ICT or PTA ? ? ?

I’ve had a few eye openers this week which have made me reflect on my experiences so far in Ghana.

We were asked if we could visit a primary school in the district to show the P6 children what a computer looks like, how it works and what it can be used for. (Most children in Ghana have never seen a ‘real’ computer, just a chalk drawing on a blackboard or if they are lucky a photo in a text book.) Then the idea was to let the children have a go for themselves. The Deputy Head phoned the night before to check that we were still going and that we should arrive for 9am.

We were up early as it was expected that the school was about a one hour moto ride away. I knew it was quite far and down a dirt road, but I wasn’t prepared for the challenge I faced. Not only was it a dirt road but it was VERY uneven and parts of it resembled a huge sandpit. Me, the moto and sand don’t go together well, I was sliding around everywhere. The track went on for what felt like an eternity, the school was out in the middle of nowhere. (a large whisky at this point would have been welcomed  – and I don’t drink ! !)

When we eventually arrived and had parked our moto’s, there were children’s desks all set up in rows outside, it was obvious that we had arrived to find a PTA meeting was about to start. (not mentioned in the phone call the night before) We headed over to the Head’s office to find he was busy chatting to a parent. We sat on the step outside and waited for him to become free. When he finally appeared he introduced the man covered in thick dust, ripped trousers, no shoes and muddy hands, as the PTA chairman.

 We looked around to see if we could see the Deputy to confirm what we were to talk to the children about. He hadn’t arrived at school yet. By now it was 9.30am and school starts at 8am ! ! We were invited to sit in on the PTA meeting which was all conducted in Dagaare (the local language) The Deputy arrived just in time for the meeting to get started at 10.30am. The parents were split into women on one side and the men on the other. The Head addressed only the men throughout the whole meeting, while the women just sat and listened.

The children busied themselves, playing football, wondering around, sitting listening to the meeting. I sat watching while a child played with a pair of scissors under the tree in the shade. This was big surprise to me as the only pair of scissors I have seen in Ghana are the pair I brought with me from England. Ghanaians tend to use razor blades for similar tasks to where we would use scissors. Then suddenly we heard a smash and a child had dropped a glass bottle which smashed all over the floor, this was quite frightening to see as most children walk around bare foot. Glass bottles and unsupervised scissors are a British teacher’s nightmare ! !

After we had sat for 2 hours, the meeting ended and we were ushered into the P6 classroom, only to find that the whole school had crammed into this one room. Kindergarten right through to P6. (about 200 children) They were all eager to see what a computer looked like and to see what it can do. We showed them all our laptops and what they can be used for, when I turned around to speak to their teacher, he was asleep on the desk . . . . .

I hasten to add we didn’t stay much longer and suggested that next time they invite us, there is no PTA meeting and that the Deputy Head stays awake.