Rising Schools Program Alumnus, Latifa, revisits her low-fee private school in Accra, Ghana
Latifa Mudasiru, age 20, is an alumnus of Royal Gospel Preparatory and JHS, and a shining example of the school’s success in the eyes of its owner Joseph Acquaye.
Latifa, the middle child from a family of five, attended Royal Gospel for 10 years, from the time the school joined the IDPF Rising Schools Program. She now studies chemistry at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi.
Back in 1985, Joseph Acquaye was frustrated with the lack of quality education available to the children within his community in Lartebiokorshie, Greater Accra leading him to open a school. Royal Gospel started with only 14 students, but Joseph was determined to reach more children in his community, despite many families struggling with their finances. After hearing about the IDPF Rising Schools Program, he eagerly joined the training and accessed a loan to expand his school and improve its infrastructure. Latifa was one of the students to benefit from the school’s affordable fees. “Coming from a financially unstable home, access to quality education was a problem for my parents,” says Latifa. “My mum didn’t get the chance to attend school as her parents believed a female was responsible for the domestic duties.” However, Latifa’s parents wanted to ensure that all their five children, both boys and girls, had access to education, despite any challenges they might face. Thanks to the affordability of Royal Gospel, which is walking distance of Latifa’s family home, alongside the manageable classroom sizes and educational facilities, her parents believed it was the best chance for Latifa to get a quality education. And after a decade at the school, Latifa proved them right. She now studies chemistry at university and hopes to become a pharmacist, with her own chain of pharmacies one day. “Education is important to me because I have a goal, and I know that education will allow me to achieve it.”
One thing Latifa recalls about her time at Royal Gospel is the encouragement she received from teachers to take her studying seriously and commit to learning outside of the classroom. “In primary six, visiting the library was mandatory. You had to go and find something new to read, then account for whatever new thing that you learnt in the library. This built my vocabulary and instilled the habit of reading in me.” She also valued the opportunities for parental involvement, with parent-teacher meetings twice a month, where parents were invited to come to school to receive updates on student progress and collaborate on setting measures to help overall wellbeing. “I think the collaborative efforts between parents and teachers improves students’ well-being, it was like a double supervision both in school and at home which kept us on our toes, encouraging us to always strive for the best.”
When Latifa revisited Royal Gospel, she was able to talk the proprietor Jospeh about his dedication to the students and the important role of low-fee private schools (LFPS) in Ghana. She also spoke to JHS 3 students to encourage them to commit to their education and always give it their best. She says, “I am not backing out of education because I have a goal, I have a dream, I have a vision, and I know that with education I’ll be able to attain all these.” Now that Latifa is on her way to achieving her dream she recognises the importance of the contribution of LFPS. “Private schools play an important role in addressing challenges faced by the public education system, particularly overpopulation.”
Latifa also feels that the youth population can have a more proactive voice in education discourse and would like to see more opportunities and platforms for them to share their experiences and ideas. “The youth had fresh experiences, we’ve seen the do’s and the don’ts. If we are given the platform to bring out our voices, I think in one way or the other, it will help reshape and then restructure our educational system. The voices of low fee private schools should be heard because they’ve been under their shadow for so long.”
Royal Gospel Preparatory joined the IDP Rising Schools Program in 2014. Since then, Joseph has taken four school loans for vehicle and infrastructure purposes, enabling him to provide education to 213 students in his community. He feels lucky to have had several students go on to higher education and he look forward to seeing more like Latifa achieve their ambitions.