The visiting daughter of Queen Elizabeth was the guest of God’s Heritage Academy in Kumasi, one of 760 micro-schools supported by the United Kingdom to the tune of over ¢27 million.
Princess Anne’s inspection tour of the project which is run by Sinapi Aba, a local non-bank institution with support from Opportunity International UK, is part of a three-day visit to Ghana.
The initiative is meant to help over 300 thousand poor children gain access to education under the Private School Expansion programme.
The Princess Royal also inspected a UK- funded programme for transforming teaching and Learning at the Wesley College of Education, also in Kumasi.
Princess Anne, known for her charity work, is a patron of over 200 organizations.
The micro-schools project run by Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans gives credit to private schools in rural and peri-urban areas to expand and assist bright but needy students.
God’s Heritage Academy at Ahenema Kokobeng, near Kumasi is one of 760 beneficiary schools of the project.
Chief Programmes Officer for Sinapi Aba who conducted her around told Luv News, “In 2016, 229 micro-schools were supported with over ¢6.9 million in loans. The edufinance portfolio stands at ¢7.7 million as at February 201.”
Board Chairman for Sinapi Aba Joseph Ebo Hewton, spoke to the Princess about reviving a sorghum project started for farmers in the Northern Region.
“For the first year, we moved from 100 metric tons to 900 metric tons, second year we moved to 3000 metric tons and so the next year our plan was to go 6000 metric tons. This was something which was benefitting over four thousand families in the northern part of the country,” he said.
“But unfortunately venture capital did not come with the funding again. But we are still doing it even though on a smaller scale. So the plan is to go back to government and see how we can work together,” he added.
Her last visit was to the Wesley College of Education where she witnessed a firsthand programme, dubbed T-Tel, which utilizes support from UK Aid, to train teachers under a trainer of trainer’s workshop series to expose classrooms to modern trends of teaching and learning.
Principal of WESCO, Charlotte Rockson, told Luv News the programme has added practical ways of teaching to the teacher’s work.
