When students get to JHS 3, (Grade 9), it marks the end of an era--they are in the highest grade offered at Dekpor Basic School.
Recently the Ghanaian curriculum changed, and as the text books became available, we held a campaign and were fortunate to be able to purchase enough copies of texts for every subject area, for every grade from 1 - 8, but, alas, the texts for the JHS 3 were not to be found.
This fall, as the texts started coming into Ghana, we knew that we wanted to jump right away and order as soon as possible while there was still the chance to purchase them!
Final exams, as a student leaves Dekpor Basic School, are written not by the teachers at Dekpor Basic, not even by the school board or the country--the BECE exams are written by the Western African countries as a whole, and many of those countries invest more into education and their students are given the tools to succeed. In rural Ghana, the odds are stacked against a Dekpor student even reaching JHS 3, never mind actually being able to pass the finals. Having the books in every subject that match the curriculum gives our kids a fighting chance.
It is with a great thanks to the following people for setting our students up for success:
Kim Nelson (in honour of Grace, Claire, and Mom...and thinking of Dad and Auntie Ev), Jo-Anne Brady, Carolyn and John MacDonald, Judy Hoffmann (in honour of the Mega Rockers), Richie Lawrence (in honour of Alan Lawrence), Ines Howe (in honour of Anthony and Christophe; Jessica, Kiana, and Sydney; and Margaret), Carol McCreesh, Donna Jamieson (in honour of Ken, of Judy, and of Benjamin), Anonymous, Nancy Newman, Jeanette Angelidis-Hasanoski (in honour of Ms da Costa and Ms Sangupta), Bob and Peggy Belcher (in honour of Mabel-Anne and Allan), Louise Lawrence (in honour of Alan Lawrence), Quality Integrators Corporation, Gerard Baribeau, Louise Dyer, Mary Lou Kumagawa, Michelle Forster, Dave and Judy Simpson, Lauren Pettinger, Mary Card, Kim Nelson (a second donation!), Carol McCreesh (twice!), Jo-Anne Brady (Happy birthday, Linda!), and Susan and Tony Anderson.
