The Township

Kwabeng is a small town located in the eastern region of Ghana, West Afriac. It is about 80 miles north of Accra, the national capital. Its population is currently estimated to be approximately 8,000 people.


The People

The natives are mostly Akyems, one of over forty Ghanaian ethnic tribes. The majority of people, usually born into large, extended families in the township, often live there all of their lives. For generations, most of the adult population has been predominantly farmers who have no fixed income. They depend exclusively on income from cocoa - a seasonal, cash crop which is harvested annually between October and February. Thereafter, most of them live under subsistence levels.

Education

Until the last few decades, the majority of the natives were illiterates. However, the township now boasts the following schools with approximately 2,500 students in the school system each year.

  1. Two Day Care Centers (ages 2-5)
  2. Four primary schools (grades 1-5)
  3. Four junior high schools (grades 5-8)
  4. One secondary/technical school (grades 9-12)

The Primary and Junior High schools are operated jointly by the local government and the churches in the town - Presbyterian, Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Zion. The Secondary/Technical school is under a Regional Educational Service. All the schools face the same basic problem - huge class sizes (35-45 kids). School supplies are very scarce and neither the township nor any of the schools have a library. The educational needs of the community are extremely low on the priority list of both the central and local governments. Unfortunately, most parents are too poor to support the school system financially. The sad result is that the quality of education is so bad that only about five percent of the Junior High school students qualify for High School each year. Parents must pay a high tuition (and boarding fees) for their kids to attend High School. The situation is much worse in the High School where only about 2 percent of the students qualify for undergraduate studies in one of the four Universities countrywide.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world"

Nelson Mandela