The Bridge Program is a fee-free secondary education option for the graduates of the local Junior High Schools.
The Bridge Program offers a valuable opportunity to the youth of our communities where access to secondary education remains particularly low, due to the lack of government funded secondary schools. In Ghana’s rural areas, the share of men and women with secondary education is at only 13 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Financial hardship prevents the rural youth from visiting a secondary school away from the village, where 39 % of the people live below the official poverty line (less than US$ 2 per day) and 25 % living in severe poverty.
The two year curriculum is designed to bridge the gap between public education (ending with 8th grade) and the requirements for further schooling as well as apprenticeship programs.
Core Academics and Traditional Crafts
The main focus of the Bridge Program lies on English and applied mathematics and is enriched by classes in science, social studies, career development and sustainable agriculture. Students are taught in very small classes between 20 and 7 students per class, depending on the subject. Our beautiful library is instrumental in improving reading comprehension and our ICT classes help to develop basic IT skills.
In afternoon classes, our students learn traditional artisan crafts indigenous to Ghana. Throughout the school year we invite masters from all over Ghana to teach Kente weaving, Batik dyeing, beading and traditional dancing and drumming. These crafts and skills are part of the cultural fabric of Ghana and allow our students to explore their various talents and interests.
Impact of the Bridge Program
With this program we aim to equip each student with the knowledge and skills necessary to enroll for further schooling or to pursue self-employment opportunities through the highly marketable, traditional artisan crafts. To date, more than 100 students have completed the Bridge Program. With our current capacity we are able to enroll about one third of all graduates from the local Junior High Schools.g