How a Mother and Daughter Are Expanding Educational Opportunity in Coastal Ghana

The theme for International Women’s Day 2026 “Give to Gain” highlights a powerful idea that when women offer their time, skill, leadership, and knowledge to their communities, the benefits ripple outward, strengthening opportunities for everyone. Through my work as an education advocate, I have had the rare opportunity to listen to women who are positively changing the narrative in their communities. This blog reflects one such story from Amanful, a fishing community in Cape Coast in Ghana’s Central Region, where members of the same family have quietly shaped children’s futures for more than three decades.

Starting a School to meet Community Need

In 1989, a dedicated educator, Madam Comfort Myles-Mills, and her husband Mr. Robert Ferguson Sampson, noticed a troubling reality in their community. Some children were roaming the streets without attending school, while others walked long distances each day to access education in neighboring communities.

“We saw children roaming around without attending school,” the founder recalls. “Others were walking all the way to Abura from Amanful about five kilometers just to go to school.”

Rather than accepting these barriers, they decided to act. Drawing on her experience as a trained schoolteacher, she helped establish George Ekem Ferguson Memorial School to bring quality education closer to families in the small fishing community. Their goal was to create an environment where children could build the skills and knowledge needed to pursue meaningful futures. Over time, parents began to notice the difference. Families from surrounding communities including Anomabu and Abura started enrolling their children, drawn by the school’s trained teachers and consistent learning outcomes. Word-of-mouth referrals from parents have helped sustain enrollment for more than three decades.

The School Name Carries a Story of its own

George Ekem Ferguson, after whom the school is named, was a surveyor and cartographer from Anomabo who played an important role in demarcating the boundaries of the Gold Coast during the British colonial era. His work helped ensure that certain parts of the territory remained within the Gold Coast rather than becoming a French colony. But his service came at a cost. Ferguson’s life was cut short at the age of 33 by individuals who opposed his work. To honor his courage and contributions to Ghana’s history, the school’s co-founder and head of the Ferguson family chose to name the school after his granduncle. Today, the school stands as both a place of learning and a tribute to a legacy of service and bravery.

A Lifetime Dedicated to Education

The school’s co-founder has spent her entire career in education. After completing senior high school, she began working as a pupil teacher in public schools. Inspired in part by her father, who served as a regional education officer, she went on to enroll in a College of Education and graduated as a trained teacher in 1984. She later pursued a degree in education and built a long career teaching at the pre-tertiary level. Over time, she also took on leadership roles within the education system, eventually serving as an Early Childhood Coordinator at both district and regional levels. Even while working full-time in public service, she remained actively involved in supporting the school she had started with her husband. When she retired in 2018, she fully transitioned into managing the school. Today, she also serves as the Cape Coast Metro Chairperson of the Ghana National National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), advocating for private school leaders and ensuring their concerns are represented at the national level.

Supporting Learning Despite the Challenges

Operating a low-fee private school in a fishing community comes with financial challenges. The school intentionally keeps its fees affordable so families, many of whom rely on fishing and fish trading for their livelihoods can access quality education for their children. But affordability sometimes requires personal sacrifice.

“Sometimes I have to support the school with my monthly pension income and savings to make sure staff are paid,” she explains.

Despite these challenges, the school has built a committed teaching team. Teacher retention is remarkably strong, supported by initiatives such as scholarships for teachers’ children who attend the school.

“One teacher has remained at the school for nearly 30 years”, she recounts.

The school also supports children who might otherwise be excluded from education. Some students who were previously roaming the community without attending school have been offered scholarships, while others have received support during health emergencies. In many ways, the school functions as a broader community support system

Strengthening Learning Outcomes

Professional development opportunities have also played an important role in improving learning outcomes at the school. Through interventions such as the, Tools for Foundational Learning Improvement(TFLI) Program which supports teaching and learning in low-fee private schools, educators have strengthened their ability to help children develop strong literacy and numeracy skills.

“Through the program, our children can read fluently and are very good at numeracy,” the founder says proudly. “I often joke that if you come to my school, learners in Basic One can spell ‘flamboyant.’”

Passing the Torch to the Next Generation

As with many low fee private schools, questions about succession often arise. For this founder, however, the future of the school is already taking shape.

Her daughter, Rozina Ferguson Sampson, now works as the school’s administrator. Rozina has long been passionate about supporting children, partly influenced by her sister’s work running an NGO focused on child advocacy. Although she previously pursued other business ventures, she eventually felt called to invest her time and skills in the family school.

“I realized it was important to also contribute to something my parents built for the community,” she says.

Education is a shared commitment within the family. Another daughter works as a public school teacher, while other siblings contribute in different ways. Together, they are working to ensure that the school continues to serve the community for years to come.

A Legacy that Continues

For more than 35 years, George Ekem Ferguson Memorial School has served as a gateway to opportunity for children in Amanful and surrounding communities. Today, as mother and daughter lead the school together, their partnership highlights the importance of local leadership in sustaining access to quality education. Their story also demonstrates how investing in women, strengthening local leadership, and nurturing intergenerational commitment can build sustainable pathways for future generations to learn, lead, and thrive.