Going to school as a kid was on certain days exciting, and other days aggravating. We got out of bed (sometimes forced), ate breakfast, put on uniforms, and headed to school. We all had that one thing we liked about school; we looked forward to lessons with our favourite tutors and dreaded classes with stern ones. But most of all, we looked forward to the lunch-break with friends. We all loved something about the school.
The narrative is entirely different in recent years; a classroom is about the last thing on an average child’s mind because of many factors, including but not limited to the poor quality of teaching from unmotivated teachers, lack of a conducive learning environment, and barriers faced before and after school hours. There’s just so little to look forward to for our children.
Research from USAID reveals that at least 50 percent of schoolchildren in Ghana are unable to read a single word by the end of class 2, and only 2 percent can read grade-appropriate text with fluency and comprehension — regardless of language. Lead For Ghana exists to help change this narrative.
Vision – To help build a country where all children have the opportunity to attain an excellent education, irrespective of their socio-economic background and geographical location. An education that equips children to complete Senior High School, with full access to University.
By an excellent education, we mean our children will strive for academic excellence with the ability to think critically about the world around them. They will ask questions, challenge norms, and seek to understand and digest information. They will have control over their financial lives, determine their career choices, and develop a plan to execute their aspirations. They will approach life with a strong sense of possibility, passion and zeal, with a willingness to address challenges and develop solution-based thinking.
Our children will demonstrate a strong level of optimism about their life outcomes. They will have a robust support system of champions and the social and cultural capital to engage successfully and succeed in the current system, but be keenly aware of its flaws. They will develop the ethical mindsets that guide their everyday interactions and will value honesty and integrity. Our children will act as consciously driven citizens aware of the systems of injustice that exist, and believe that a more equitable system is achievable in Ghana and abroad.
(Lead For Ghana Fellow induction ceremony at Ashesi University)
What We Do
To achieve our vision and put children in Ghana on a different life trajectory, we recruit a corps of Ghana’s most promising university graduates and young professionals from varied academic disciplines. Our recruits are called Fellows. We train and place Fellows as basic school teachers for two years to teach Mathematics, Science, English and Information Technology in underserved schools in Ghana, with clear accountability for their classroom and community outcomes. Throughout the two years of the fellowship, we support the development of both teaching and leadership capabilities of Fellows to maximise the impact on student achievement, school cultures as well as community views and expectations around education.
After the two-year leadership development fellowship, the Fellows are inducted into the Lead For Ghana Alumni Network, a pantheon of leaders bound by a shared experience of teaching and leading communities. Our alumni work across the public and private sectors to impact the educational system in Ghana and Africa.
(2019 Lead For Ghana cohort)
Impact to Date
Since the genesis of Lead For Ghana in 2016, more than 59 alumni have been generated. Our alumni are working in diverse sectors and effecting systemic change to curb the challenges of educational inequity in the country.
Today, Lead For Ghana has 65 Fellows in 29 schools across the Western, Volta, and Northern Regions, improving educational outcomes of more than 2,000 children. The organisation has plans of expanding to the Ashanti, Greater Accra and Eastern Regions in 2020.
Join the Movement
Applications for the 2020 cohort are open, and we are looking for Ghana’s best and brightest recent university graduates and young professionals to apply. The application deadline is May 19, 2020 at 11:59pm GMT.
Here are some of the benefits:
- This is a full time job with social security benefits.
- This counts toward your national service if you are yet to do your national service.
- You will be inducted into the Lead For Ghana Alumni Network after graduation, gaining life-changing opportunities as part of a this network across multiple sectors.
- Finally, you will be contributing to developing the mindsets of Ghana’s next generation.
Here’s how to apply
- Complete our online application form. We are testing for core competencies, indicators of future success in the classroom and beyond.
- Once you pass this stage, you will be invited for a telephone interview where we can further assess your commitment and motivations to be a part of Lead for Ghana.
- Successful applicants will attend a virtual assessment centre where you will meet the Lead For Ghana team for a one-on-one interview, take part in a group task and be tested on a teaching exercise.
- Successful candidates will receive an official offer to join the Lead for Ghana leadership development Fellowship, conditional on your University transcript, references and an ability to teach one of the following: Science, Mathematics, Information Technology or English.
Apply to Lead for Ghana’s leadership development programme. Become a part of our growing movement; a network of outstanding leaders driven by a shared purpose – to impart knowledge in low-income communities and eliminate educational inequality in Ghana by 2050.
Major supporters of Lead For Ghana
Champions of Lead For Ghana include ZEN Petroleum, Vitol Foundation, Catalyst Fund, Actis, the Kofi Tawiah Foundation, Eni Ghana, Africa Challenge Grant, Teach For All, KPMG, Bank of America, Ashesi University College, and the Government of Ghana.
Lead For Ghana is a leadership development and network organisation driving a nationwide movement of leaders expanding educational opportunities to all children in Ghana. To learn more about us, please visit our website at www.leadforghana.org.
