Hands-on computer classes for 1,800 Ghana children

We are delighted to share with you the excellent exam results for hundreds of children who learnt practical computer skills through the Hands on computer classes project.

This year, 81% of children at 17 under-resourced schools in Ghana passed the information and communication technology (ICT) exam at Basic Education Certificate Exam (B.E.C.E.) level.

The B.E.C.E. exam is crucial because it is the exam that determines entry to secondary school. Children from poor families who fail the B.E.C.E. often drop out and face uncertain futures because their parents cannot afford to keep them in school.

In 2015, the first year of the project, 45% of the children at schools that took part in the project passed the ICT exam. The sharp increase to 81% this year is a tribute to your support, and to three years of hard work by mobile librarians in four regions - Ashanti, Upper East, Western and Volta.

With your donations, librarians travel to poor and rural schools every week in library vans packed with solar-charged laptops, modem internet, screens and projectors. The computers are pre-loaded with content related to school subjects like geography, mathematics, science and English. At the schools, the librarians and teachers conduct practical computer skills classes for the children, many of whom had never seen or touched a computer before the project began.

This year, the mobile libraries taught over 3,000 children (1,732 boys and 1,404 girls) in grades 1, 2 and 3. The children, parents and teachers are overjoyed with the exam results.

“The mobile library service has reshaped the quality of teaching and learning at our school by tackling the practical aspect of learning which has been a longstanding problem,” said a teacher at Kpenoe M.A. Junior High School in Volta Region.

On behalf of the children, their parents, the teachers, and the librarians - thank you for your support! EIFL wishes you the very best for the holiday season and for 2018.

Keyboard skills, word processing, Excel, researching the internet, Google email and games - as 2017 draws to a close, schoolchildren from 17 under-resourced schools in four regions of Ghana listed some of the vital technology skills learnt through the EIFL Hands-on Computer Classes project.

Your support made it possible for us to send US$1,750 to the regional libraries this year, helping them to to teach more children essential practical computer skills. Thank you!

We’re happy to share with you results from two of the four regions served by the project: Upper East and Volta, where mobile libraries travelled to 10 schools, reaching 1,417 children. The library vans were packed with solar-charged laptops, modem internet, screens and projectors. The computers were all loaded with content related to school subjects like geography, mathematics, science and English, as well as practice exam questions and other useful and fun learning tools.

In Volta Region, the mobile library conducted practical skills classes in five schools, reaching 562 children (244 boys and 318 girls). The classes were in such high demand that the mobile library continued to visit schools during the holidays.

“My son Emmanuel is so much excited about the computer classes, and his attendance and punctuality at school have improved. I’ve seen improvement in his ICT grades in class and there is cloud of excitement around him when going to school,” said the guardian of a pupil at Kpenoe Ma Junior High School in Volta Region.

In Upper East Region, the mobile library classes reached 855 children (428 boys and 427 girls) in Grades 1, 2, and 3. The two biggest schools were Gaari Gbani Junior High School, where 286 children attended the library’s classes, and Tedam Junior High School, where the library taught 240 children. “In these schools it’s a challenge. The children are eager to learn and are happy even when sharing the 15 laptops we bring - but ideally, we should have more laptops to improve learning,” said the regional librarian.

Over 430 children in the five schools reached in Upper East Region wrote the 2017 Basic Education Certificate Exam B.E.C.E) - the exam that determines progress to secondary school. They have done well: librarians interviewed 80 B.E.C.E. candidates at Gaari Gbani Junior High School, and all had passed.

Your support has made a huge difference to the futures of hundreds of children. Thank you again, and all the best for the holiday season and the New Year!