Can you imagine attending eight years of primary school without learning to even read simple words? Sadly, for 35% of primary school leavers in the Northern Region of Ghana this is their story. Indeed, only 16% of pupils reach proficiency in English. With such results, it is easy to see why education is not always a priority for parents, and why only 48% or boys and 43% of girls make it to high school.*
Neesim School aims to buck that trend through our strong focus on literacy. One of our aims is for every child who finishes Neesim Primary School to be able to read fluently in both English and the local language. And we are delighted to be seeing great results. Of last academic year’s Primary 6 leavers, over 90% reached their expected literacy level and every one of them continued on to Junior High School.
We are delighted that many of our school children have developed a love of reading. Over the last term, Neesim library has been bursting at the seams with record numbers of visits after school averaging 62 pupils per day!
Thank you to everyone who has supported Neesim School over 2016. Your support is enabling us to give the valuable gift of literacy to our 405 school pupils.
“At my previous school I couldn’t read at all. I like the way they teach reading here. I like the worksheets because they teach us nice things and knowledge. I like the games too. I know all the letters now and can put them together in words. It has improved my reading a lot because I can now read in Dagbani and English as well.” – Amina, Primary 1, 10 years old
* Stats from Ghana National Education Assessment, 2013, and UNICEF.