February 3, 2016
During a recent visit to Ashesi University, the IDP Foundation had the opportunity to meet one student who is using creative and critical thinking skills to improve basic education in Ghana. In addition to co-founding the TrimTab Network, Prince Kennedy Kwarase (Business Administration, ’17) interned for the IDP Foundation’s keystone initiative, the IDP Rising Schools Program, which aims to improve educational infrastructure in existing low-fee private schools serving the poor in Ghana.
Co-founded in 2008 by Irene D. Pritzker and Liesel Pritzker-Simmons, the non-profit organization IDP Foundation, Inc. has been dedicated to encouraging and supporting the development of innovative and sustainable solutions to complex global issues.
In 2013, the IDP Foundation chose to support Ashesi University’s fall 2015 engineering program launch by providing a grant of $75,000 to help in the construction of Ashesi’s main engineering building. This decision was inspired by the work of Ashesi University President Dr. Patrick Awuah and his commitment to teaching creative and critical thinking.
They had a chance to catch up with Prince to gain more perspective on his experiences with the IDP Rising Schools Program and to explore his career aspirations.
How did you hear about the IDP Rising Schools Program?
I heard about the IDP Rising Schools Program through my uncle, Mr. Anthony Owuso Sarfo, who is the proprietor of Queen Esther Academy – one of the schools in the IDP Rising Schools Program.
Tell us about your volunteering experience at Queen Esther Academy?
I have volunteered to teach at Queen Esther twice. The first time was in 2012; I taught mathematics and English at the junior high level for six months before leaving home to attend Ashesi University in 2013. The second time was in May 2015, where I helped to prepare students for the national Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). During that period, I taught mathematics, English, and gave students short motivational talks to inspire and prepare them for the exam. I left shortly after they had successfully written their exam in May.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience and I see a great future for Queen Esther Academy as the IDP [Rising Schools Program] continues to partner with them and other schools. I realized that the school’s management of funds and leadership has improved greatly from my first visit.
You also interned at Sinapi Aba, which allowed you to work directly with the IDP Rising Schools Program. What was that experience like and can you share some key takeaways?
Working on the IDP Rising Schools Program was a great opportunity for me to deepen my understanding on how schools are managed. During my time there, I got to understand the critical role the IDP Rising Schools Program is playing in many private schools to help deliver quality education to all children. Through this [partnership], many [low-fee] private schools in Ghana have been upgraded to what I call “first-class schools,” transforming lives everywhere.
I like and believe in the model used by the IDP Rising Schools Program to creatively improve low-fee private schools here in Ghana. I hope to see the program spread to more schools in other African countries.
Overall, the experience helped me to improve my analytical skills as I was often involved in reviewing loan applications. It offered me the chance to meet some school proprietors and to know the real difficulties they face on the ground. I believe this will help me a lot in my personal and school projects that are community-focused.
Can you tell us more about the volunteer tutoring group you co-founded at your school?
I founded TrimTab Network (volunteer tutoring group) with some colleagues in my freshman year. We realized that regularly, students from rural community schools usually did not take their academic studies and personal skill development seriously, resulting in many of them failing the Basic Education Certificate Examination or dropping out. We began this student-led initiative to motivate, mentor and help find opportunities for students in rural communities to unleash their potential.
At TrimTab, we pair one mentee to a student-mentor in Ashesi who would guide and inspire them to unleash their talents and excel academically over a period of one academic year. We run seminars to address challenges that would prevent students from not excelling, and partner with teachers in our partner-schools to improve students’ academic and skill development. We inspire students for excellence.
What are you plans after graduation?
I would like to start a business and attend London School of Economics & Political Science the following year.
If there is one thing you could change about the education system in Ghana, what would that be?
I wish to see the education curriculum revised to infuse more critical thinking into students from the early stage. I believe this would help prepare students in identifying challenges, evaluating them and strategically developing solutions for them.
ABOUT THE IDP RISING SCHOOLS PROGRAM
During a trip to Ghana in 2009 to explore the landscape of microfinance programs and financial lending to low-fee private schools, IDP Foundation President Irene D. Pritzker quickly became aware of the disparity between lending to well-established private schools versus their much smaller, lesser-established counterparts. After meeting with Paulina – a school proprietor and yam vendor in the Agbogloshie slum market of Accra – Irene became aware of a detrimental disconnect within the financial lending market. While Paulina was able to receive loans for her yam-selling business, she was unable to obtain a loan for her school, which served over 400 pupils and was in dire need of a reinforced second story to safely accommodate her burgeoning student body.
The IDP Foundation, along with local Ghanaian microfinance institution Sinapi Aba – a financial institution offering microfinance loans – created the one-of-a-kind IDP Rising Schools Program in response to market demand to address the needs for the growing low-fee private school sector in Ghana. With an average tuition of 70 GHS per term for participating schools, the IDP Rising Schools Program targets the very poor, providing proprietors with tools to help stabilize their school’s infrastructure.
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