Here's an update that we received from [font=Arial]Titagya School, which Rahina attends! [/font]
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The new pre-school in Kpong
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Students at the kindergarten in Dalun
[/color]Dear Friends,
We hope that 2012 is ending well for you! A week ago, we opened our newest pre-school in a village called Kpong in northern Ghana. This third school substantially increases the size of the Titagya family, bringing us 90 more students, 4 additional teachers, 2 teachers' assistants, and a new watchman. It expands our work to a second community (the first two schools are in Dalun) and takes us a step further in the direction of having a transformative impact on the early education system in northern Ghana.
[font=Arial]Kpong - a community of about 1,000 people - and the surrounding villages face similar challenges to Dalun, in that young children are expected to go from a home environment in which English isn't spoken to a primary school classroom where they are expected to quickly pick up English through rote memorization. Many children have a hard time with the transition and end up dropping out or not nearly hitting their academic potential. Through the new school, we are offering a strong gateway to children from their home environments to the formal school system. Our interactive teaching methods instill in our kids basic math and English skills, and equally importantly, start to develop their love of learning.[/font]
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[font=Arial]We are also working in other ways to advance our broader goal of working with the Government of Ghana to increase the number of pre-schools & kindergartens in the North and to change the way early ed is taught, to make it more interactive and impactful for students. To that end, we are excited to be in the early stages of discussing with the government and Bryn Mawr College the possibility of working together to train more early ed. teachers in northern Ghana. Since 90%+ of Ghanaian students attend public schools, we think it's crucial to in some way partner with the government on its efforts to expand and change early education in the North. In terms of the collaboration with Bryn Mawr, we've been excited to expand the partnership this year and are looking forward to hosting a small delegation of professors and administrators from BMC in early January.[/font]
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[font=Arial]Your financial support and advice has made it possible for us to run our schools and teach students in such a way that their English and math skills are approximately 3 years ahead of their public school peers. Your help makes it possible for us to pursue our goal of transforming early education in the North.[/font]
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We'd like to thank our invaluable supporters and partners, including the Segal Family Foundation, Falcon Investments, Bryn Mawr College, the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship, Givology, Project Redwood, Friends of Ghana, Afric Xpress, Ghana Venskabsgrupperne, and numerous individuals who have contributed their time and money.
We wish you the very best for the holiday season and the start of 2013, and thank you so much for your support. We'll continue to do great things together in the new year!
Sincerely,
Habib and Andrew
Co-Founders of Titagya Schools[/font]
18 DEC 2012