Royal Academy Preparatory
& Junior High School, Wusuta (Ghana, West Africa)
How
Royal Academy Started
In 2006, Reverend Father Isaac
Benuyenah travelled to Canada and worked in the towns of Edam, Cochin Jackfish,
and Glaslyn (near North Battleford in Saskatchewan) as a Catholic pastor. He
wanted to raise money for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in the Kpando
Municipality, since he had previously funded their education off books he had
written. Fr. Isaac collected cans, bottles, and tetra-paks in Canada and
recycled them. In five months, he raised $2,000 CAD from these bottle drives.
When he returned to Ghana in
2007, however, Fr. Isaac realized the need for a private school in Wusuta.
Parents enrolled their children in private schools in Vakpo and Anfoega, since
they perform better than public schools. These children have to walk 10-20 kilometres
a day, under the hot sun or in the rain, just to get to school and back home.
The toll on these children and the cost to their parents deeply affected Fr.
Isaac.
By consulting with his Local
Ordinary and the Regional Manager of Catholic Education, Fr. Isaac met with key
stakeholders in the Church and the Wusuta community to discuss this issue. A
decision was made to establish a private school in the community which would
provide education to the HIV/AIDS orphans as well as other vulnerable children in
Wusuta.
With the $2,000 CAD that Fr.
Isaac raised, a four-unit classroom block was built along with 80 dual desks,
and the needed textbooks were purchased within three weeks. On September 10,
2007, Royal Academy School opened with 21 pupils, three teachers and one
financial clerk. Presently, the
school has 260 pupils from Kindergarten to Junior High School Form Three (or
Grade 9). There are 15 permanent staff members and two long-term volunteers
from Germany.
Royal
Academy’s Objectives
The principal aim of Royal Academy
is to develop excellent graduates who are academically and morally sound, with
the following objectives:
1. provide holistic and quality
education that will emphasize high moral/Catholic principles and academic
excellence as an alternative for children in and around Wusuta
2. create an enabling educational environment for children that
would put them on the same academic level as their counterparts in the city
schools
3. bring affordable private
education to the doorsteps of parents and children who would have otherwise
travelled long distances.
The above objectives are
achievable through
1.
employing qualified and disciplined teachers
2. providing quality supervision and monitoring of both
teacher and student
performance
3. creating a disciplined environment that will help prepare
students for their external examinations, thus enabling them to easily gain
admission to Senior High Schools in Ghana.
Infrastructure
Needs
The school currently has 11 classes
(Kindergarten 1&2, Primary 1-6, and Junior High Forms 1-3), but only 8
classrooms. The three classes that do not have a classroom hold their sessions
in the uncompleted basement of the new classroom block, which is still under
construction. None of the classrooms at the school have plastered walls, nor
are they painted. The corridors also require concrete floors since they become
very dusty.
Financial
Assistance to Brilliant and Needy Pupils
With financial assistance from
benefactors, the school awards scholarships to 22 brilliant and needy pupils
every term. Five HIV/AIDS orphans and eight other orphans in the school are
included in this scholarship package.
Academic
Achievements
Though the school is just six years
old, the first Junior High graduates wrote the Basic Education Certificate
Examination (BECE) in 2011 and all passed. In 2012, the Junior High graduates
again all passed, placing Royal Academy in the sixth position out of 60 schools
in the Kpando Municipality. It is currently the best Junior High School in
Wusuta.
Administration (in the ‘About’ section)
The School Management Committee
(SMC) is the Management Body responsible for making and implementing major
decisions of the school, including its governance, growth and welfare. The
Parents’ and Teachers’ Association (PTA) helps the SMC in the implementation of
matters that affect pupils, parents and projects. These two bodies decide the
fees to charge, the dress code, and the discipline in the school. The
Headmaster and the other members of staff execute the daily administration
duties of the school.
Royal
Academy Volunteers
In the past six years, the school
has played host to both national and international volunteers. The first volunteers
came from Canada in 2009 and stayed for two weeks. The African Center for Peace
Building sent a group of students from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science
& Technology (Kumasi) and the University of Ghana (Legon) to teach
voluntarily at the school from May to the end of July 2010.
The third group of
volunteers, German “Weltwärts” (formerly, “German Development Service”),
arrived in the school in September 2010 and left in August 2011. Another two
replaced them from September 2011 to August 2012. The current German volunteers
arrived in September 2012 and are due to leave in August 2013. On June 24,
2013, three volunteers from Canada also joined the staff for two weeks.
This intercultural
cooperation between Royal Academy Preparatory & Junior High School and thee
volunteer groups have helped improve the school’s reputation, international
relationship, and positively enhanced the image of the school. This cooperation
has brought an understanding of world cultures to the school and the entire
village of Wusuta.
Ongoing
Development Projects
1. There
is an urgent need for new classrooms. The foundations of a 19-unit classroom
complex are currently under construction. The block-laying of the basement is
complete though not furnished. Work began on the ground floor in July 2013.
2. A
plastic tank (polytank), which can store 700 liters of water has been purchased
and installed.
Need
Areas of the School
1. The
classroom complex: The most pressing need of the school is to
complete the 19-unit classroom complex as soon as possible.
2. ICT
lab and library: The increasing number of pupils make it necessary
to have a library and an Information/Communication & Technology (ICT)
Laboratory, both of which have been included in building plans for the newest
complex.
3. Electricity:
Through the benevolence of some volunteers, the school has been connected to
the national electricity grid, which extended light to two classrooms. We are
soliciting for funds to do the same in other classrooms. Providing light to the
other classrooms will cost about GH 5,200 Cedis, or approximately $2,667 CAD.
3. Restrooms:
The school lacks a modern toilet facility. Both teachers and pupils use a pit
latrine, which is unhygienic.
4. Learning
materials: The school needs textbooks (especially English Readers),
desks, and other teaching and learning materials. GH 180 Cedis (approximately
$92 CAD) can provide all the text books of a JHS 1 (Grade 7) student. A desk
for a student costs GH 80 Cedis (approximately $41 CAD).
5. Computers
(new and/or used): A new desktop computer and a used one cost about
GH 600 Cedis and GH 200 Cedis, respectively, or $308 and $103 CAD.
6. An
Overhead Polytank for storing water:
A plastic tank which can store 1500 liters of water at the school costs
GH 3,500 Cedis (approximately $1,795 CAD).
7. Volunteers:
We need volunteers who would stay for at least a year to teach and/or render
other related services.
8. Scholarships
for needy and brilliant students: It takes GH 258 Cedis
(approximately $132 CAD) in this 2012/2013 academic year to educate a pupil in
Royal Academy.
Message
from Fr. Isaac
We solicit assistance from
individuals, corporate organizations, societies, clubs, groups, associations,
Churches, foundations, school, etc. We believe we can and we will reach our
goals through your generous assistance in kind and/or cash. If you are touched
by this passionate appeal, you may donate a “Shoe Box” during the coming
Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities to Royal Academy Preparatory &
Junior High School, Wusuta (Ghana), or bequeath something in kind and/or cash
to the school, or leave a testament for it. The school has an account at the
Credit Union in Edam (Canada) where you can send your donations to.
Contact
Royal Academy
You may contact the school through
the following addresses:
CANADIAN ADDRESS
Ms. Jeanette Gorski
Royal Academy Preparatory &
Junior High School, Wusuta
Christ the King Parish, P.O. Box
422
Edam, SK, S0M 0V0
Canada
Tel: 001-306-397-2828 / 001-306-892-4312
Email: jgorski@sasktel.net
GHANAIAN ADDRESS
Royal Academy Preparatory &
Junior High School, Wusuta (Ghana)
P.O. Box 9, Vakpo, Volta Region
Ghana, West Africa
Tel: 00233 (0)249535471 / 00233
(0)206586836
Email: ikbenu@hotmail.com
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