Girls Education Initiative of Ghana

The Girls Education Initiative of Ghana provides academic and financial support for girls, including applicants with special needs so they can access higher education and professional opportunities.

GEIG transforms the lives of young women in Ghana and improves development and poverty reduction in the country overall by offering higher education and professional opportunities to an untapped source of talent.

Elizabeth Patterson stands as the Director and visionary force behind the Girls Education Initiative of Ghana (GEIG), a beacon of transformative education initiatives in the heart of West Africa. 

At the helm of innovation, Patterson has meticulously crafted a three-pronged holistic support model, a testament to her unwavering commitment to empowering girls through education. Among her arsenal of initiatives lies the groundbreaking Virtual Read to Grow program, a pioneering virtual literacy endeavor that ignites the flames of knowledge in young minds. Additionally, she spearheads transformative community empowerment and leadership workshops, fostering a generation of bold and empowered young women poised to lead change. 

Patterson’s tireless efforts resonate most profoundly in the Ashanti and Greater Accra regions of Ghana, where she channels her passion into tangible impact. Annually, she leaves an indelible mark on the lives of over 20,000 girls and community members through an array of initiatives.

Her remarkable contributions have garnered widespread acclaim, earning her esteemed recognition from prestigious organizations. Notable accolades adorn her illustrious journey, including her esteemed role as a 2022 Acumen West Africa fellow, her distinguished appointment as the 2015 Vlisco Brand Ambassador for Ghana, and her pivotal fellowship at the Young African Leadership Initiative Regional Leadership Center-Accra (YALI RLC). 

Our team lead will prioritise participation in LEAP while ensuring GEIG continues running smoothly. Patterson’s work at GEIG is supported by a functioning team with roots in the community. Our programs team consists of:

• Elizabeth A. N. Patterson, Project Lead

• Andrews Nii Awuley Lartey, co-director and Project co-lead

• Esther, Digital Innovation Associate

• Daniel Okpoti, Operations Associate

• Curriculum Development Consultant, TBD

GEIG also has a project assistant and regularly takes on interns who support Patterson in GEIG administration and project implementation. 

Two other board members are available to fill in where required in GEIG strategic matters; Andrews Nii Awuley Lartey, who serves as the Director, Business Development, Strategy and STEAM at GEIG. He is a founding member of Kumasi Hive, co-founder and past country director for Women In Tech Africa; and Ann Paisley Chandler is an experienced fundraiser and development consultant.

The Virtual Read to Grow project, our solution, is implemented using multiple delivery mechanisms - a community approach where we partner with community institutions( libraries, churches, mosques, schools etc). We are currently implementing in partnership between GEIG and the Act Community Library of Alpha Beta Educational Centre, Brenda Kings and Queens Academy, Nancy International in the Abbey-Prampram communities, and the Bentsel School System in Kumasi-Amakom. As such, the complexities and personnel requirements of running a reasonably large project are spread out among many committed staff in these organisations, who take on many roles including mentoring child participants. We currently have 15 volunteers at 6 sites in 3 regions and 500 students thus far.

Leveraging the power of technology, GEIG will create a virtual platform to provide high-quality access to education in Ghana.

Although Ghana has made tremendous improvement within the Education sector, there are still many challenges that prevent thousands of children from going to school or learning. The school environment is usually not conducive to learning. Classes are overcrowded, water and sanitation facilities are inadequate and trained teachers and school books are in short supply. Almost 8 million children are illiterate in Ghana, with over half of these being young females (Ghana Statistical Service, 2022). School completion rates are also worrying, with only 47% of young people overall completing lower secondary school and only 9% of children from the poorest quintile. 

Various solutions to the education crisis in Ghana were identified by the Ministry of Education in Ghana, alongside the Global Education Monitoring Report of UNESCO and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (Spotlight on Basic Education Completion and Foundational Learning: Ghana, 2022). Among these solutions was to invest in textbooks and materials for schools. Children in low-income schools especially do not have access to books. Children from low-income communities, especially girls, therefore lack the reading material they need to develop fluent literacy skills, especially in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) education in primary school. 

Education and literacy are drivers of economic growth, yet the price of books, distribution constraints and copyrights make them difficult to obtain. The government has limited resources for schools, books, and the other materials students need. Parents are usually responsible for providing textbooks as well as covering other costs through fees

Our solution will address the pressing need for improved literacy skills among children aged 4 to 18 years old in underserved communities of Ghana. We will focus on improving the resources for children and promoting a culture of reading and love for books. This innovative instruction learning course will provide access to quality reading materials, interactive workshops, productive assessments and quizzes, age and ability-based learning curriculum, afterschool programmes, field activities and more to enhance literacy skills among the poorest neighbourhoods in Ghana. 

USAID and Worldreader have assessed the impact of increased access to reading material among children in Ghana (WorldReader, Project IREAD, Oct 2010). This study found that:

• E-Readers are easy for children to learn to use

• Children read more using an e-reader than before.

• Students’ technological skills improve using e-readers.

• Participants show an increased performance on standardised tests. 

We will provide training sessions to the teachers to ensure they understand how to utilise the platform to the best of their ability. 

GEIG will collaborate with schools and teachers to design a comprehensive curriculum, and tutoring plan and ensure that our resources are culturally relevant materials. Collaborating with community stakeholders(schools, teachers, instructional designers) to leverage resources, expertise, and networks is vital for implementing sustainable solutions that address the unique literacy challenges faced by children in low-income communities. 

Using the platform, RTG Virtual, GEIG will build a programme of a variety of activities that will target literacy with school-aged children. The online platform called RTG Virtual  will include;

• Interactive reading workshops to enhance reading skills and critical thinking. 

• Access to a diverse range of reading materials, including e-books, videos, assessments, quizzes and audiobooks. 

• Reading challenges and activities to motivate participation and track progress.

• Community engagement initiatives to create a supportive reading ecosystem.

We will work alongside five local schools at the beginning of this project, with the aim to move to 8 schools by 2025. This will ensure that we can target approximately 250 children with the initial phase of Virtual Read To Grow.

The following objectives will be used to measure our success following one year of the programme: 

• 75% of children increase their vocabulary from 100 to 500.

• 75% of children are confident to read out loud and engage in dialogue with their friends. 

• 85% of teachers see improvement in their student's ability to read out loud in class, participate in classroom dialogue and comprehend 80% of the vocabulary used in the classroom. 

• 85% of parents see improvement in the English grade of their child(ren) and subsequently the overall improvement in the grades of other subjects. 

The project does not currently have a targeted learning variability aspect and is currently focused on children who have poor literacy skills due to economic drivers. The project applies differentiated learning and instruction in lesson planning to ensure all students are accessing information in an individualized manner. We employ methods that cater to visual, auditory, tactile, and activity-based learning methods to name a few.

We have conducted a four month impact and progress review of our project in 2023.

We have carried out substantial research following our initial programme for Read To Grow. The initiative spearheaded by GEIG has shown significant progress in the lives of its beneficiaries, predominantly between the ages of 8 and 15 years old. Other schools have recognised the impact of this initial pilot project and are eager to join in to improve the literacy skills of their students, recognizing it as a fundamental right. 

GEIG began this investigation and initial pilot phase of the project Read To Grow in September 2022. This was carried out in partnership with EDSNAPS. Currently, virtual sessions with three schools are being carried out. Out of this, around 52 students have benefitted. The schools we have partnerships with are Brenda Kings and Queens Academy, Nancy International, in the Abbey-Prampram communities, and Bentsel School System in Kumasi-Amakom. 

The following are some of the observations and impacts noted among students enrolled in the pilot project:

1. Improved interaction skills: Initially, students were timid and passive during the live virtual sessions, contrary to projections. However, there has been a notable shift as students now demonstrate improved social and interaction skills. They actively engage moderators with relevant questions and meaningful feedback. This positive change is evident in their interactions with teachers and peers.

2. Improved dictation and expanded vocabulary: Notable improvements have been observed in students’ dictation and vocabulary, particularly during discussions about the initiative. Their vocabularies have expanded, as demonstrated by their completion of short essay assignments and their ability to define or spell challenging words. 

3. Developed and Enhanced critical thinking skills: According to a teacher at Nancy International, most students have become more creative and have gained a better understanding of certain topics taught in class. Feedback has ensured that this initiative has fostered the development of critical thinking skills among students in the classroom. 

4. Access to important information: Students now have access to essential global and national information, enabling them to stay informed about current events and their surroundings by reading and comprehending news articles. 

5. Instilled confidence: Through this project, students have learned to be confident in expressing themselves, even if they make mistakes. They have gained command of the English language and have been taught to construct and use correct sentences. Additionally, they have been encouraged to correct their peers' grammar errors, fostering a supportive learning environment. The majority of in-class activities are conducted in groups, teaching students the significance of teamwork and openness to diverse ideas.

This data and feedback have informed us of how we need to progress and develop this program further. These are listed below:

• Develop an application or online web platform where students can engage with literary works for free. 

• Offering the literacy curriculum to some schools for a small fee.

GEIG has designed our intervention based on the commonly reported or informally observed trends in literacy within low-income communities in Ghana. We assess children’s academic performance as a proxy for literacy and through our observations and in-school testing, we have noted improvements in children’s literacy levels. 

However, incorporating measurable outcomes into our program and structuring our intervention to collect evidence of its effectiveness will aid us in evaluating our programs, making future improvements and providing valuable evidence on the efficacy of e-readers for improving literacy among children from low-income backgrounds in Ghana. This approach will lend greater weight to our findings and make them more compelling compared to our current documentation, which may contain unseen flaws or biases. We aim to adhere to good research principles that will allow other projects to replicate our findings. 

Our research needs include: 

• Justification for the necessity of the Read To Grow program and its virtual component.

• Streamlining our anticipated outcomes. 

• Formulating relevant indicators and methods of verification. 

• Ensuring the impartiality of our results. 

• Capturing critical information about our participants, intervention model, outcomes and impact.

1. What is the most efficient scaling strategy for increasing the use and impact of e-readers in low-income communities in Ghana?

2. What is the most optimal curriculum (engagement strategy) for students in order to make the greatest improvement in reading skills?

3. What are the most effective strategies for including learning variability in the Read to Grow curriculum?

Our desired outputs for the 12-week period are as follows: 

1. Research recommendations and strategies: LEAP fellows will produce research recommendations, guidance and strategies to enhance the evidence base of the Read To Grow program. Considering the 12-week duration of the LEAP projects and the time commitment of approximately 6-10 hours per week for each of the LEAP fellows, outputs will focus on concise and actionable insights. These outputs will offer evidence based direction to expand program participation while maintaining impact quality. Specifically, the strategy will: 

   1. Identify key partnerships and support networks essential for sustainable program expansion. 

   2. Formulate key performance indicators applicable to both GEIG and its partners to uphold project quality.

2. Curriculum or Model of Engagement: LEAP’s access to a global research pool will be leveraged to develop a curriculum or engagement model outlining optimal usage of e-readers to enhance children's literacy. The focus will be on accessing research not readily available to the public, including correlational, quasi-experimental, and randomized controlled studies. This information will refine student interactions by training project-involved teachers and staff, formalizing the model, and sharing insights with relevant stakeholders. 

3. Inclusion Strategy for children with learning variabilities: A strategy will be developed to integrate children with learning variabilities, including those with physical and mental disabilities, into the Read To Grow program. Leveraging MIT’s global network, tested and verified methods of inclusivity will be incorporated. While the current operations lack a focus on learning variability, this strategy aligns with GEIG’s mission to ensure quality education for all children. 

4. Monitoring and Evaluation Plan: Recommendations for monitoring and evaluating Read To Grow’s progress will be provided to strengthen the project’s evidence base and proof of impact. These recommendations will include guidelines for data collection, analysis and affordable digital platforms for monitoring and evaluation. The goal is to enhance the project’s impact assessment and portfolio of positive evidence. 

These outputs will equip Read to Grow with actionable strategies, curriculum enhancements, inclusive practices, and robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks to ensure sustained impact and evidence-based growth.

Our overarching strategy is to scale and replicate our intervention by first gathering data on its efficacy and then seeking partnerships and funding to support its rollout at our other partner schools. 

A crucial step will be to organise an event to introduce the LEAP products to our current partners and other interested stakeholders including schools, civil society organisations, and government officials. This event will ensure buy-in from our partners by clearly outlining our plans. Additionally, we will extend invitations to potential partners to foster further collaboration. These partners will include schools, universities and other organisations that can help to disseminate our research findings, enhancing the reach of GEIG’s work. 

We will enhance our curriculum or engagement model to optimise the use of e-readers in improving children’s literacy. This will involve refining our interactions with students through: 

• Develop short training modules for teachers and project staff. 

• Organising training sessions for project participants and educators from similar projects. 

• Monitoring and Evaluating these modifications to ensure improvement. 

We will initiate the inclusion strategy for children with learning variabilities into our organisational strategy, development and project implementation. This will be a large step in the right direction for our organisation in terms of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. 

Improvements to our Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system will be made based on recommendations from LEAP, including the identification of necessary data and information to strengthen the evidence base of Read to Grow. This enhanced system will incorporate new key performance indicators. 

Finally, we will implement the scaling strategy to increase participation and the quality of outcomes. This will involve pursuing key partnerships and other recommendations outlined in the strategy.

Short-term outcomes

1. Reading and writing skills amongst 50,000 children aged 8-15 are at internationally accepted levels within 36 months

2. An optimal methodology for e-reader use for improving reading skills in low-income settings is in use in Ghana and other similar settings within 6- 9 months

3. Reading and writing skills among 1,000 children aged 8-15 with learning variability in Ghana improve to internationally accepted levels within 24-36 months

4. 20 teachers have been trained in a new methodology for working with e-readers to improve literacy

Long term outcomes

1. Schools in the catchment area report a sufficient amount of suitable reading material for children aged 8.15

2. 80% of students in grade 4 in the project catchment area have learned to read and write

3. 90% of participants successfully proceed to senior high school

4. 80% of participants pass their West African Examinations Council certification in the third year of high school

5. The number of girls not proceeding to the next year of school is halved

Gender-specific outcomes 

1. 80% of girls in grade 4 in the project catchment area have learned to read and write

2. 80% of girls in the project catchment area show improved performance in reading, writing and English proficiency

3. 50% of project participants of all ages are female

4. 50% of all children with learning variability participating in the project are girls