Welcome aboard­!

Get to know Ghana

You'll be landing in Accra, Ghana's capital and its largest city (4.2 million residents). Accra is in the south of Ghana, on the coast of the Atlantic. It's also where our Ghana office is located.

More than 32 million people live in Ghana, with over ten million Ghanaians under the age of 15 — a very young population!

Ghana's government has prioritized education, with over 23% of all expenses going to education.

Ghana has 11 official languages (including English) that are used in schools. Twi is the most common language in daily life, with 80% of the population speaking a dialect of it as their first or second language.

Join a dance

At Right To Play we dance a lot with the children, so we hope you are ready to "love clap" as well!

Enjoy the food

You will love the traditional Ghanaian dish fufu. It’s made by mixing boiled cassava and plantains into a soft sticky paste to go along with an aromatic, spicy tomato soup. Bon appetit!

The weather & what to wear

Temperatures in Ghana range between 21 and 32 degrees Celsius (70 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit) and it is usually breezy and sunny. Be prepared for rainy seasons and long dry seasons and keep your sun lotion handy to protect yourself.

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Our work in Ghana

Right To Play has been working in Ghana since 2001. Our work focuses on creating an environment where children can grasp a brighter future, by improving their access to quality education, gender equality, and protection.

Ghana's Ministry of Education is commited to transforming Ghana into a "learning nation." Our long history in Ghana has made us one of their preferred partners to reach that goal.

Our work in Ghana is part of an ambitious global strategy to expand from local to national scales in countries where we work in order to empower 100 million children globally by 2030.

With the support of people like you, we can do it.



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Keeping children in Ghana learning

Children in Ghana face a lot of challenges to completing school. Attendance rates are low, and many children drop out and return to education repeatedly.

Some drop out to work to support their families, while others leave due to health issues. Even before COVID-19 closed schools for 57 weeks in Ghana, malaria infections were the number one reason for lost school days.

Lost school days lead to difficulties with reading, math, and other subjects. Only about 13% of Ghana's students in third grade are reading at the minimum proficiency level.

We want to help children catch up when they've fallen behind, and to go on to excel in school and in life. That means creating strong schools that can give children a quality education.

Together with the government, the LEGO Foundation, and many other partners, we are improving the quality of instruction for 3 million students in 10,000 primary schools across the country. Oshiyie's primary school is one of them.



Let's meet a student

It's not just malaria

The reasons children in Ghana drop out or struggle in school are complex.

Poverty forces many children into dangerous and illegal child labour. They get to learn only in the time left over after work, if any.

In schools where there are inadequate sanitation facilities, girls are forced to stay home during their periods. They end up losing even more days in class than boys do because of it.

Violence in schools and at home causes children to focus on survival over learning. They skip school to avoid punishment from teachers or parents, until they've missed enough school to justify dropping out.



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Our work in Ghana focuses on both individual and systemic change. We create environments where children can safely develop to their fullest potential.

That means working with more than 15,000 teachers and coaches across Ghana to help them inspire and support children.

Teachers draw on our support to understand new curricula, to learn and practice new ways of teaching, and to share best practices and experiences with their peers as they discover them.

Let's meet a teacher trained by Right To Play.

Creating a space where children can learn

Working with teachers and coaches is critical for creating supportive, caring environments where students can flourish. We train teachers and coaches to use play to unlock children's abilities.

Those environments create opportunities for children, especially girls and children with disabilities, to discover their talents and find academic success.

Here's the kind of difference teachers can make using play in the classroom:



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Getting the whole community involved

Children don’t grow up in isolation. That's why we work with community leaders, volunteers, parents, and local organizations to support children's complex and evolving needs.

Football tournaments, play days, public education campaigns, and other community activities help us to get parents and community members involved in supporting children to learn. The more engaged parents and caregivers are, the better the chance a child has of completing school.



Time to visit the final stop on your trip!

What to bring back with you

It's always sad when a trip is over. We hope you hold onto some memories of your trip!

It was a pleasure to show you around Ghana so you can see how your support of Right To Play has made a meaningful difference to children's lives.

From everything you've seen, there are three things, we would like you to remember:

1. Children in Ghana can reach their dreams of educational success. You can help them achieve it.
2. Parents, coaches, and teachers want to create safe, supportive environments for children. You can equip them to do it.
3. Ghana's dream of being a "learning nation" needs partnerships between the government, civil society, and experts. You can play a role in their success.