Final School Visit (FRI 3/18)

Today was our final school visit, which was to a private elementary school called Brainbirds Academy.  The public/private systems of schooling is kind of confusing in Ghana.  At the elementary/middle school level, the private schools have better resources and the students tend to excel over public school students when it comes to testing.  Entry into high school is a bit like applying for colleges in the US, your test scores matter.  You can apply to any high school you wish and public schools are free (including room and board), but the applications are competitive.  The public high schools are higher performing than private schools.

Brainbirds was so much fun to visit.  The resources were much nicer and more abundant, the classes were smaller and more interactive.  I noticed that this was the only school where I did not see any broken wooden desks, in fact the desks were comfortable even for an adult, which was a surprise.  Chidi and I got to talk to a 3rd grade science class about the importance of science and we talked about the many science careers that are out there.  Many Ghanaians cannot afford private school, especially given that the inflation rate over the past year has been 55%. But I was pleased to hear that this particular school at least had a sliding school for fees based on income.

We also had the opportunity to visit the National Teaching Council, which advises the Minister of Education of Ghana.  This was a great chance for us to ask the head of NTC some questions about the future of Ghanaian education, based on the schools we had observed.

After our meeting we hit the market for more shopping and had a final dinner out on the town at a fancy restaurant.  The menu was pretty diverse and included some dishes with some interesting options such as snails, chicken feet, Keta school boys (dried anchovies), cowfoot, intestines, or grass-cutter.  Grass-cutters are large rodents (also known as Greater Cane Rat) that are popular as a rural protein source (I am posting some pics of them below from the Kumasi zoo).  I opted for something fairly tame yet still spicy, the groundnut soup with chicken and riceballs.  There was SO MUCH food that none of us could finish, it felt like we hardly made a dent in this feast.