Expansion of school prospectus scheme

Rationale and planning

In Ghana, students going to senior school (where they are boarders) are required to equip themselves with all the items in the “prospectus”, which is a list of necessities, including a mattress, two or three sets of clothes, some cooking equipment, and other things. The cost is about £200, and is a real struggle for many families. In some cases, children simply don’t go to senior school because they can’t afford the prospectus.

Our activity so far

We started the scheme with a single scholar (named Joshua) in 2021. In each of 2022 we appointed two scholars, and in 2023 and 2024 we appointed four of them.

Here are the details for 2024. Two of the students are selected by a live competition, which Mark had run in February 2024, and the other two are selected as those with the highest scores in the JHS leaving exam.

images/awardees2024.jpg
The students selected for 2024 are:

  • JS (16), from Aframano JHS. She will go to Kofiase Senior High School (SHS) as a boarder.
  • SY (16), also from Aframano JHS. She is going to a school in Accra.
  • AS (16), from Aframano JHS. He is going to Kofiase SHS as a day pupil and will rent a room.
  • EB (16), also from Aframano JHS. He is going to Nsutaman school as a boarder.

Based on conversations with local communities including students, teachers and parents, we have decided to focus on English language, mathematics and science. Kwasi Alare explained the reasoning for choosing mathematics and science. “Looking at the world technologies, it better to encourage studying science and mathematics, even though those subjects are often unpopular in Ghana” he wrote. Therefore, the selection by the head teacher and the knock-out competition will be based on performance in those subjects. However, bearing in mind girls are less encouraged to pursue mathematics and science than boys, we ensure to always select at least one girl for this award.

Expanding the scheme

We will continue appointing 4-5 students each year, at a cost of about £1000 per year. We would like to fund this scheme for the next 3 years, so we are budgeting £3000.