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What is ‘Supporting Education in Ghana’?
Supporting Education in Ghana was set up in order to build a brighter future for some of the most disadvantaged children in deprived communities in Ghana, West Africa.
Supporting Education in Ghana is a charitable trust that advances the education of children of senior secondary school age who by reasons of their social and economic circumstances are unable to meet their own educational costs.
In particular, the trust supports selected students and provides direct grant aid to schools in order to:
- Support orphans who qualify for senior secondary school, but have no guardians to provide for them financially.
- Support able students from very poor families.
- Support students from single parent homes, where the parent's income cannot support their wards.
The trust also helps support senior secondary schools, over and above that which is provided by the state in order to maintain and improve educational facilities.
Why was ‘Supporting Education in Ghana’ set up?
Supporting Education in Ghana is a small charitable trust based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 2002 by Dr. Robert Gardner after he had visited Ghana the previous year to teach Mathematics and Physics in a school in the Ashanti region of the country. He was struck by the unceasing enthusiasm of the children in the schools he taught in.
“They were like little sponges soaking up as much knowledge as possible and it was clear how much the children appreciated their education.”
Despite the hardship it would cause, many families would strive to provide enough money to allow their children to attend secondary school. However, for some students, primary school marked the end of their formal education because they might be orphaned or their parents had insufficient funds to permit their children to continue their studies.
This injustice was made all the starker when compared to the situation in his native Scotland where students have free education until the age of 17. Dr. Gardner set about doing something about it, albeit on a modest scale, upon his return from Africa. The result of this was the creation of Supporting Education in Ghana, which formally came into being on 1st July 2002.
- The status of the charity is available at The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) at http://www.oscr.org.uk/
- Supporting Education in Ghana is registered against Scottish Charity Number SC033380.
Achievements
Since its inception, Supporting Education in Ghana has helped around 40 students complete their secondary education through charitable donations by its founder, Dr Gardner, and principal trustee Dr. Franck Chevalier. What’s more, because all administration is done by the trustees, the charity has no running or administration costs and therefore, together with Gift Aid rebates from the U.K. government, 128p in the pound go directly to schools in Ghana in order to support the education of the selected children.
Many of the students have gone on to further education at college or university in Ghana, with support via state bursaries. Without help from Supporting Education in Ghana, it is unlikely that these students would have been able to reach their full potential in this way.
Who runs the charity?
The work of the charity is overseen by volunteer trustees, two of whom are managing trustees (Dr. Franck M. Chevalier and Dr. Robert D. Gardner), responsible for the charity’s ongoing activities, such as fundraising, publicity, ratifying the selection of students, transferring funds to Africa and preparing the annual report for the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).
From where does the charity receive its income?
The charity obtains income from its trustees, individuals or organisations by means of financial donations. This is supplemented by Gift Aid and occasional fundraising activities. Because the trustees are not permitted by the constitution to receive remuneration or expenses, other than bank currency charges, all funds go directly towards supporting students.
How does the charity operate in Ghana?
The charity works closely with Happy Days Forever, a non-governmental organisation on the ground in Ghana. The Happy Days Forever foundation was set up by Feller Alex Tawiah, an educationalist who has dedicated himself to helping children obtain funds, often from his own income, to continue their schooling when they have become orphaned or when their families fall on hard times. A former headmaster in Ashanti region schools, Mr. Tawiah now works at the regional education department headquarters in Mamponteng. Each year he coordinates the application process and the selection of needy students. Exam results for each student are returned so it can be demonstrated how the support provided has allowed each child to succeed.
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