A junior high school teacher in Ghana
One of my early memories about teaching involves a trip home from college when I helped my mom, an excellent third grade teacher, score math homework. Some of the students did not score well. My mom said that as a teacher you see how hard the students work and you know the type of support they get at home so low scores are better understood. However, I was so upset at having to give low grades to students and psychologically scare them for life that I had to stop grading the papers and I swore I would never be a teacher.
My previous work life was mainly in the computer field for large corporations and living up to my oath, although I did teacher religious education in my church for a few years and taught a semester at a community college as a favor to a friend years ago.
So here I am some thirty something years later, a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Education group. I teach math and information communication technology (ICT) to junior high school students in Ghana, West Africa. I swear, so much for oaths.
School and schedule
The school has about 170 students divided into three years, or forms. “Form two” is the largest class of about 70 students.
The school year is divided into three semesters (terms) of about 15 weeks each with vacation breaks between semesters. Classes start at 8 am and ends by a little after 2 pm. Students are expected to arrive at least an hour before start of school to sweep the classrooms and the grounds and generally get the school ready for lessons. They should have everything done by 7:30 for "silent hour" to study in their classroom before assembly at around 7:50. (Form three students get the whole "silent hour" from 7 am to assembly and are excused from work except sweeping their classroom.)
I live next to the school and I'm in charge of the keys to the open the school so I see the school early. The teachers generally arrive by 7:30, as the headmaster requests, although some teachers with later classes occasionally arrive after school starts.
Some students begin to show up to sweep before 6:30 while others arrive after 7 am. Students who are very late can expect some sort of punishment, such as bringing a bucket of rocks to school. (Rocks are collected in this way throughout the school year and may be sold from time to time to pay some school related expense.)
Classrooms and resources
The school facilities are neither the worst nor the best in Ghana, or the Upper West region, or the local Nandom area. The building is older as are the desks. We are not the most crowded school in the region, but we are crowded.
We are waiting for the new building with larger classrooms but don't have an estimated date for occupancy. We should get new desks as part of the new building, which will be nice, but may also delay occupancy.
So we make due with what we have. The students sit one, two, or more to a desk. Some desks don't have backs on the seats and others are so wobbly that the student has to carefully balance in the seat. Form ones tend to have to worse desks and form threes the best.
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| Empty form one classroom. I use the long desk in front for my lesson notes and textbook |
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| Blackboard for the class |
There are a number of NGO's on other groups that provide scholarships, uniforms, or otherwise help with the expenses of school. One recent program aimed at keeping girls in school qualified most of our female students as “needy enough” for the scholarships, books, supplies, and uniforms (that will include proper fitting bras).
My schedule
I teach an hour of form one math on Monday and thirty minutes of form one ICT on Tuesday. Wednesday is form one math and ICT to form one and form two, all one hour classes. Thursday is another hour of math and an hour for form two ICT and thirty minutes of form one ICT. I don't teach classes on Friday. So each week I have three hours of form one math and two hours of ICT for each of the two forms. Each lecture needs to have a lesson plan. The headmaster checks the plans at least weekly and local education officials occasionally come around to them as well.
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| Form one students including a shy one behind a folder in front |
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| Some of the form two students |
I typically give math homework for the first two classes of the week and a test on Thursday. Grading homework and exams, if I give tests to all classes on Thursday, requires grading on Friday. Such a schedule allows me to determine how to plan lessons for the following week. As my mom told me years ago the teacher understands that student performance is based on teacher, the student, and the family so I'm now in better position to grade the work. I also have to consider that many of the form one students and some of the form two students have trouble with English. (But then even my mom in Arkansas had to deal with English as a second language students.)
Computers in the school
We are fortunate to have laptop computers in our school although after a year only about 13 of the 23 have working batteries. The voltage spikes and heat shorten battery life. The computers were provided by the government as part of a program to improve computer technology. The program did not seem to have a maintenance plan. I'm still trying to figure out how to get replacement batteries. I would also need at least one disk drive and a new bank a memory to get all 23 working.
Having the students use the computers is a work in progress. Last term I tried to have the students use the computers during class time, but there were so many students and so few computers and therefore so little time for each student to use the computer that it was frustrating for everyone.
So I am staying after school for a little over an hour most days to give up to 24 students time to use a computer. I'm keeping one of the 13 computers in reserve so the 12 computers give, 12 students about 30 minutes each during the hour or so with time to get ready to use the computers and put them back away in a locked cabinet.
I need 5 days to give time to everyone, which makes for long days for me. I cannot stay after school every day and some students cannot stay after school. So work in progress that will likely require my to shift my schedule to some mornings and or Saturday. Hopefully, it will smooth out in a few weeks as we continue to adjust to what works and what doesn't.
A major focus on ICT is teaching typing. I remember hours of practicing on a manual typewriter learning to type at home. The students don't have that much time with the computer and learning to touch type is basically an exercise to teach your fingers muscle memory to type the keys – so lots and lots of practice.
I've required everyone make cardboard practice keyboards to provide an opportunity for more practice. This is fairly common in Ghana, at least among Peace Corps teachers, particularly in schools that do not have computers. This seems silly to some students until they try to type something on the computer after I show them what touch typing looks like. Again, much depends on the student.
The rest of the school
I am one of nine teachers for: ICT, math, science, social studies, basic design and technology, English, French, Dagaree, and religion and moral education.
The headmaster teaches form two and form three math as well as handling all the headmaster stuff. The other teachers each teach one subject to forms one, two, and three.
There are Catholic, Christian, and Muslim schools in the area so one would expect a religion class. However, we are a government school. The “religion and moral education” class is a basic subject for all students in Ghana. This class teaches about all the major religions, certain traditions and moral practices.
Ghana has freedom of religion although it is predominately Christian. Our immediate area is predominately Catholic although we also have a large substantial Muslim population. Muslim traders and advisers have been part of the communities in the area for centuries. I have not noticed any tension between the Christians and the Muslims. Those who practice the traditional religion in the area do so privately. In this setting I think teaching about religion and moral education is nice.
Our students take three languages: Dagaree, French, and English. The people in the area speak the local dialect of Dagaree and are fluent in a broader dialect spoken in areas to the south. Most people will also speak one or several other national languages, such as Twi – the one spoken around the national capital Accra. There are somewhere around thirteen national languages depending on who is counting. English is the fall back language used between citizens from different regions. English is also the language used in school from junior high school and up.
Dagaree is used in the elementary school so some of the form one students in junior high school need time to adjust. Poor English proficiency and resulting poor grades is one of the reasons a number of students are held back. Of course, my Dagaree skills are even worse, but then Dagaree is not generally allowed in the classroom.
Note: holding a student back is common in the school system so there can be a significant age difference between the youngest and oldest student in the class.
French is also a core course as Ghana has so many French speaking neighbors. I am less than 10 miles from Burkina Faso. And Ghana also borders with Ivory Coast and Togo, both French speaking countries.
Basic design and technology is a drafting and vocational training class of practical application. I like listening to the lectures – some days about agriculture, some about tailoring, others about catering, etc.
Social studies and science are similar to those back in the states, but possibly with a more practical focus. For example, the students are taught some basic electronic design and repair in science.
Math, with an emphasis on geometry, may also have a more practical focus – teaching basic skills for living and working – but perhaps that is just what I want to see.
Cost of school
Four of the eight other teachers in school for work for the department of education and have completed college training to be a teacher. The salary is decent when it is paid so teaching is a good job in Ghana. Officially, school is free, and the government does supply funding to operate the school, but there are other expenses. First, there are not enough government teachers in part because of lack of qualified candidates and in part due to government budget constraints.
Therefore, the other four teachers are locals who are paid by the PTA a very small monthly salary. The money to pay these teachers as well as the money for certain things like printing exams must be paid by the families. In addition, the students are expected to bring pig feed daily for the school pigs that will be sold for things like the end of year send off for the form three student who will be promoted to high school. (Remember, the punishment of bringing a bucket of rocks to school also provides a small funding source when the rock pile is sold.)
Promotion to high school
The students are all trying to pass junior high school so they can get into a good high school. All the high schools in Ghana are boarding schools. Even students who live close to the school, board at the school. Good grades in high school will help the student get into a good college and a good job, likely with the government. As many people in Ghana are self employed the practical school training is also helpful even if they do not attend college. (High school options also include vocational technical schools.)
In order to pass junior high school the student needed to pass a standard test, the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). The BECE is used not only to determine if a student passes but determines the quality of the high school – better high schools with more resources require better BECE results. Schools also have promotion targets. There is obvious pressure on the student and the school to perform well on the exam.
The form threes spend a significant amount of time studying for this test. One of the reasons that our school is not teaching form three students ICT is to provide additional time for the students to study the core subjects. (This will allow our students to skip the ICT part of the BECE but that does not completely offset the lack of ICT training to prepare for high school.)
There are not enough slots in high school for everyone wanting to attend, increasing the competition for slots and putting pressure on the junior high school hold students back. The large number of students in our classes similarly put pressure on the elementary school to hold students back.
Caning
Corporal punishment is used in Ghana and my school is no exception. Some teachers might be a little more harsh in the punishment, but on the whole the staff looks for other options including positive feedback of good behavior as well as non-caning types of punishments. As a Peace Corps volunteer I'm not allowed to cane and would likely not regardless. As an older volunteer I've seen caning in school and have mixed feelings about its use and effectiveness. Most of the younger volunteers have very strong feelings on the subject and are not open to discussion.
I've had a number of discussions about caning and providing alternate punishments as well as providing positive feedback – but it remains a work in progress.
Closing thoughts
I've always thought that teachers have a very hard job and are severely under-appreciated in the states. I've seen how my mom worked and I've seen how the workload and respect for teachers have changed in the last thirty years. If I was not a Peace Corps Volunteer I would likely have kept my oath made so many years ago.
However, I'm now on the other side of the desk, well actually the teachers in my school don't have desks in the classroom, but anyway, now that I'm a teacher I have a new more personal appreciation for teachers. It helps that I work with a good group of teachers who are very supportive.
Students are students here and in the states – some work hard and others don't. Some students have a supportive family environment. Some students are the primary support for the family.
The facilities here make teaching harder for me and the students, but insufficient facilities and resources is something most teachers and students face around the world.
Being an education volunteer gives me a full time job and a nice schedule for my time in Ghana. Some of the health and agriculture volunteers have a harder time filling their days with work. On the whole I guess breaking my oath is not so bad.
I remain healthy although I'm beginning to suffer a little in the heat which hit 100 degrees today. It will get hotter - much hotter I'm told - so I'll have to learn and use the tricks to stay cool enough without air conditioning. I'll post updates...
Love always,
John
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