OUR KEY STRATEGIC AREAS
We work with 4 key strategic areas:
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1. Access to Education for All Children
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Cross cutting areas
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Interlacing most of these activities are crosscutting areas, comprising advocacy, inclusiveness, networking and alliance and partnerships building.
One major success emanating from SfL’s efforts in the areas of advocacy, networking and alliance building is seen in its contribution to the development and subsequent approval and implementation of the CBE Policy by the Government of Ghana, with support from Development Partners.
Strategic Areas and Results
Access to Education For All
Results
1. Developed a functional literacy model, which provides access to education for out-of-school children in very deprived and hard-to-reach communities in Northern Ghana. It is an accelerated approach providing literacy and numeracy in the mother tongue for 9 months using child-centred, participatory and gender sensitive methodologies.
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2. Implemented the SfL functional literacy model in 25 districts in the Northern and Upper East Regions with funding from DANIDA, UNICEF, USAID and UKAID, making over 300,000 children literate in their mother tongue.
3. The SfL model is recognized by the Government of Ghana as an effective approach for reaching out-of-school children. Ghana’s Complementary Basic Education (CBE) policy is modeled on the SfL approach, and received Government approval in 2014;
4. Lead role in forming and running the CBE Alliance to advocate Government for approval and roll-out of the CBE policy. Other members include the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), OXFAM, the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT) and the Northern Network for Education Development (NNED);
5. Lead implementing partner role in 5-year Ghana CBE program funded by UKAID and USAID in close cooperation with Ghana Education Service and 9 other implementing partners. These implementing partners were trained by SfL before implementation;
6. Developed CBE materials into a standardized CBE package for usage by all Implementing Partners. The material is now available in fourteen (14) local languages
7. Provides technical support to the Ministry of Education/GES on the implementation of CBE;
8. Provides technical support to other CSOs (e.g. World Education and Plan International Ghana) on the implementation of CBE.
Strategic Areas and Results
Strategic Areas
Quality Education
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Results
1. Adapted key elements of the functional literacy model such as participatory, child-centred and gender sensitive approach as well as locally available teaching and learning materials to be used in the formal school system;
2. Implemented these methodologies through the Alliance for Change in Education (a consortium of 7 Ghanaian and Danish partners), which combined School for Life educational approaches with the wing-school model as part of the formal system;
Results
​3. Development of training models, curriculum and instructional materials as well as in-service training to CSOs in education and Districts Directorates of Education;
4. Implemented Community Teacher Support Programmes, supported by Education Quality for All (EQUALL) Project; Innovations for Poverty Action; andTeach2Teach International to provide better support systems in rural schools and to cater for children who lag behind;
5. Implemented teacher training in participatory methodologies and the development of learning resources in 341 formal schools under the Education Quality Initiative Project (EQUIP) funded by Tzedek from 2013 to 2016. A review in 2019 showed better performance in these schools compared to other schools in the same district.
Strategic Areas and Results
Strategic Areas
School Governance
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Results
​1. Extensive experience in cooperating with GES at national, regional and district level, as well as capacity building of School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs);
2. Strengthened school governance in 445 schools across thirteen Districts in Northern Region through capacity building of SMCs and PTAs. This resulted in more transparent and accountable school management and stronger community involvement; and
3. Community ownership and involvement are key elements of the SfL model, and strong community entry skills is a high priority in the organizatio
Strategic Areas and Results
Strategic Areas
Equity
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Results
​1. School for Life works closely with the Northern Network for EducationDevelopment and other educational stakeholders in Northern Ghana to advocate for inclusive education and promotion of pro-poor policies to address inequity in education;
2. In the SfL model there has to be gender balance in the class. This has helped many girls who would otherwise not have had access to education;
3. Promoting girls’ access to education through girls education campaigns; and 4. Developed holistic approach to promote girls’ education through community dialogue, use of role models, and involving institutional stakeholders at community and district level.