The Power of Education
“Education is the most powerful tool countries have for boosting economic growth, increasing prosperity and forging more just, peaceful and equitable societies,”
Wendy Kopp, CEO of Teach for All.
Ghana, being one of the strongest growing economies in Africa, has recently seen large improvements in infrastructure, health and also education. However, and as often seen in development countries, there’s a significant schism between the business centre of the country and the more rural areas. Or to say it in other words for Ghana, between North and South.
Kalba, located in the Northwestern part of Ghana, is one of these Northern, rural places. Close to the triangle of Bukina Faso, Ivory Coast and Ghana it was connected to the electrical grid in 2013. However, even today only a tiny share of its 64 villages and 32,000 inhabitants actually enjoy the benefits of electrical power.
And Kalba isn’t just lacking in electricity, but in schools and teachers too. Teachers are hugely in demand across the country and rarely choose Kalba as a place to live and work over other options. Government and industry is focused in the South of the country and therefore so are most of the schools and teachers.
This is where associations like Rüt’n’Rock can help. We build schools in rural areas, construct teachers’s accommodation in villages that are characterised by mud and stick huts and finance a “Support teacher program”. All of which is often extended by the government, but only once the initial development has happened.
Our program targets two very common issues in the North of Ghana. Firstly, young, skilled high school graduates do not have the funds to finance their university studies. Secondly, the demand for teachers in these rural areas is very high. We solve both of these issues by combining them into one program. We pay high school graduates to be supporting teachers, mainly in primary schools, In this way we cover the demand for teachers, but also help the teachers to further their own education.
In 2017 we funded 32 teachers who taught thousands of pupils in the 64 villages of the community.
The profits of the album and therefore the crowdfunding project itself will continue to support this program by building a school in Kalba in the Northwest of Ghana. This will bring education to over 250 children in this village, surrounded by the Ghana’s Savanna
