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Background
Mentoring is a crucial student support service that is aimed at helping individuals discover and develop their educational, vocational, and psychological potentials and thereby achieve an optimal level of personal happiness and social usefulness. To effectively meet the needs of all learners, it is essential that the foundation of mentoring is both systematic in approach and comprehensive in nature. This is important because as students mature and develop, any mentoring program must keep pace with their social, emotional, behavioural and cognitive changes and the relation of those changes to educational, career, and societal changes.
CAMFED’s impact increases exponentially through the Association of Young Women Educated with CAMFED support. Members of the CAMFED Association (CAMA), the network of young women supported by CAMFED, lead action on the big challenges their communities and country face. Considering the pivotal role mentoring plays in the academic and psychosocial development of learners, CAMFED established a Learner Guide Program in public junior and senior high schools across districts in its regions of operation where CAMA members who have recently completed their education volunteer for the role of a Learner Guide at their local schools.
The Learner Guide Program
CAMFED implemented the Learner Guide Program as a pilot in 18 senior high schools across 11 districts with funding from the Queen’s Trust. 540 Learner Guides reached 21,683 students in the Gomoa West, Abura Asebu Kwamankese, Mfantseman, Tamale Metro, West Mamprusi, West Gonja, Bole, Chereponi, Yendi, Bongo and East Mamprusi districts. The Program was designed to help girls and boys in rural districts and schools to succeed at school and make a successful post-school transition. Under the arrangement, Learner Guides, the young women who deliver the Learner Guide Program, volunteered at their local schools and committed between 12 and 18 months to deliver weekly sessions using a tailored curriculum designed to boost children’s aptitude for learning and enhance prospects after school. Learner Guides deliver modules under the ‘My Better World’ (MBW) curriculum.
From the pilot phase and over the years, the Learner Guide Program has been expanded and is delivered in 847 schools in CAMFED’s 38 districts of operation in the Northern, North-East, Savannah, Upper East, Upper West, Bono, Ashanti, Eastern, Western, Greater Accra and Central regions of Ghana. As a key element of the CAMFED model, the Learner Guide Program enhances learners’ aptitude for learning and prospects after school in a context of high unemployment as Learner Guides mentor students to improve their attendance and retention in school. In addition, the Program seeks to improve student’s life, learning skills, and their transition through basic and secondary education while establishing a recognized model of active citizenship whereby young people step up to support education and other development initiatives in their communities.
In their work in schools and communities, Learner Guides deliver the MBW curriculum that includes modules on life skills, learner-centered approaches, leadership, child protection, and classroom management skills. They provide responsive individual psychosocial support, coordinate and steer study groups, and strengthen home-school links to enhance and promote child protection through collaboration with school management and parents. They also facilitate connections to local authorities to ensure marginalized children benefit from additional welfare support.
Key actors and impact to date
Recognizing that the foundation of mentoring should be both systematic in approach and comprehensive in nature, CAMFED has been working with the Guidance and Counselling Unit of the Ghana Education Service, District Education Committees, Teacher Mentors, schools, District Operations Officers, Learner Guides and learners in the implementation of the Learner Guide Program, and this collaboration has contributed to the success of the Program. So far, 327,507 learners have been supported by 3,998 Learner Guides in 847 schools.
The impact of the Learner Guide Program is felt by Learner Guides, learners, schools, and the education system. For Learner Guides, the Program provides a pathway to employment, formal teacher training, and tertiary education, development of leadership skills, as well as control over life choices. Learners benefit from improved retention, progression, and completion of school, improved learning outcomes, as well as enhanced engagement and confidence in school. For schools, the Learner Guide Program has contributed to increased representation of women in schools, an increase in the pipeline of qualified teachers as well as new approaches to classroom engagements leading to improved educational outcomes. Overall, the education system benefits from a decrease in the gender gap in learning and retention in addition to changes in social norms around girls’ education.
Looking ahead – National Integration of Learner Guide Program
Under CAMFED’s new strategic plan (2024-2029) and considering that the Learner Guide Program aligns with the Education Strategic Plan 2018-2030 and the new senior high school curriculum, CAMFED is working with key government partners such as the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, and the National Service Scheme for national integration of the Learner Guide Program for the benefit of all learners in secondary education. Our partnership will also contribute to fulfilling national and international education goals, particularly Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
