TWO GHANAIANS students studying abroad are making school attendance more attractive for children in the Akwidaa community in the Western region and positively impacting the overall development of the people.
Cynthia Allotey Danquah and Blaise Fensi, who are currently pursuing further studies in the US, have been sending educational materials to pupils of Akwidaa Primary School to make education more appealing and to ease some of the financial burden on parents.
Under the Capitation Grant, government has relieved the burden of parents struggling to pay the school fees but they still have to provide exercise books, text books, stationery and other educational materials for their children.
Since 2008, the two students through an initiative dubbed 'School is Fun Foundation' have been helping people in cocoa growing communities to apply for the Ghana Cocoa Board scholarships and even put together a documentary on scholarship with oleander pictures.
Cynthia said, 'I had the idea of encouraging education among the children of Ghana, especially those in deprived communities. When Blaise Fensi came up with the name, I thought it was a hilarious name and then he said school should be fun for the children to like it. If we make them see the fun part of being in school, that will make it more appealing to them. So we adopted the name 'School is Fun foundation.'
Ms Danquah explains that the aim of the programme is to make sure every child gets the right to education and to encourage parents as well as students to take education seriously.
A programme has also been designed to highlight the importance of education by talking with children and encouraging parents to give their children the right to choose professions of their choice.
When asked about what motivated them to start the foundation she said upon a visit to the Western region in 2008, she observed that children were helping their parents to fish during class hours instead of being in the classroom.
'The general impression that we all have is that, children from very deprived areas do not go to school because their parents cannot afford it, however, I become conscious of something different; these children are not in school because their parents do not understand the importance of education. They think education is only for those in the cities.'
Parents in the community, she observed, believe that their children will definitely go into fishing since that is the only profession for people in that town 'so they might as well go into it earlier.'
The items that are presented to the school children are mobilized from generous people in the US but the last items presented to over 250 children were denoted by themselves.
'Blaise, I and some friends have bought school supplies that we will be donating soon. We have fund-raising plans to help raise more items for the donations.'
There are plans to expand the foundation's activities throughout the nation. 'It is our dream to reach out to as many of these less privileged kids as possible. We will need the assistance of the Ghana Education Service (GES) with regard to records and statistics on areas with low enrollment. We will also appreciate the participation of regional SRCs in senior high schools in our tour since their motto is 'emancipation of students through dialogue and a philosophy of nonviolence.
By virtue of their student leadership experience, I believe they can directly relate to the children in these communities and most of all these kids will not only see them as philanthropists but as role models.'
She is of the firm conviction that the foundation would encourage children to know that they all have a role to play in building the nation and 'they can only play their role when they have the required skills and knowledge needed to develop Ghana.'
On the successes of the foundation she said 'nothing is more motivating in the establishment of this foundation than the smiles that these donations bring to the faces of the kids and how appreciative they are. We see these gestures not only as a dedication to get more children back to school but a means to boost their morale to becoming prominent members of our society.'
By Emelia Ennin Abbey
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