Project Report
The Kumasi Technical University has recently built one of its new campuses at Piase and has offered to the children of Piase citizenship 15 scholarships yearly. However, like most rural education, the children encounter challenges when transitioning from Junior High to Senior High School.
We tasked our education committee to work with citizens of Piase to find avenues that PASUSA can contribute to improve education in Piase. The composition of the final committtee included heads of the schools, the assemblyman, reps of PYA, PASUSA, Piasehene, town devevlopment committee, and the PTA. Their final suggestions to PASUSA were:
- Establishment of School Improvement Committee for Piase schools
- Ensure that teaching and learning take place as expected in the schools
- Ensure that students engage in useful after-school activities that would engender all-round education and development of the children of Piase and to curb truancy
- Work to make Piase a leader in ICT learning in the Bosomtwe district
- Encourage and help more qualified indigenes of Piase to teach in Piase schools
- Provide resources, where possible, to support pedagogy in the schools
- Visit the schools regularly to identify first hand the environmental, and pedagogical needs of the schools and students
- Provide incentives to motivate the teachers and students
- Scout for ways to raise funds for supporting and meeting the needs of the schools
PASUSA’s focus after these recommendations was to provide better education access to our children. We instituted reading and mentorship programs to the students and equipped the school with computers and Internet access. Provide incentives and partnership programs with the teachers. This program will be monitored and tracked for benchmark results.
The 50 Laptop Fundraiser
We identified a company that offered us refurbished laptops for a price of $120 each. We sought the assistance of the PASUSA members to raise at least 2 from each dinner table at PASUSA Conference in Maryland. The members embraced this challenge and the association was able to furnish the ICT lab at Piase JHS. In addition to that, the association raised money to support the lab for a year, including data packages for the internet, printing supplies, and instructor salary.
PASUSA also upgraded the ICT classroom to ensure the safety of the laptop and other ICT accessories. These upgrades included new roofing, steel bars for the windows, and electrical wiring to support the new demand of energy.
