilience and pursue sustainable livelihoods beyond school and position Ghana on the path toward a green economy. This aligns with the Government of Ghana’s commitment to integrating climate change and green economy concepts into the national curriculum under its Climate Change Policy and Green Economy Learning Strategy (2020-2029), highlighting education’s central role in national climate adaptation efforts.

Project Objectives:

This $200,000 project is set to benefit approximately 3500 students across 10 CAMFED partner Senior High Schools. These schools are primarily girls-only or have a majority of female students. CAMFED will prioritize rural and disadvantaged areas where CAMFED has existing programs or relationships with the local community

The “Empowering Girls with Digital Climate Education and Experiential Learning in Rural Ghanaian Senior High Schools” project will directly address interconnected barriers to education and climate justice in Ghana, particularly in the rural areas with limited access to internet and ICT devices, and where CAMFED has established extensive partnerships with government schools. This project will deliver climate education aligned with Ghana’s revised national curriculum to more girls in climate-vulnerable communities than ever before, building on previous partnerships with 60 million girls. By integrating both digital and experiential learning approaches, which are strongly linked to higher levels of student engagement, enhanced learning and improved academic outcomes, this project will equip girls with critical knowledge for adaptation and resilience, while directly addressing the disruptions climate events pose to their education.

This project will implement four key activities to achieve its goals:

• Enhancing digital, STEM, and climate education for girls in rural schools through the Mobile Learning Lab sessions co-facilitated by Learner Guides and Teachers
• Establishing Climate Resilience Clubs led by volunteer Agriculture Guides as platforms for experiential learning and student-led climate-smart innovative projects; e.g. sustainable water conservation, agroforestry, climate-resilient demonstration farms, waste management, etc.
• Organizing community forums to build climate resilience by sharing knowledge of climate change and climate action with local community members;
• Introducing CAMFED’s Climate Education Curriculum to the Government to initiate the process of curriculum adaptation and integration in Ghana’s national curriculum.

To further expand the project’s reach, CAMFED will collaborate with CENDLOS (Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling) to record and broadcast climate-smart innovative projects  on their satellite/digital curriculum-based TV station, Channel MOE. These broadcasts will extend access to climate education across Ghana and beyond, showcasing the project’s impact and promoting the adoption of climate-smart practices. Television segments will provide a platform for Agriculture Guides, teachers, and students to share their experiences, contributing to broader climate resilience efforts.

Why partner with CAMFED?

60 million girls has funded three projects (2020, 2022 and 2024) with CAMFED implementing the MLL in rural high school in Ghana. These programs have been very successful in meeting their goals and objectives. This collaboration once again aligns perfectly with the objectives of providing climate change education and digital skills and inclusive education in underserved senior high schools in Ghana.

By integrating both digital and experiential learning approaches, which are strongly linked to higher levels of student engagement, enhanced learning and improved academic outcomes, this project will equip girls with critical knowledge for adaptation and resilience, while directly addressing the disruptions climate events pose to their education.

This project will also provide an opportunity to build on CAMFED’s established partnerships with government ministries to enhance climate education more broadly. CAMFED will introduce its Climate Education Curriculum, already adapted and implemented in Zambia and Zimbabwe (and soon Tanzania), to the Government of Ghana to initiate the process of adaptation to the local context and integration into the national curriculum.