Ab-surd-ities

“Ebenezer, don’t speak in your local dialect please!”

“Thanks for carrying my books, Gladys”

Not exactly phrases you hear often in UK schools; more like “Chantelle, no texting in class!”, “Don’t hit him with that book, Taylor”.

I’ve been here over a month now, it’s gone so fast.  In my blog posts I’ll give an update on how I’m doing and try to give an insight on life in Ghana – which is pretty hard to express in words!  

Every day involves massive bugs, dirt everywhere, sweating 24/7, cold showers (which we are lucky to have), danger food, and talking s-l-o-w-l-y.

It’s a completely different world here, and I’m just about getting used to it.

Ghana is a developing country, and is full of contrasts:

Adverts for the latest Nokia Lumina sit atop a pile of rubble on the side of the road… The kids playing football with a coconut shell in the gutter are all wearing Chelsea or Barcelona shirts… Everything takes forever to happen, yet whole days magic by so quickly.

My placement is in Golden Gates Senior High School, something equivalent to a sixth form college, where some pupils are even older than me! There are many comforting similarities to the UK, such as pupils not bringing pens, and giggling about sex education.

And there is no place contrasts are more obvious than in school:

Education means everything to the students, yet there are still behavioural problems in the classroom… Pupils are instructed to learn hard and spend hours with their noses buried in textbooks. As a result, they can recall definitions to the letter, but often do not understand what they are saying or why. They are a product of a rote learning system, which is hard to reverse.

Typical classroom - often 2 to a desk

Life in school here is similar to how I imagine it was in 1960s Britain – the only punishment is caning, and classes of over 40 sit at tiny desks and listen to textbook teaching for 90 minutes at a time. And teacher is god.

Here, the education system is flipped: state schools are better funded and higher achieving. Private schools pick up the remnants of the state system that do not make the grade or are otherwise removed from school. Private school teaching staff are often paid poorly, so students are placing their unquestioning faith in someone who is often untrained and may be juggling 2 or 3 extra jobs to get by.

I had many initial apprehensions about going to a private boarding school (and meeting the equivalent of “rah” students in the UK). But being an extra teacher in a school where I can teach and tutor many students who struggle in basic Maths and Science will suit me fine.

I have taken a couple of classes of A-level equivalent maths, bringing memories flooding back of struggling with Surds, Series, and Circles myself years ago! I'm developing a bit of a love for maths here, especially surds. I need to be careful..

There is plenty of time here to relax and read, draw, talk about football endlessly to the students, or travel into Takoradi market and nearby beaches. I couldn’t ask for much more, really.

The students are also great to be around. . This is perhaps the biggest contrast of all - they are so thankful and humble here, with an amazingly positive outlook on life, despite their disadvantages and setbacks.

Over and out.