Like Malcolm X, an African American civil rights activist, once said, ‘Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today’, the Chief of Berekuso in the Akuapem South Municipality, Odeefoo Oteng Korankye II, is passionately preparing the future for his people through education.
The Chief of Brekuso, who is also the Twafohene of the Akuapim Adontene Traditional Area, revealed that education in the area had become more competitive and attractive since the inception of the Odeefo Oteng Korankye Education Fund.
He stated that the study of Science had become one more difficult subject for young pupils, hence, the idea to assisting teachers with the practical know-how.
The traditional leader made the observation at a day’s workshop on the introduction to hands-on science for Basic School Teachers, organised by the Odeefo Oteng Korankye Education Fund, in collaboration with Practical Education Network and the Ghana Education Service (GES), held at the Ashesi University in the Akuapim South Municipality.
Throwing light on the Education Fund, Odeefoo Oteng Korankye II averred that it his quest to expand the frontiers of accelerated socio-economic development that founded the Odeefoo Oteng Korankye II Education Fund in November 2016.
His aim, among other things, was to rally support from the people of Berekuso and surrounding traditional areas, those with business, land and family ties to the area, and individuals who were passionate about improving the quality of education in Ghana.
Odeefoo Oteng Korankye II insisted that his mission was to support educational achievements for the children of Berekuso towards a brighter future for the community through his educational foundation.
“Our aim is to impact development through education by providing secondary school scholarships to promising students, and by supporting schools and teachers to improve the quality of education in Berekuso and the surrounding area.”
The long-term vision of the Fund, according to the Chief, was the realisation of Berekuso as a center of excellence for education and purposeful development.
The Fund aims to improve educational achievement in three ways: by providing secondary school scholarships for the best Basic Education Certificate Exam (BECE) performers, by supporting programs to improve the quality of basic education in schools in the area, and by filling gaps in opportunities for learning, such as offering vacation classes and supporting Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure.
Since its founding, the Fund has made a good start toward achieving its long-term goals. A launch event in December 2016 brought in donations from over 60 members of the community. In order to better understand school attendance and the challenges parents faced, an extensive household survey was conducted.
The Fund supported 126 BECE candidates in June 2017, and also over 400 candidates in September 2020 supplying mathematics kits, pens and towels. The Fund commissioned a needs assessment of the Berekuso Basic School and received a full and detailed report.
Beginning in September 2017, the Fund began its scholarship programme by awarding 11 top BECE performers from the seven basic schools in the area with annual GH¢3,000 scholarships to support their pursuit of secondary education.
In 2018, 11 scholarships were added, and in 2019 15 new scholarships were added. The Fund presently supports the secondary education of 37 pupils and hopes to continue to increase the number each year.
Though secondary school fees were technically eliminated by the government in 2017, children from poor families need financial support for transportation, uniforms, textbooks, school supplies, and provisions.
He has, therefore, charged school children, parents, and teachers to take full advantage of the Fund to attain a higher level of education.
On her part, the Founder of Practical Education Network (PEN), who is also a Lecturer at Ashesi University, Dr. Heather Beem, said science education required more practical lessons, which enabled the classroom to be livelier for studies.
She added that every African child must be assisted to learn through practical pedagogy, instead of relying more on theory. Hence, their mission to support teachers to make their classrooms more interesting through practical pedagogy.
The Chairperson of the Odeefo Oteng Korankye Education Fund, Rebecca Awuah, stated that the training was to allow teachers to use locally available low cost free materials for students to do hands-on projects.
This, she explained, would help them (children) understand and put meaning to Science through well prepared and confident teachers who were committed to make science education more engaging and impactful for pupils.
Rebecca Awuah further added that the training would allow teachers to use locally available materials for students to use hands-on projects.
She said 26 science teachers from schools around the Berekuso area were trained in hands-on pedagogies using locally available materials.
